

Neosho was a great town to grow up in. I have good memories of the "Store", our family carpet business that was located in the IOOF building on the square. Here are a few pictures of that building, and the alley next to it. This is where Town & Country Carpet and Sleep Centre was located for several years. I experience a flood of memories each time I see this building. I think of the sidewalk sales, fall festivals and Christmas parades that used to annually clog the streets.
Every year the town shut the square off to traffic to hold the Annual Sidewalk Sale. I remember the Kiwanis BBQ shack smelling oh, so good when the chicken was cooking on the grill. I remember kids running around with pea shooters, and folks selling bread and pastries from their trucks. This was also a time to make some money selling carpet "squares", or samples that were from discontinued colors and patterns.
Times have changed. I would imagine the only time the square is full of people these days is during a big trial at the Courthouse. While there are still stores open for business, many businesses seem to have closed up shop. Gone are the annual sidewalk sales, the smell of great BBQ, etc... Funny, I don't miss those events as much as what happened inside the "store". I would spend days dreaming about college, reading the Grit newspaper, and looking forward to our trips to Colorado. Sometimes those days would even be punctuated with a quick trip for coffee at the restaurant off the square (can't remember the name), or ordering excellent burgers from R&W's. At least I think that was the name of the restaurant. This is also where we absently celebratated Nicholes 1st birthday. She was the first grandchild. Dad played Alabama on the stereo and everyone got misty-eyed because this little girl was growing up.
These days I still daydream about life. The location changes, but never the memories. They are good ones.