PatsyCLockhart.txt

-n -n -n >> Okay, we're in Grundy, Virginia, interviewing Patsy, Carolyn, Kendra, Lockhart, P.O. Box 224, Maxi, Virginia. 24628, phone 703-531-8341. It is what's today? >> May 26, 1994, it's approximately 6 PM Eastern Standard Time. This tape is being made for the Kentucky Historical Society. >> First thing I'll do is ask you a few questions that have to do with grandparents. Where did your grandparents come from on both sides of the family? Who are they? Where did they live in here from? Did you know they up? >> Okay, well, they're from- >> Their names. >> Right, my mother's parents, they were from Piedfell, Kentucky area. And really just basically in that area, Jesse Thacker and Mamie Childress Thacker. And my grandparents on my father's side were from Mouthcard, Kentucky area, which is closer to where we are now. And that was George and Ledy, Kinder. And it sounds terrible that I'm a little bit slow about this, but I had one grandmother when I was born and she died when I was two years old. So I think I have just very, very tiny little memories, if possible, of her. Just maybe a glimpse. I remember when she died, I think I can remember being on my dad's shoulders at the cemetery, because I remember being higher up than everybody else. And seeing all the crowd and the flowers and being just confused, I guess. >> That's what was going on? >> Yeah, yeah. >> What year was it? You remember? >> I remember being in this probably 58. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Because she died when I was two. And that was it. I can become very easily attached to older people, because when you don't have grandparents, I think you always want for something you really don't have. >> Okay, now your parents' names? >> Alma, Kinder. Well, actually, Alma Thacker Kinder and Clarence Kinder. My dad, we lost him back in '89. >> And he died from? >> Well, actually, from what happened in the mines, from working in the mines. >> Blackwell? >> Yeah. >> So your dad then was a polo man? Okay, what about your grandfather and your grandmother? >> Well, on my dad's side, my grandparents, my grandmother was just a homemaker, of course. My grandfather just really was farmed and worked like that. But then on my mother's side, of course, my grandmother was a homemaker also. And then my grandfather was a conductor on railroad. So he worked in that type of work. >> Okay, so he grew up then basically in the '60s. And early '70s. >> Yeah. One of the reasons that I wanted to interview you in particular was because you had some real clear memories of what it was like growing up here at Groundsby. And you seemed to have a very positive vision of what it had been like. So if you would, I guess just go ahead and tell us, what was it like growing up here in the late '50s? And probably your memories are going to go back into the '60s mostly. What was it like then? You went to school and friends, and what did you do? And all those kinds of things. >> Well, elementary school, you have your basic friends that you stay the night with and go to ball games and cheer and whatever. And I was a homebody. I loved being home. And that was about it as far as doing things. I mean, we would go to the ball games. We would go to school. It's down with friends. We would go to the movies. We would all live with theater, which was absolutely wonderful. It's a great place. We all really just grew up there. >> Hope some of the movies you remember. >> Oh, good Lord. Thomas Cena made me cry. That I really, really remember. A lot of old Dean Jones Disney movies. What is it about all the dogs, the ugly ducklings, something like that? With the little docks. Yeah, Suzanne Plischet was in that. Goodness, my first movie I ever really saw with my husband was "Oklahoma." It was a musical. And I truly have never appreciated musicals because in my day, my busy little schedule or not so busy little schedule through the day at home, in the middle of the laundry, I don't jump on the washer and start singing. So I just don't appreciate musicals. Maybe like I should. No, no. So that just tore up the plot for me. What kind of movies did you relate to? Oh, goodness. Probably "Adventure," a good love story. Just things like that. I mean, I grew up with television, things like, oh, Lord Lassie. "Leave It To Beaver." You know, I mean, good ol' wholesome stuff, westerns and bonanza and all these things. So growing up here in Grunty, Virginia, during the 60s and early 70s, the things that you're articulating, it was not dramatically different than Zinio, Ohio and lots of other places where they had the same kind of television affair. Right. Now, where I live, we live close to where the coal mines was that my dad worked. And we would walk, I would walk, it would be like maybe a mile away. And there was a company store there. And maybe a girlfriend or friend from up the road, we would get together on occasion through the week