My Home Town

 Last week my home town, Java, celebrated 125 years with a Quasicentennial celebration.

current population

welcome sign at the city park

entertainment happened under the big tent

drone shot of Main Street where the action was

three food trucks to feed the attendees

another drone shot of Main Street

the blue building in the center is the Java Bar

the Post Office is to the left of the bar

insurance building is to the right of the bar

the Community Center (used to be the Legion Hall)

is across the street from the buildings in the above photo

photos were on display in the Community Center

the first Java School building 1903-1921

the school building I attended, 1956-1968

it does NOT look this good today, but it is still standing 

at the south end of Main Street

also on display were two Community Calendars

from 1964-1967

I am in the white outfit in each of the photos

band majorette

 display of school uniforms and 

other donated clothing for the Quasi Celebration

the class of '68 got together Thursday afternoon

9 of the 13 surviving classmates attended

4 classmates have passed away

a souvenir from the Quasi Celebration

a Java icon

the drone photo

I never climbed the water tower, but I had classmates and know of other foolish kids who did.

the photo of Main Street looking north to the end of town

in 1956 when we moved to Java, both sides of  Main Street

had businesses; there were no empty lots

no longer there, but a great memory from my teen years

still standing, but no longer in use, is the women's bathroom

it is just north of the Community Center

There is no way of knowing how many people attended the Quasi Celebration. I looked for people whom I knew were there, but did not find them. Sometimes, I saw a familiar name, but when I was ready to walk over and say Hi, they had disappeared. It was VERY HOT and HUMID Thursday through Sunday; temperatures were in the high 90s. 

This was the sunset as I drove to Mom's house on Friday evening. I pulled off the road to take some photos.

this band of clouds was on the north side of me

Three miles from this spot, the wind hit the area. There was so much debris (leaves, dust) blowing across the highway, I could hardly see. It was hard to keep the car in my lane as the wind was so strong. The area was in a tornado watch, but I did not know that until I reached the house. There wasn't a tornado in that area, but it is the same evening when tornadoes killed three people in North Dakota, destroyed farms, and tipped grain-filled train cars off the railroad track. 

(My photos have a watermark. Other photos were 'taken' from other public shared sources.)