I have noticed that some of these smaller towns are now doing away with the town square. Figures, doesn't it? I remember my town square very well when I was little. The laundry mat, hardware store, best little diner in the county, barber shop with the red and white swirling tower in the front, the market with the wooden Indian standing guard by the door. All the festivities, from selling veggies to parades was held on the square.
I would go to the ice cream shop and Mr. Hedson would fix me a huge ice cream cone and put on those fancy sprinkles free of charge. I'd walk around the square, not a care in the world ( except my ice cream melting) and stick my nose to the big window to admire the Chatty doll dressed in a pretty dress.
The older ladies would sit on one side of the square on benches. Some knitting, most gossiping. They would talk about their husbands and kids and recipes. The older men had the other side of the square. I would listen to them talk about the lack of rain on their crops, gossiping ( yes, men do gossip!) and swapping knives. I noticed that one could swap his knife for another and within a few months would get his own knife back in a swap. I didn't see the sense in that but the men seemed to enjoy this game. Sometimes they would talk about their wives.. but in a low voice. Hummm.. afraid one of the women would overhear and come charging over with her purse swinging wildly?
I love the town square. There is such a one about 30 mins from here that reminds me alot of the one I grew to love as a kid. I often drive over just to sit at the diner and watch the people sitting on the benches.. the ladies still talking about their husbands and their husbands still swapping knives.

Brought back a lot of memories and made me miss my home town, we still have the "gatherings there, because it's so far out in the woods they have to pump sunlight so all they can do is gather and chit chat, though it, the town itself has changed drastically, the people no longer genuinely care about one another, the kids are no longer the focus of the community, love thy neighbor or at least uplift them is no longer important.....Most of my education came from the gatherings, where the older people would tell stories and share their life experiences, now it seems they are just waiting for the sun to consume them, and the ball parks that were once fields of dreams cluttered with kids learning life and discipline remain empty, a sad reminder of where our society hath gone....Thanks for sharing this, we need to get back to the basics...

want to know what happened to society, ask a writer.