and we would walk to the post office to get the mail. And then we would stop at the store and get some snacks or whatever. And, you know, on the way home we'd stop and I don't know, maybe a little picnic or whatever, but we would snack. And, you know, back then, there was not a lot of traffic and that was something that we would do. You were supposed to graduate in '76? No, actually '74. I was supposed to graduate in '75, but I just needed the English and government to graduate. So I took both classes in summer school and graduated in '74. And you were a cheerleader? Yeah, yeah, I was a cheerleader. That was fun memories. For the Grundy? Golden Wave, raw raw. The Grundy Golden Wave. The team was terrible that year. Best of all, I'm football. Goodness, I cheered for football. Now, wrestling was always, you know, they always did really well in wrestling, but the football team was really, did not do well. And it was, you know, hard to keep smiling and, you know, cheer through the end of the season. Well, now this is '74. This was the year the Vietnam War ended. You graduated. So all the way through high school, you were from '70 to '74, that was the winding down of the Vietnam War. What was it like here in Grundy for kids who were, was it a big issue? Did lots of kids go? Did anybody get killed? Did any of your classmates go? Well, with my age group, I was a little bit young, so none of them went. But yet, now with my husband, his year, I think he graduated in '69, there were, you know, a lot of kids that did go. And matter of fact, he, you know, was drafted. And he ended up going to Germany, but yet, you know, he never saw any of the fighting. And the bad side of the war, of course. But I think the way it touched most local people was in that, that they had someone that was there, of course, or knew someone. I remember going to a funeral service for someone that really, that my parents knew better than I. And it was heartbreaking, you know, anytime you go to something like that, it will touch you, even if you really don't know the person. But to me, I'd never been to a service where they had like glass over the casket. And the soldier was, you know, he was laying there and he was in uniform. And I was just really awestruck. I couldn't, you know, I'd never seen anything like that before. - You started to relate to it. - Yeah, very disturbing. - Do you remember who it was? - No, no, I don't. I really didn't even know. - What, you like to enter playover? - Yeah, somewhere in there. - What happened to you when you had shots? - Yeah, it was actually, it was like an explosion. And then of course, you knew you're thinking, you're looking and you're wondering about that, you've never seen, like I said, anyone under the glass before, but yet then you're wondering, you know, it had to be such an awful way to die, you know, and you're wondering, you know, is everything even there, you know? Because you're wondering about the situation, very uncomfortable with it. And the house, I still think of it every time I pass the house, it, you know, burned. But where it is, you know, I still remember that. - What was their sign? - I think actually the people rented the house. - And, you know. - But that was the only personal one. - Yeah, really. - What was it like going to high school and grounding where the kids, were they supportive of the war, were they against the war? By that time, the tide had pretty much turned. Had they reached the point that they were no longer supporting the war, or were they still in favor of it, or how were they, how were they dealing with it? - We had both, you know, you have some people who are pro and con, whatever. I think most of us just found it very disturbing, and we just felt that, you know, we shouldn't have even been there. You know, we looked at it as, you know, just tragic loss of lives, and it was just so sad, you know, that we were even there. And then, you know, you would hear about other things that were more local in the states, like wood stock and things. And I think where we were here, I was really not touched by that. I, you know, I heard things about it, but yet, you know, I really, not in depth. You know, now we would have coverage, a lot more coverage on television. I mean, you know, TV would be all over it. But, you know, then there really weren't, you know, you would hear a bit. But, you know, not a lot. So I just really weren't even caught up in that. Okay, one of the, I think you're lucky enough of that, one of the things that I, one of the reasons I wanted to end with you was because you had such a poetic way of describing that time. Do that some more for me. Give me a big hand back in your memory, thanks. And what's it been like after you got out of high school? What happened to you? Well, I got married. Right out of high school? Really. And that was such a change because I've always been a real kid at heart anyway. And so I went to