Recorded near Robinson Township, Pennsylvania
This snapshot was collected in conjunction with the Museum on Main Street program at the Smithsonian Institution. It is part of the "Be Here: Main Street" collection, intended to capture Americans' stories about their neighborhoods, waterways, towns, traditions, and personal experiences.
What's special about your small town?
"My name is Carol Shenesky. I've lived in Buckhannon, West Virginia, for 37 years. During that time, I'm constantly amazed at how a small town can raise so much money. Buckhannon, West Virginia, is the fundraising capital of the United States.
It doesn't matter whether it's a small church with a pancake dinner or the football team wanting thousands of dollars to take the whole team to Disney. They will set a goal, and the small town of Buckhannon, West Virginia, will reach that goal.
Many people are involved in every activity but so are many groups. Since it is a small town, each person is involved in more than one organization in the community. This means that whenever you're doing a project, you automatically get several organizations involved in your project just because the people in your group are involved in those organizations.
I think this makes it different than if you were living in a larger place. Every time something happens in Buckhannon, everyone knows about it in five minutes. And so when you have an activity, everyone in town will know what you're doing, why, and they'll feel invited to come."
Asset ID: 7460
