“Next time we can say hi to our neighbors”
Every Thursday, Tama has a Community Meal that is open to everyone so that community members can meet their neighbors, catch up, and share a meal with each other. After getting my food I sat with Garold and Sheryl, a couple from Toledo, the next town over.
They told me about Tama back in the day, when businesses and people thrived. There were law offices, grocery stores, doctors, restaurants-- everything you needed was in town. Now the town has shrunk and many need to travel far to run errands and go to work.
Garold and Sheryl told me that they aren’t very optimistic about the future. They’re unsure what can be done in response to the town’s decline. But they told me they’d like to see more community programs for children and young people. They were saddened to see the town’s empty streets and parks and the empty trampolines in his neighbors' yards.
Nonetheless, they were happy that Tama was putting on a community meal and that people were coming out to meet each other. “Next time”, Garold said, “we can say hi to our neighbors”.