really, you know, the responsibility of, you know, married life. And probably would have went on to school, but my husband really didn't want me to. He was one of those situations where, you know, he really didn't want me to go on to, you know, to finish in summer school. You know, it was one of those matcha things, you know, well, you know, I will take care of you in a thing. And so I had a lot of friends who went on to school that went on maybe to Piper College or went away to other colleges and they commuted back and forth. And I could have done that also, but, you know, he just really didn't want that. And, you know, and I'm not complaining at all because really I've settled into a situation where I feel very, very content. You know, I love working three days a week. As far as a career back then, I always thought that it would be wonderful to be a pharmacist because I did not have the courage, you know, to be a physician or a nurse because I would have been fine as long as everybody. Everything was going well and everybody was, you know, I was safe and everyone and I was good with the world. But, you know, when I lost the first person, I would have been beaten on the chest, you know, police or, you know, come on, you know, help bring him back. So I knew that if I wanted to help people, it would have to be in a sort of a roundabout way. You would have liked to have been maybe a pharmacist or something. Probably. Had I gone to school, I would have been a pharmacist. Children, do you have children? I have a daughter, Leanne, who was just wonderful. She is a very together mature young lady. She is who Leanne is. What grade is she? She is. This is her first year of college. What? Yeah, and she, we begged, she was accepted at Radford and really was happy to be going away and we just could not deal with it. You know, being parents of the only child, you know, was shameless. We begged and pleaded with her to stay local and go to the community college at least one year and she finally agreed. But that only came about after promising a new car, later curfew and more allowance. So, yeah, I think she did well. Oh, yeah, yeah. Sometimes you have to come in. Oh, goodness. I was eleven and now, then it was up to twelve. So, but yet my main issue here is look, you know, if you're going to be late, that's fine. You know, I can deal with that. Just be safe. Take your time and don't rush home because I'd rather you, you know, be careful and make it than to try to rush and wreck. So, but you know, she is like I said, she's very together and strong individual, survivor. So she's going to. Yes. And she, I think really Rodney is interested in getting involved with the respiratory program. Yeah. So you're she's more. So the president's views about women in college have changed. Oh, yeah, they haven't changed. I think he's ready for me to go now. And it was cute. I think actually they probably changed a few years ago because he kept saying, well, you know, we had. We had relatives in the family or friends or whatever that were going back to school and he would say, well, you know, Patsy, if you want to know, you know, you could do that too. And I was saying, well, you know, what's the rush Joe? You know, I'll maybe I'll do that when Lee starts to college. We'll just sort of go together. And, you know, which was a farce. I do not mean it because I like my time now. I'm very content with this and enjoy the way it is. I really am the type person who who really, really I look at happy, complete life. And this is not for every individual because some people are very career minded or whatever. But with me, I've always been sort of a homebody and enjoy being home. But yet you need to get out enough to preserve your sanity. So with the three days a week that I work, that's good. It gets me out of the house. And I think more than anything else you need, the important part of life would be, you know, someone to share your life with a family close, you know, contacts with your family. Good communication. Not that it is always good, but yeah, good communication with the people you love. And just, I don't know, growing old together and seeing what comes next. What was it like raising kids in the 70s and late 70s and early 80s? Well, I know one difference between, I know when I was in high school and when my daughter, you know, had gone through high school back then, you know, kids had cars. But now as far as the new cars showing up all over the car lot there, and it didn't happen. I mean, there was like three. I was very fortunate I had a new car. Well, I like in the 10th grade and that was wonderful. My mom and dad, I always wanted a mini bike and that was going to get me one. And mother was devastated. You know, he already had the handlebars folded and everything. I was ready to load it and mother was just absolutely devastated. And I looked at her and I said, you know, is this going to upset you that