Be sure you read the next post after this one. It is the article I wrote that prompted this tirade in my weekly column.

It Takes a Village…

Sometimes it’s hard to notice when things around you are getting a bit run down and shabby looking. It’s usually when company is coming that you notice the cobwebs in the corners, or how the cement step is a bit crumbly, and you rush to fix things up before your guests arrive.

I wish company was coming to Ripley. If you haven’t noticed, the place is a bit shabby. Most of the buildings in town are vacant and look like a demolition ball would be the right piece of equipment for the job. While we don’t want a “gap-toothed” look, meaning empty spaces throughout town, I can’t imagine anybody is happy with the ramshackle look we currently have.

But what are we doing about it? A few enterprising souls have opened new businesses here, Laura and Mark Mason being the most recent addition with Wings and Things on Main Street. Others are in the process of trying to bring some much needed revenue and jobs to this small town and yet others have tried and failed to make it.

How many of us remember Leon’s Drug Store, or Loretta’s Delicatessen? Greeley’s Hat Shop, Ripley Feed & Coal, Abbey’s Grocery, and The Red and White Store all vied for business. McAteer’s, Teemley’s Barber Shop, Johnson and Day, Charlie Hunt’s Service Station, Kelly’s Dress Shop all made a living here, along with dozens of other businesses. That was in Ripley’s heydays of the 40s, 50s and 60s. Our young people wouldn’t recognize the Ripley of the past. The townspeople were filled with pride and hometown spirit and had plenty of places to shop. But in the past 40 years how many businesses has this town seen fail?

The beginning of the end was with the opening of the New York State Thruway in 1957. Travelers no longer drove through town on Route 20. In the 60s, Sam Walton came up with a great idea for a BIG five-and-dime store, Wal-Mart, further cutting into the prosperity of the hometown businesses. It was cheaper to drive further afield and one-stop-shop, saving a few bucks. Businesses started closing in town. The party was over.

Slowly the town decayed into what we see today. While businesses have come and gone here, so many more businesses never saw the light of day because residents didn’t want Ripley to change. We like our small town, no hustle and bustle lifestyle. But we’ve become very short-sighted in our efforts to keep Ripley “like it was.” Look around. It isn’t like it was. It never will be if we don’t inject some viable enterprises into the local economy. We not only need to invite light industry here, we need to support the few businesses we currently have. Does it really save money to spend gas to drive to Harborcreek’s Walmart to get a few things we could buy locally? I’m not saying we should have embraced B.F. Goodrich’s tire plant, but we can’t keep turning down every viable business opportunity that comes along.

Ripley has a website (www.ripley-ny.com) and in the opening sentence it says: “Welcome to Ripley, the Gateway to New York State. Why not make Ripley the first stop of many in New York?” What is there to stop for? We ARE the “Gateway to New York,” but there’s not much to show for it. We need renewed pride in our community. Let’s open up to tourist money and put our beautiful corner of the world on display. Sitting around Meeder’s talking about it ain’t gonna get it done. Moaning that nobody wants businesses in Ripley doesn’t help. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem. This town can be a bustling place again, but it’s going to take every bit of support and ingenuity each of us can muster. One or two entrepreneurs can’t do it alone. Please do your part. Attend town board meetings, get involved. Make your ideas and concerns known. It takes a village to make a village.