The little town of Red Bay, Ala., is one of the nicest places in the country to live, visit or work. There are some 3,000 plus residents living there, and families date back over many generations.

Their churches in Red Bay are one of the main attractions, and most residents are in church every Sunday and active every day in one way or another. There are also several big businesses located in Red Bay, including a major dog food company, which has its main business office and shipping warehouse there. Several companies that build house trailers or supply the material for those companies all also located here.

The Allegro Motor Home plant is one of the factories located in the city, and it is run by a family that has been there for a long time. The head of the family is the main manager, and his three sons all have different departments to run. Visitors to the plant are surprised that they can go in and talk to the head man most any time, and if they should go back a year later, he can still remember names and what was discussed on the last visit.

Employees from all the different departments at the Allegro plant start work every morning by gathering in a circle and holding a prayer service before work. Red Bay is a very religious little city, and that carries over into the daily lives of the people there.

In small towns in Alabama everyone knows everyone else, and when a new mother comes into the café on Friday or Saturday night all the waitresses take turns picking up the baby and carrying it all around to show it to all the customers. This same phenomenon can also be found in small towns in Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas. Most everyone in all these little cities have Friday night and Saturday and Saturday night as their time for fellowship with all their friends.

Colorado also has many small towns, and they have some unique ways of doing, too. Most every community in this area has a blacksmith who stays busy keeping the horses ready to ride. With the weather and the mountainous landscape most everyone has a horse to supply a way to go, especially when the weather becomes a problem. Several places in the southern part of Colorado have special holidays that include parades and street parties, and the horses add a lot to these days. There is also a lot of western history in the southern part of the state, and one community has a public library that includes a lot of the history. Looking through the Colorado history books is good pastime there.

Some of the most famous western outlaws dating back to the latter part of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. Many of these outlaws’ exploits are celebrated every year, even the gold miner who turned cannibal and killed his partners in order to survive a very harsh winter.

One small community had a hot water spring coming from the mountain rocks that kept a small lake full of very warm water. A sign on the highway approaching the community advertised that alligators were raised in their warm water lake. Small creatures were also sold to zoos, parks and even restaurants. In addition they charged a fee to see the activity. Patrons just had to assume there were some alligators there.

Many of the farms in the southern part of the state had people from Indian tribes as farm workers, and their weekly delight was for all the family, sometimes 10 or 12 members, to come to Walmart store in the big town. When two families met up they sometimes blocked the area, making Saturday shopping a problem. However, they were all friendly people, and there wasn’t any trouble letting them have their day, especially because they were actually legal owners of the state.

We have all been blessed to live in a country with so many small towns. May God bless you all today.