much? I said, that's okay. It's not that important to me because I don't want to upset you like this because I knew it would scare her to death when she took me on it. So she promised me a new car. She said, okay, fine. If you'll, if you'll not do this, I'll get your car when you get your driver's license. So that's what they did. And I had a neighbor bless his heart when I would be going to Chile and practice because all I had was learners permit. He would ride with me back and forth so that I could take the car and he would wait while we practiced and sleep whatever. And that was, that was special. But nowadays, you know how kids, I mean, everywhere, the whole lineup, you know, it's all over the place. But back then there was like maybe a couple new ones and then some old ones. And I don't think it was since important back then. But now it is the same. You see the automobile as a status symbol has certainly risen in the world. Yes. Yes. What are the, what are the status symbols here in Gruny, Virginia? You know, what, what, what, what, what is there a, is there a clearly defined social order or is there a, is there, is it a mix or is it a. I think it's probably typical. Like it would be anywhere. I mean, there's, there's different. I hate to say levels, but unfortunately it is. Social economic. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, according to what you have, according to you. You know, your, your dress or your, and that sounds bad, your car, your dress. I think one thing important too is the individual because my daughter has always managed to, you know, revolve around all, you know, from, from one to another, whether it be, you know, younger classmates or older. And that's good. I've tried to instill in her. And, and I, I mean, I died tomorrow. I'd want her to remember me this, you know, there's always going to be people who have more than you do, but that don't make them better than you. And then there's always going to be, you know, people who have less than you, but you're not better than they are. And, and this is true in my heart. I really, I believe this and I look at people and that's how I feel. But yet, like she would tell you and like she told me, she said, this is true. And I feel that way. But yet, it's not always the way it works out there. So, you know, it is. And, you know, Uh, church, has church been a big part of y'all's life? Is it something that you do or don't do? Not really, you know, often. Well, I think that's, I think that's changing in the mountains just like, well, now a lot of the older ladies that we're going to be, religion is a real important thing. But, but, and people that are our age in their 30s and their 40s, it is less of an important factor. That's not to say that it's not important to us, but it's not something that's our central core of being. And I think for a lot of exuberant women that we've interviewed, it really is. So what's your, what's been your religious experience and your daughters and your husbands and, and do you all, do you belong to a church? No. Okay. So when you attend, where do you go? To the local church, the one that's closest to home. Um, I'm a firm believer that, you know, it's not going to be, you know, in the great hereafter, you know, a matter of label from one church and G, you don't make it because you weren't in that one. You know, I think God is, thank God, he is very forgiving God. And I, you know, that is very important to me. God is, and I do believe in God. I'm very, I'm God fearing God loving. Um, yes, you know, he just doesn't really discuss it and get into it. But yet, you know, you can see it's instilled in him and it's just in him. It's not something that we'll, you know, we really talk about a lot. I think with him, I think if you get into that discussion, it's directly, you know, related to dying. And he just didn't, that's something he just didn't discuss. And um, Religious is important when you die before you're going to go. Oh yeah. I'm not ready to die so early on. No, I'm not going to talk about it yet. Uh, did, what church were you raised in? Uh, really my parents and um, sisters, I did, sisters went to the church across and I went there when I was in a young green school. So the devil was raised in the church. Yes. And, and uh, went there through, you know, often on through high school and um, For your husband, you know, I really don't know. Probably when you say the local church, what do you know when you go to one of the church? Uh, it's not a Baptist church, right? Uh, do you find it significantly different from the church of Christ? You know, this really terrible, but I really can't say, I can't give you honest opinionated answer because I don't feel that I've been there enough to believe. No, that's just very honest. Uh, that's okay. That's all I want. It's not important. Um, so, and your daughter in terms of religion, does she go to church once a month, every six