7 Things You’d Only Understand If You Were Raised In Ada, Ohio.

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)