There would be a Tobacco Parade in the summer, when all the tobacco warehouses were bustling businesses. It celebrated the fact that tobacco was an industry in our community that provided a livelihood for so many. In the fall, there would be the Homecoming parade for the High School. And of course, the Christmas lights and Christmas Parade. Santa was a very busy fellow during the Christmas season, for you couldn’t go into a store uptown without seeing him. You just knew you had to behave because he was definitely watching you.

When I got my driver’s license, I had to go to the courthouse to take the test. The State Patrol officers would be there, give the test and if you passed, you then had to drive around town, turning at lights, changing lanes and parallel parking, all on our famous one-way streets, to pass the test. All under the watchful eye of the officer. It was really rough on the nerves!

Most of all, downtown Moultrie was safe when I was growing up. There were policemen who patrolled on foot regularly, and everyone knew them, and everyone knew the meter maid (oh, did I mention we had parking meters then? Talk about having to dig for change!) And you knew to watch the time, because you were sure to get a ticket if you parked overtime.

A lot of the folks, had to buy groceries on Saturday, so they’d park at Harveys (it was much easier to get a parking place there). Harveys was across from the City Hall then, and the folks would walk uptown, buy what they needed, walk back and buy groceries. Whatever items they had purchased could be put in the car or truck, and no one bothered them! No one locked the vehicles; in fact most left the windows open. Wouldn’t it be nice if that were the case today? Nowadays, items aren’t even safe in locked vehicles.

I remember when I was growing up, going to town with my mama, daddy, or grandmother. The little kids always stayed with the grown-ups, but once you got a little older you could venture out on your own. I remember going to town with Mama on Saturdays. She’d always go to the beauty shop, and I’d get bored, very bored. Of course we’d go shopping afterward, but it seemed such a long time to wait. But when I turned 11 or 12, I was allowed to go to stores by myself. I thought I was grown! It was always with the warning, “You be careful now.” Daddy would always make sure I had money to buy something I wanted. At that age, I had discovered perfumes, makeup and clothes! I’d go to Murpheys and buy a perfume in a blue bottle, called “Evening in Paris,” it smelled awesome! Then I’d buy new nail polish, and then off to the purses and clothes. I could go into shoe stores, clothing stores and pick out my own things. I could go to fabric departments, find a pattern, be able to read the pattern and buy the things needed for a new outfit. My mama was a wonderful seamstress — she didn’t even need a pattern to make a dress — but there were so many pretty patterns and styles. Between my grandmother and me, she kept busy sewing new clothes for us, even making some for herself along. She also did sewing for the public, so I had learned the fabric department routines at an early age. But it was just as exciting getting new homemade clothes as buying store bought clothes. And to be able to pick out your own, was the ultimate.

As I grew into my teens, downtown was still a big thing. We’d still go to town on Saturday, Mama would get her hair done, and I’d go shopping. By then I could find the clothes I wanted and put them on lay-away, take the receipt home and Daddy would give me the money I needed to get them out. That worked out really well when my mama was in the hospital and I had to get school supplies and clothes one year on my own. And I think my daddy was thankful he didn’t have to trudge through the stores, waiting for me to find what I wanted.

It was a different time and a different place. In todays world I’d be a nervous wreck, if I knew my child was walking around town on their own. Now I wouldn’t want them to even walk around in the store alone. But then, so many of the store clerks knew everyone, people on the street knew everyone and kids were taught to respect others. If you didn’t behave, you can bet that your parents would find out, and the next time you went you were guaranteed to behave. We were taught that if you didn’t have the money, the item stayed in the store. There wasn’t a problem with shoplifting, at least not like it is today. We were taught the Ten Commandments. When mama said, “Don’t go further than Belks,” you didn’t go past there. You listened to Mama and Daddy or even Grandma if you went with her. If you went with a neighbor, you listened to them. There were these wonderful things in society then that were called Honesty and Trust! Another was RESPECT!

As I grew older, stores I had grown up with began closing and moving away from downtown. It was really sad to see them go. There was a closeness in the community then that hasn’t been the same since. Stores moved far and wide, scattered among areas they thought would bring better business. Downtown died.

It’s nice to see stores moving back into those buildings. But it will never be the same. Too much time has passed, society has changed, economic times have changed and the closeness that was held together by the square cannot be recouped, which is sad. No matter how many stores move into those buildings, the state of our society will not allow it to go back to those days.

It was common in high school to hear fellow classmates always talking about leaving Moultrie because there wasn’t anything to do. I never had the desire to leave. After I got married, I moved away for a short time, but I missed home, so we came back. Moultrie is home, and the memories it has given me, outweigh the “nothing to do” by a mile. Just walking around the square, looking at the magnificent Courthouse, those beautiful trees, reminiscing about the stores brings back so many happy memories. These past years have created more memories by seeing my children in parades around that ole square, taking my grandchildren to see Santa on the square. It is still creating special memories for our family.

It bothers me to hear people constantly complain that there’s nothing to do here. Of course we all need more competition in our stores, so we all eventually go out of town to shop. And other towns may have bowling alleys, game rooms and such, but when you talk to young people in those towns, they also complain, “we have nothing to do here.”

It just goes to show that our society is spoiled. Growing up in Moultrie is something I am very proud of. No, we may not have had all the fancy things to do, but I grew up in a town that was safe. I grew up in a community where we knew our neighbors and when you met them on the square on Saturday, you still took time to greet them and have conversations. We knew we’d be in church on Sunday. It is totally different now. But bringing in new things to do isn’t the answer — people get bored quickly and they will always complain. In order for our community to come together, to become better and safer, we all have to go back to the days of caring, respect, discipline, honesty, integrity, friendliness. In other words, it’s the people who have to change, people have to want better for themselves and their family. You can not depend on others to make the world a better place, or a happier place, it first has to start within yourself. Then we can hope that our communities can go back to a place of feeling safe for our children to enjoy growing up there. Even if they complain, “Mom, there’s nothing to do here.”