We have gone over the different areas where we have moved up and there are a lot more.

One area would be our hospital and the medical treatment that is available to us here in our town. We all hope we never have to be admitted to the hospital, but if and when you are you will be surprised at the highly qualified and professional help you will receive. Everyone working there is very committed and dedicated to help anyone needing medical assistance and try to cheer up the patients and give the family of the patient every help they may need.

Back in the earlier days that you may remember we usually had two doctors and no one needed an appointment. Back in those days, you just went to the doctor’s office and sat in the waiting room and people visited with one another and this helped everyone know most of the other local citizens.

Back in those days doctors did make visits to the patients at home. Most babies were delivered at home, much different from nowadays, and a lot better and safer now. Our hospital now is a lot better organized and the service is much quicker.

Let’s all hope the problems that could close our hospital are solved and a solution will bring some progress. We have moved up with our hospital and medical care and should all appreciate the benefits.

Another area of moving up would be our automobiles and their improvements. Most people nowadays will probably not remember the old Model T’s and their upgrade to the Model A’s. Shifting the old T Models was done with foot pedals, and what we called the transmission was a set of bands that closed around drums and these bands had to be adjusted pretty often. Ford Motor Company became well known when most people could hardly afford an automobile and the Model T’s and Model A’s were very popular , especially in our southern states. You see some of the old Model A’s in car shows. They have been dressed up, repainted and saved as a showpiece. One family with a pair of ‘shade tree’ mechanics in Alabama had a 1931 Model A with a mercury engine, hydraulic brakes and 16-inch tires that was a real show piece, but that had to be a hobby and required a lot of time , labor and imagination.

When we speak of automobiles you may remember when our Magic City had several new car dealers — Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, Pontiac, and even a Nash and Hudson shop. People came from Picayune and that part of Mississippi to buy their cars and now some locals go to Picayune to buy General Motors cars like the Cadillac. Now we have to go to Franklinton, Columbia, Miss. or the St. Tammany area to find a new car dealer. That has to be a move downward that has moved a lot of jobs out of our town but we have to be pleased that our parish still has some new car dealerships. That may change one day but probably not anytime soon.

Another change from our younger days would be the theaters we used to have. At one time we had the Ritz, the Redwood and the State theaters, and two drive in movies. Now our television has taken their place and have some really good movies, and also many shows that would not have been allowed 20 or 30 years ago. One of the big changes we see now is in the language that is used, not only in the movies but on game shows and even the news sometimes. Some of the words that have become common now were words if our Mamas had heard us saying she would have washed our mouths out with soap and maybe more punishment than that. Now you can’t treat a youngster like that because it might ruin his or her self confidence and could put the mama in jail. Now that’s a change downward.

We have moved up in more ways than down and we have a much better way of life here, with improvements we sometimes fail to see.

Thank the good Lord for our town, His leadership and guidance. May He bless you all.