Change does not always mean different
The mister and I are purveyors and collectors of fine junk. In fact we have large concentrations of fine junk in several areas of our home. I happen to think that my junk is finer than is his, but he thinks the opposite. (I am right, however.) There is no rhyme or reason to what we collect or why. The home-decorating experts would call it "eclectic," our kids call it "the good stuff" (and neither wants the other to have any), and some visitors just look around and say nothing. I assume they are glad that they don't have to dust it.
My favorites of the very fine junk I collect are the Peabody items, especially the paper goods — newspapers, post cards, photographs, and the like. They give me a sense of time and place. While many things have changed about Peabody, many things have stayed the same.
The 1930s view of a gathering of some sort on a summer day downtown could have been taken at last year's block party if not for the old cars and the large Coca-Cola sign on the north wall of Walker's Corner Store. The snapshot of the homecoming parade in the late '50s will be replicated on Friday, but with Polaroid's and digital cameras. And the candidates will be in casual clothes — gone is the traditional homecoming mum with a blue pipe cleaner fashioned into a letter "P."
There is a great black and white shot of a huge Christmas tree in the middle of the Walnut and Second Street intersection. A large crowd is gathered around and in the background is a little hamburger joint where the bank parking lot is today. The old Opera House looms next to it. But the crowd is the same size as the one that will be on hand for the annual Christmas parade and lighting ceremony the Sunday after Thanksgiving. And I bet somewhere in each group, excited children await the arrival of Santa Claus.
There are pictures of grocers, bankers, farmers, church choirs, tradesmen, school groups, floods, festivals, and buildings. They are much like the pictures I take for the newspaper every week. The facades, clothing, and vehicles change, but daily life and community activity goes on here as it has for decades.
I expect Peabody is not unique in this, but it is one of the things that keeps our sense of history and community intact. And yes, youngsters, I know that it is also one of the things that makes you want to bust out of here and go where the action is! Most of you will. Some of you may never return.
However, generations of dads will still line "the wall" at Friday night football games, the best-ever Fourth of July fireworks show will illuminate the skies on schedule, businesses will change with the times, and holidays and special events will be celebrated with friends and family. The good things that remind you of Peabody will be with you and they will still be here.
To the alumni reading this, I'd offer the same comments. Come back and see us. Stay connected. We are still here and even with all the changes, Peabody is not so different after all.
— SUSAN MARSHALL