months? Uh, something probably every, more likely every six months. Okay. We'll go in for a special occasion when Mother wants us to come. We'll go. Or, uh, you know, they'll have revival, something like that will go. But um, To your mother's like church Christ revival? No, we'll go, we go down here. Right. To the Baptist church. Right. So, uh, then the thing that I'm getting at here, I'm not, I'm not trying to, what I'm, what I'm seeing here is, is that as times move on, religion is becoming less of an influence in the, in the region in terms of, of as people, Yes. And I hate, I hate to even say that or say dealing with me because, you know, where I am just one individual and it is very, you know, God, you know, is very important to me. It's just that, you know, um, I can, I communicate with God through prayer. And I know, um, and I have friends, you know, who have different beliefs. And I think what is important is what you believe in here and God knows, you know, how we feel, you know, uh, whether it be right or wrong, if you just believe it, you know, and, and I think. Our people here, do they tend to, now do you think that's a view that's particular to you? Or are, are people here pretty tolerant and, uh, now where I'm from in Cross, we'll tell you, see, they're not that tolerant. Okay. They'll allow you to believe what you want to believe. Right. And if you're determined to go to hell, it's your own business. This is just me. Okay. I cannot speak for anybody but me. And like I said, you know, I feel like I have shortcomings in that I do need to go more. I need to go to church more. And I don't, and I should, and I, I'm, I'm playing too. But, uh, like I said, you know, it's not that I, it's not that important to me. And it's not that I don't believe in God. It's just that, um, I just never get around to it. And that's terrible. There's another thing, one of the reasons, one of the, again, one of the reasons I'm interested in this interview is because you're not, we've interviewed a lot of 50, 60, 70 year old women. And you're, you're somebody who's still young enough to where you're in touch with being young, but you're old enough to where you've formed some opinions and attitudes and ideas about things. And, um, I know at home among the late 20s and early 30s crowd in, in the, what was saying in the 30s, uh, if any working 25 to 40, um, uh, AIDS, big concern. Is that a, is that a big concern here? Do your friends talk about it a lot? Are they knowledgeable about it? Is it something they're concerned with? Is it something they think about? Really, I think really all of the above it's not that it's discussed that much because I think, you know, in the area, any actual cases is more under wraps. You don't really hear about it local or know of anyone who really, you know, has it. But yet I think it's, you know, you'd have to be a, you know, an ostrich with your head in the sand to not, to exactly know about it. So you've not actually had any cases of AIDS in Grunty, where anybody died from it or? Not that, that you really know of unless it's just very low key. Yeah. And so when, if anybody does die from it, then it's kept very quiet. It's, it's still, there's a real social state of my cashing. I think so. Yeah. Okay. Now, how do you think someone would be treated here, say for instance, if it became community knowledge that, uh, Susie Smith or Jack Smith or whoever that, that they had it? How do you think they did? You know, there is a case in the, in this area, a very prominent individual, a physician who has AIDS. And I think the area's handled it wonderfully. I don't think we're frightened of it. I think we're knowledgeable enough to, to not be frightened of it. I think we're saddened by it because we know, you know, deficit. Is this a well liked person? Yes. It's a doctor. Um, Baxter. What are the exceptions? Older gentlemen. Uh, I'm not sure what, probably 70s. Oh, really? 60s. Well, is he, uh, is he still practicing? Yes. And a very loved individual. Uh huh. Yeah. Right. We have, we have people here at the library who still go there. And I don't think, like I said, How's his health? Uh, I think at present time, it's good. Yeah. So right now, he's just HIV positive. He's not necessarily full grown. Right. I'm, well, you know, I can't really say cause I don't, I don't know that much in depth. It's not, it's not effective. His practice at all. And, and I think that's wonderful because I think, you know, to be knowledgeable about it, you, you can, you can still communicate and have friends and, and love the people who, you know, who have that. You just, you need to be knowledgeable of it and know how to deal with it. But I'm sure there's people who are still frightened and uncomfortable with it. And I think if it were in the school system, would be, you know, I'm sure it is in the school system. Nobody knows it. Exactly. Exactly. If it were made public, it would