Thanks for that lovely story about your history. I participated with equal interest working in a radio/tv sales and repair shop, knew the owner and worked side-by-side with him. The nearby town square had plenty of clothing, furniture, shoe, and jewelry stores, along with one or two 5-and 10c stores (which we country kids thought were the largest stores on the planet, LOL).
IMO, one of the many causes of our demise as a society is the loss of small private companies and small corporations that were a big part of our communities. Those companies felt responsibility toward the towns and took part in community charity and sponsored civic activities. Therefore, employees felt connected and were a part of the company.
I'm glad you're seeing at least a tiny part of that return to your town. Just taking a quick look at Wegman's, it would appear they still take some interest in community. 
Edit history
Recommendations
0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):
= new reply since forum marked as read