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It’s "I Grew Up Country Day" – How will you celebrate?

By Carol / March 18, 2015 /

We expect you celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. Hopefully with enough restraint to leave room to celebrate a far newer day.

What country stories could you tell?

Have country roots? Let’s celebrate.

Since Iowa Governor Branstad signed a Proclamation declaring March 18, 2015, “I Grew Up Country Day,” 50+ folks have joined our Facebook page where we encourage, collect and celebrate stories of growing up country. If you have a story to tell or would like to hear from other country folks, please join us.

We don’t have enough folks all in one place this year to stage a parade – maybe next year. Which doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate. My fellow country girl memoirist Shirley Showalter and I offer a few suggestions:

1. Do something you did growing up country:

  • Bake cookies or bread,
  • Invite a neighbor over for coffee,
  • Take a walk in the Back 40 or a nearby park,
  • Visit someone in the hospital.
  • Spring is almost here so get out in the yard or garden – reconnect with the land.

2. Pull out the old photo albums, trigger some memories, and share them with someone – a family member, friend, neighbor.

3. Jot down a memory or two about your country life.

4. Join us at I Grew Up Country, our new Facebook page, and share those memories with others who have country roots.

5. Take a walk down Main St. in a small town. Enjoy the fact that you can smile and say ‘Hi’ to everyone you meet and not feel in the least strange.

6. If you have older relatives – parents, aunts, uncles, cousins – who grew up country, ask them to tell you a story.

Shirley's sugar cookies - appropriate for St. Patrick's Day and I Grew Up Country Day.

Shirley’s sugar cookies – appropriate for St. Patrick’s Day and I Grew Up Country Day.

7. Spread the word about I Grew Up Country. Here are a few ways we’re doing that.

I will spend much of today caring for a friend who recently had surgery. Shirley is baking cookies to share with neighbors, using the sugar cookie (“cakes”) recipe in her book.

Please do celebrate I Grew Up Country Day and tell us what you did. We’re eager to hear.

Carol

4 Comments

  1. Elfrieda Schroeder on March 19, 2015 at 8:35 am

    I helped celebrate “I Grew Up Country Day” by writing a blog post about it. Thanks for the inspiration! Below is the link:

    ens-intransit.blogspot.com/

    • Carol Bodensteiner on March 19, 2015 at 6:46 pm

      Thanks for joining in the celebration, Elfrieda. Your post about how your family lost your country and how you came to peace about that is a wonderful read. I hope everyone takes a look.

  2. Chuck Robertson on March 21, 2015 at 1:09 pm

    My mom grew up on a farm. Once my grandpa passed on, the farm was sold. It’s a sad thing, but the family farm is disappearing.

    • Carol Bodensteiner on March 21, 2015 at 1:48 pm

      It’s true there are fewer family farms, Chuck. Many people are like you with a close family Connection. Our goal with “I Grew Up Country” is to encourage people to capture those memories.

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