be, you know, I think there was still being, there's still be a real falling off of how we feel about like to say it, particularly among the younger set. Exactly. We didn't have, you know, a lot of things to do back then. I mean, there, there was a theater, thank God, and the movie went on for some time and we would go to that. And I got older, you know, and the movies were a little bit old, you know, by the time they got to you, you know, they were already popular somewhere else and they passed on, you know, you would go somewhere else maybe to the movies. That was more really even when Lee was a kid. But back then with us, we were content with going to the theater and then stopping it. There was a little drive-in down here, King Kong drive-in from Frosty. We keep hearing this over and over and over. Kids had it a lot tougher today than we had it. Do you think kids have it tougher today? Do you think there are a lot more things for them to get into and get hurt by or, you know? I think there's a lot more pressures because there's, there's a lot more things out there that are really bad for you. I think it's just dreadful now and I think drinking is worse now than it was then. I don't know. And I can't tell you why. I think maybe it's just easier to acquire now. And I'm sure back then, you know, it was there. Now with me, I was never approached with any dreads or whatever. I don't know if maybe that's because my friends knew that I was the type of person that just, you know, knew that or, you know, I don't know. I know that when we talk about all these different, more pressure, more peer pressure, it seems certainly statistically, of course, it's true that teens are sexually active a lot sooner than they are then. Exactly. And I know, you know, when I was in high school, I could think of like four or five people that we definitely thought were doing it. Yeah. And the others were just thinking about it. That's when we were seniors. Right. So it was not like, it was not like, and the four or five we thought were doing it, only half of them probably were. We're doing it right. Right. So it's, and I know now, since I taught it in ninth grade for so many years, I know that it's very unusual for many girls and boys to go into tenth grade and they're not sexually active. So it's probably half of them. So it's really a real change in that and a real change, like you say, in the drinking and drugs in the cars. Yeah. So there is, I guess there are those things that are, so those are the things you're saying that are creating the social pressure and the more that's there. That's sad too, especially the sexual part because that's something that should be special and so important to individual rather than to sexual. And so frequent and with so many people. And I think, you know, really nowadays it's just, it's changed and a lot of it, you know, you really need to instill in your children, you know, how you feel about it. And you can't, you know, make a child into something that you want or something you want it to be. You just have to lay it out for it, let it see and hope that it can grasp the good and go with it and just be there for it if it doesn't, you know, and if it needs you. Looking for what you see as out there, future. What do you see happening in the future, in the greatest future, in your future? I worry about Grundy because, you know, it doesn't offer a lot to the kids. I'm absolutely delighted that we have a theater now for them to go to and that way they don't have to drive an hour on, you know, really bad roads. Yeah, to the theater and this is wonderful that we have this in the area. But yet as far as industry, you know, how long can the coal industry last, you know, and it's been around for so long, you know. Now, these deep mines here, drip mines or what? I think there's a bit of a ball, yeah. And the land, you know, can take a bait in and they can replenish it to a part, but, you know, like I said, you can look at town. You don't see the genuine cheer though that you've seen in the southeastern Kentucky. They appear to have been more responsible in their development here than they did in another place. Right, thank God for that. But, you know, you can drive through town and you can see, you know, businesses that are a lot of empty buildings and that means that, you know, to go out of town for shopping, a lot of shopping. And you mentioned you went out of town a lot for shopping. Where do you go shopping? Shameless. I like to go to Ronok or to Richmond. Really, just even to get away. Now, my mother's the little shopper. She loves to shop. Now I love to go up Mountain Light too, which is just really about three hours from here. And it's wonderful up there and it's peaceful. I mean, if my spirit is confused at all, when I die, it's gone there. I mean, no questions. It's gone there. Where is it now? It's in Pembroke, Virginia. It's a place called Mountain Lake. If you