7 Things You’d Only Understand If You
Were Raised In Ada, Ohio.
Every small town has
their quirks, but you don’t really know them unless you’ve lived there your
whole life.
I was extremely
excited when I first saw the links being shared on my Facebook page for an
article about my hometown. However, I
was quickly disappointed. Whoever wrote
this could not be from Ada. Not only was
there some misinformation, but also, there was so much missing. So, this is my list of the 7 things only
those of us born and bred in Ada can truly appreciate. Of course I couldn’t include everything,
however, I think I hit some of the main things.
Disclaimer: No offense
to ONU students, we love you…most of the time…and we know that you have enjoyed
and or experienced many of these aspects of our small town. But remember,
though we loan it to you for a few months every year, this place is our home
and part of who we are and nobody can talk crap about our town but us.
1. There may not be
much, but there’s pizza.
Pizza has always been a staple in our town and we have
ALWAYS had an array to choose from.
Currently we have at least the following: Padrone’s, East of Chicago, 3
Brothers (Ada owned woot woot), Norada Lanes, and Viva Maria’s—plus there’s gas
station and bar pizza. Of course there
is absolutely no need to have so many pizza places in a town so small that it’s
still considered a village but that has always been the Ada way. Also, if you grew up in Ada, you know that
McDonald’s is new and still kind of a novelty.
Instead, when you think of fast food restaurants and Ada, you’ll think
of the good old days when Hardee’s was the center of your food universe. Sure they never got your order right (ketchup
only gosh darn it) but they had killer breakfast bowls and if you had the
Hardee’s mug you got your coffee for 25 cents (my dad has still never found a
true replacement). Also, you’ll always remember
the parking lot full of car wash fundraisers and vintage car shows—and the time
that your brother swallowed the gold fish at one. Ada natives still expect to see Hardee’s
where Rite Aid now sits and they will always be a little disappointed that its
gold star is gone.
(Photo Credit: Google Search)
2. We have three
bars, and one place that may count some day.
If you were raised in Ada you know that there are three bars
and that each has a specific function.
Little Mexico is the not authentic Mexican Restaurant in town that has
great breakfast, locals singing karaoke, and cheap drinks. This is the place where you run into your old
high school teachers and friend’s parents when you come back to town to
visit. The Beagle (cause nobody calls
that place by its full name) is the college bar. You can’t get in until you’re 21 and it feels
like the forbidden fruit in town. That
is until you’ve been inside a few times.
The sticky floors and puking college students get on your nerves pretty
quickly but you always come back for a hug from Pops. Finally, John and Toni’s is the straight up
townie bar. If college kids find their
way in there they are out the door fast, never to return again. It’s only for a select few and you know if you’re
one of them pretty quickly. Some people
might think that The Cask Room should be on this list, but if you’re from Ada
you know that it hasn’t been around long enough for you to count it as anything
but a passing fad. Ada is known for its always-revolving
storefronts and until something has stuck around for more than a few years we
always keep it at arms length...Stromboli’s, Bella Rosa, the dance studio, the
beanie baby store…it’s just not worth the heartache.
(Photo Credits: Google Search)
3. If life gives you
a barrier…drive around it.
Trains are a nuisance but if you’ve lived in Ada all your
life you know how to get around them.
Locals know that when a train is loading at the Grain Elevator we can
make it to the next road over, weave around the gates, and be on our way with
very little time lost. Also, if you’ve
lived in Ada your whole life you’ve probably gone all the way out into the
country to avoid a train at least once. We know that this isn’t very safe but we also
know that a train may sit there backing up and moving forward for 30 minutes
and we’ve got places to be!
(Photo Credit Heather M Scholl)
4. The Polar Bear
Effect.
If you grew up in Ada you know that ONU has a strange effect
on our small town. Our population almost
doubles in the fall as the students fill the dorms, condos, and rental houses and
the town begins to come to life. As a
teen, life instantly gets more interesting.
There are new people to meet, flirt with, and lie to. If you were raised
in Ada you probably lied about your age to an attractive college student at
least once in your life. It’s a rite of
passage and a guilty pleasure for us townies.
