Red, White, and New

I want to share a poem from my collection about Montrose, Pennsylvania. Maybe I’m feeling nostalgic. Maybe it’s an easy way to get up on the horse again here at The White Whale. Maybe it’s just time.    

It’s been a long hiatus—nearly a year and a half without publishing to my blog. As some of you know, I’ve been working on my new old house. Although I love living in old houses, I swore that my next house would be something that didn’t need constant renovations. Oh, but the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. It’s been fun posting before and after pictures of my projects—very satisfying to see something old restored.

That’s part of what compelled me to write over the past few days. Since I’ve been out of school, I’ve kicked the projects into high gear. I’m getting at those pesky things I’ve wanted to do for a while, but couldn’t find a span of free time to dedicate toward them. And it always takes longer than I anticipate. Still, it’s something I really enjoy, creativity paired with function. There’s always that pay off, too, of a job well done. For me, that’s Ralph Waldo Emerson’s self-reliance.

These June days leading up to July Fourth are all about renewal to me, and I look around and can’t help but notice Montrose is fresh and new, too. I always feel like we’re preparing for the holiday. I know I can’t list everything here, but isn’t it great to see new sidewalks near the courthouse. To finally have that hole at the bottom of Chenango Street repaved as well as Lake Avenue resurfaced. Someone up there decided to change their white house to yellow, old news maybe, unless you’ve been away a while. The Bible Conference made a little addition to their building, too. Even nature helped a bit when a strong gale pulled the aluminum awning off my house, to which one of my neighbors remarked, looks better, cleaner. That wasn’t quite the plan, but like I said, they often change.

I’m excited about downtown, too. Shop fronts are filling up again. There’s a new barbershop, which looks great, and if you need a haircut, I highly recommend Tim. Hometown Furniture and Lydia’s Bakery is in the Truman Lacy Building, and we finally have a place to buy furniture again. New paint on the flower shop looks great—I love the greens. Century 21 and Blooming Moon, a nonprofit that will offer programs for teens, filled up some more storefronts. It’s been weeks, but the renovations to the storefronts of Lucky Dog, Mr. Zim Zim’s, and Peter Kane Boutiques are done—and the new awning and siding looks great. We even have a new congregation filling a storefront on Public Avenue.

Maybe I’m gushing a bit, but I’m proud of Montrose. People are getting out there and taking their chances. To summarize the poet Walt Whitman, they’re taking risks, hoping for vast returns. We even have some new restaurants such as the Day-Break & Shine Diner on Public Avenue and the Busy Bee Cafe in the Tannery Place. Any day now, too, Original Italian Pizza will open their new restaurant on Grow Avenue, and personally, I can’t wait to see the new digs, though many of us still carry fond memories of The Stables.

As I said, this time of the year, the lead up to the Fourth of July, always has me watching Montrose. I want to see what people are doing, what’s fresh or different around here, as the holiday approaches. For me, more than any other days in the calendar, I feel a sense of renewal.  And very soon we’ll be sharing our version of small-town America with friends and family traveling to our special place from near and far.

July Fourth
by Aaron Sinkovich

Like a bride before her groom
Montrose puts on her best dress—
all bedecked in red, white, and blue.

We find forgotten friends, little additions
walking with mothers and fathers, and
waiting by the curb for the parade.

Then Public Avenue truly transforms,
coming closer to its namesake
than at any other point of the year.