saw the movie Dirty Dancing, Patrick Swasey, the Hotel Cullermans, that's it. At the hotel. That's it. And we started going there years ago when Lee was just tiny, probably maybe six years old. And I fell in love with the place. It is absolutely on top of the world. So you and your husband go up there? Joe didn't get to go as often, you know, actually. He's the good part. The wonderful husband bit that stays home works. So the little fam can go do all the fun stuff. And he goes to the bathroom? Yes, he really does because he's uncomfortable with dressing for dinner and all of the above. But, you know, it's wonderful that, you know, he's been a wonderful provider. Absolutely. And I'm grateful. So you see hard times ahead for Grundy if the coal industry disappears. Although it still seems to kind of be holding its own, which is more than it has in other places. But whenever it does disappear, what do you see happening here to make people want to stay here? I don't get the sense that the out migration has been as large here as it has from other places. I mean, kids, I'm sure have gone here to go to other places, but it's not like, you know, in Harlan County where they hand them a diploma in one hand and a plane. I think a lot of that too is family oriented. You know, if you're families here and they're positioned in maybe a business or whatever, then, you know, that can apply to you if you want to fall into that. But if you want to really be an individual and branch out and go do other things, then you can go to school and whatever. So you're seeing then one of the reasons is perhaps there wasn't so much out migration is because they have perhaps a better developed middle class here in Grundy. Businesses and, you know, that type of thing that kids could fall into rather than just, you see what I'm saying. Do you see that as maybe a reason? Possibly. That's what you're-- Possibly. I want to put words in your mouth. No, help me here. Put words in my mouth. I think that's possible, especially with family oriented situations. Family business. What do you see then if cold leaves, what's going to happen? Oh, well, you know, honestly, I just-- I hate to use the word, you know, ghost town. There's not a lot left, really. I mean, I think they have a sowing-- maybe something they put in their house in Virginia. I mean, but it's very small. I mean, you know, that's not going to stay at the place. Has any great political visionary looked out across the scene here and said, hey, we need to make a plan for the next 20 years? Is any of that going on? I think probably individuals are doing it. I don't know. I think we all feel that way, but as far as actually combating together in a force. That's really-- Yeah. Having a plan. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, the national park is-- is that something that-- how far away is it? Well, from where I live, probably about 10 minutes. And from here, 30 probably. Okay, so maybe there's-- is there some way that this place can connect into that? Most definitely, I think it would help as far as survival, but I worry and that the local people who live in that immediate area look at it as, you know, coming into the area and disrupting the area of raising their property taxes. And I can understand all of that because I'm a person who looks to both sides of the story. But yet, you need to also look at the area, you know, for the future and for the kids. Right. And you need to make some changes. Okay, I think we've about done this here. If you summed it all up, crunched your leg down like a beer can. You have to-- one statement. No, mostly. What would you-- did that any different? Would you-- something from the past, the present, the future? What-- you know, this is your chance to say, "This is what I think." Oh, I'm telling you this a week ago. I could have something wonderful. I'm glad that I was born into a community like this because it, you know, let you grow. Let you live without worrying about crime. And back then, of course, it weren't that great in this area. It weren't that great. It seemed all around the United States as it is today. But yet, you know, I mean, you didn't worry about locking the doors and that was good. You sit on the porch, you know, in the evening and talk. I'm grateful for all that. I think you're more in touch with everything with your surroundings, the people around you, your community, everything. And I think right now, you know, the area hopefully is growing in ways because, you know, we have some businesses coming in. Just like the new theater, that's wonderful. That's good. That's for the kids. They have some new restaurants. We have things like that. But in the future, you know, I just hope that we can let more in to the area so the area can maybe thrive a bit and grow rather than all of us going away to do our shopping and things. You know, we need variety and we need it here. [thumping] [BLANK_AUDIO]