Published: 6/7/2020 12:36:50 PM
My father, the late Carroll B. Stowe, was the writer of the family. However, this evening, I find that I must pick up the “pen-sword” in his stead.
I never dreamt that I would find myself writing for this cause and Dad would have been heartbroken to even hear a muttering of what is afoot.
You see, we are “Heathens” and as Heathens we are very proud of our beautiful little town with her very picturesque Town Center — the quintessential “New England Town Center” complete with Sawyer Hall that houses the library, Post Office, town offices and meeting space, the Heath Unitarian Church, Community Hall/Senior Center, Town Common with flag pole, and Veterans Memorial.
I am a Heathen born and bred and proudly embrace the personality and unique essence of my beloved hometown. Whenever I hear the Tennessee Waltz or a rousing fiddle introduction, I am instantly transported back in time to the weekly, and then biweekly, square dances and the haunting strains of Phil Fournier’s guitar and square dance band. I learned to dance in the upstairs of the Community Hall; I waited tables at many “Fair” dinners, “Ladies Aid” dinners, and church dinners downstairs. Before I was big enough to wait tables, I would set tables with a childhood friend while our parents worked in the kitchen preparing the dinner and then we would help fill and refill serving dishes and clean up after. I played the part of Gwendolyn Fairfax in the Heath Youth Group’s production of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Ernest” on the Community Hall stage and decorated the same stage for haunted houses for Halloween parties for the trick-or-treaters. I remember when the Post Office was moved up to Sawyer Hall from an alcove in a private home just out of the center to the west of town. I remember rising extremely early one summer morning to watch a skillful crane operator place the newly redone steeple atop the church. I remember riding though the center as a participant in Dad’s wagon train the year of Heath’s Bicentennial, the sum of the units trailed all the way back to the fairgrounds as we were starting to go through the center, the pastor even interrupted his service so parishioners could watch. And, I remember my Uncle Richard Stowe giving the eulogy for his older brother in our pretty little country church and Dad being lovingly placed in the bed of his beloved antique truck for his last ride to his final resting place.
I realize these are mere memories of a hill town country girl, but they demonstrate the important, integral part of beautiful little Heath, the Heath Town Center truly is. It is the heart, soul, essence, and very face of our special town and if you don’t like Heath’s face, if it’s a bit too cozy and quaint for your liking, perhaps there might be a more upscale, more modern town whose face might better suit because the pretty little town with the quaint, rustic little New England Town Center, suits me just fine and besides, Carroll would be agan’ anything different. As he always said, “If it’s old, works well and has a purpose in life, don’t change it.”
Lisa Diane Stowe is a resident of Heath.
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June 07, 2020 at 11:37PM
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My Turn: Save Heath Center - The Recorder
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