ONU makes it possible for unrealistic things to become commonplace: entire
football teams hang out at the local pool flirting with high school girls—making
their entire summer, Men’s Cross Country Teams rescue a Damsel in Distress by
pushing her car out of a snow bank, and there are keg parties that seem to
rival any 90’s teen movie. However,
there does come a day when the novelty of ONU wears off. We often don’t realize it has happened until
we find ourselves muttering under our breath at the hordes of kids walking
across the street, or when the boys on the ONU basketball team suddenly look
like children instead of the men of your young dreams. Maybe it’s the first time you complain about
the loud kids down the street playing their music and hollering into the
night. Whenever it happens, you stop for
a moment and realize you are now an adult and you can’t wait for the silence of
the summer months.
(Photo Credit: Google Search)
5. Our school is tiny
and we love it.
Growing up in Ada often means that the people you meet in
your kindergarten class will be the same ones that you will walk across the
stage with on graduation day. And the
girl who sat next to you at the blue table is probably still your best
friend more than 20 years later. We
usually graduate with numbers less than 60.
We know every single person in our class and at least the three classes
above and below. And I mean we know
them. ALL. We were in the band, choir, FFA, and played
sports. We didn’t misbehave in school
because our teachers knew our parents personally. We fought with our friends and we made up. We dealt with life and death together. We celebrated and cheered our Bulldogs on no
matter how long it had been since we won a championship and we cried together
when we lost one of our own. We still remember
our teachers and still call them Mr. or Mrs. We know that they loved us and
sacrificed for us and we know that they helped shape who we are today. We may have complained about our small town
school but we also know that we wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
(Photo Credits: Neisha Ulrey and Amy Miller)
6. The NFL Footballs
are made here…by my mom.
We don’t have a passing pride in the footballs that you see
being thrown on a Sunday afternoon by the greats we have an actual
connection. My mom checked that
ball. My brother designed that panel. My cousin tied those laces. We all have a connection to the factory that
through sweat, blood, and leather produces the balls that are thrown by Brady
and Manning. We know that after the
Conference Championship, as the final two teams are decided, the factory fills
with people who will work all night to create the balls that will be shipped to
the Super Bowl. We know that it is our
family members and neighbors that make it all possible. We know that our little town is a part of
something big. We know that we are a part
of history.
(Photo Credit: Google Search)
7. Swimming in fields
of gold
Growing up in Ada you probably had one of two summer jobs
(or both); working for a local farmer or at the swimming pool. Whether you spent the summer months detasseling
corn or telling little kids to stop running, you had a job and that meant money
and power. What did you do with that
money? You probably wasted it on gas so
that you could drive from one end of town to the other, turn around and drive
back again. You didn’t always stop at
every stop sign because you knew that if both cop cars were parked at the
station you were free to break the rules.
Maybe you went into Taco Bell (remember when it had a Pizza Hut express
inside?) and flirted with the kids from USV on a Friday night after the
basketball game. Maybe you went to the
Midnight Swim and flirted with the Hardin Northern kids there. Maybe you lay out on your best friends roof
or hung out in their basement. Maybe you
went for a walk and bought some penny candy from Pepper’s or looked at the
Precious Moments figurines at Gardner’s.
Maybe you sat in the garden at the Depot or fed the ducks while avoiding
the evil black swans at ONU. You might
have gone to the park to watch a soccer game or swing. Maybe you went to the ice cream place whose
name you still don’t know or went into Four Seasons for a frozen Mountain Dew
or to a movie at the theatre. You might have rode your bike or roller skated
around the Green Monster or stopped into 302 after getting some Suter’s Sweet
Corn. Maybe you just sat on the porch
and breathed in the cool air while chatting with friends. Whatever you did, you usually remained in
Ada: because as much as you complained about it, you loved that place. And you still do. You may have stayed there, chose to raise
your family in the safe neighborhoods where you could let your kids play
outside and run uptown. If you left, you
have probably found yourself comparing wherever you are to Ada and realizing
that it comes up short. Sure other
places have malls and super centers and a few more culinary choices, but not
everywhere has heart. And if Ada has
nothing else, it has heart…and a lot of trees.
(Photo Credit: RichM2007 Flickr)
