I grew up in Frederick when it was still a town with its own post office (62639) and our address was a Rural Route. I remember calling in an order to a catalogue and the service representative told me she’d never heard of a Rural Route before, didn’t even know how to put it in the delivery system. Now the neighborhood mail comes through Rushville and only recently have the addresses turned from Rural Routes to “Street Numbers”.

There seems to be a need for balance when allowing a country space to also be a community space. I’d be happy to lend my thoughts to your grant application if you’d like to include what it was like to grow up in Frederick. Feel free to let me know what I can do to help. Though I don’t live there now, I’d love to go back and feel it again…and as they say “I won’t take nothin’ but the memories.” Good luck to you!

-Jill Barth