I was reminded of a time last year when I was in Pennsylvania and went to a small town near my birthplace in Pennsylvania and was just looking around enjoying the memories from my childhood and saw a new bank building.  One of those boxes with no imagination, just efficiency and fancy sign.   This town, called East Smithfield (I don’t know why it is “East” because there is no “Smithfield” to be east of!) is a town from the past and in many ways is still there!  The village green goes down the center of town, churches, large old homes line the green, there is a bandstand as a center piece, lots of green grass, trees and just a real comfortable feeling.  The village cemetery is nearby, of course, the old general store.  It is just a wonderful town, right out of the past, a very attractive past. From my childhood I can still remember the ice cream socials, the parades, the little league baseball games and the Fourth of July Fireworks in East Smithfield.

 The new bank was a clanking intrusion on my memory and the charm of this town.  The old bank “Was East Smithfield” it “fit” and added to the charm of the village.  Why did they do this?  I am sure they had good reason, but to my way of thinking, they changed East Smithfield and not for the better. It is the start of a progression to be like thousands of other small towns.   My comment was that this town needed a Mimi Hardman.  For those who don’t know Mimi, she is a tireless worker for preservation.  She works, cajoles, irritates,  begs, demands that old buildings be saved, fixed up and remain a part of our history.  Lake Wales has benefited from her long and tireless work.  East Smithfield needed a Mimi.  For the lack of a Mimi, they are losing their charm and their history.

 Because of her work, along with others, our downtown has uniqueness, a charm that makes Lake Waleans proud. 

 So how does this get us to the new Wal-Mart Super Center, the new 20 bay RaceTrac gas station, a new Speedway gas station, a new video store, in short the New Marketplace of Lake Wales, 60 East?  This stretch of Highway 60 is beginning to look like a thousand other four lane highways just on the outskirts of towns all across America.  No distinction, no charm, no class.  It is the war of the biggest sign.  If you don’t believe me, as you travel this highway make a guess who will get the most business… RaceTrac or Speedway.  RaceTrack wins hand down!  This new marketplace needs a savior, a Mimi.

Now this is not to say that the Wal-Marts and the RacTracs have not tried to give things a good look.  If you did not stop and count you would not realize that Wal-Mart has planted over 250 (yes over 250, I counted and quit at 250) trees and probably 1,000 bushes trees along highway 60.  But these250 trees and 1,000 bushes do not do it!  It is still a vast Wal-Mart parking lot.  You don’t see a landscaped inviting area, all you see is the store, the tops of cars, cars, cars and the signs.  

We’ve got a “downtown” Mim.  We  need a “Four lane shopping center” Mimi.  And we need some bright new designers that can take design and landscaping to a higher level to make these avenues of commerce inviting, attractive and distinctive.  When someone invest the money to buy and plant 250 trees and not get there… we need to find some new talent or try something different.

 Sure, I am fully aware of the need for efficiency, this land is valuable.  I know full well that government bureaucrats can make unreal demands.  But it is our town… and to the Wal-Marts and the RaceTracs of the world… it will be your town too.  Let’s do better!