Happy Fourth of July Weekend! We're on a roadtrip to Bill's hometown for the 4th and also for his 20th reunion, so I thought you'd like to read a little something I wrote last year after visiting Broadus for the first time. It was about 4 days after I moved to the Midwest and I still thougth MY town was tiny! We were less than a month away from our wedding day...
In An Effort to Prove that Our Town was Actually BIG:
*Facebook 7/2/10 - It is official. I live here - and I have the cowboy boots to prove it!
A week after I moved to South Dakota, Bill decided to show me just how BIG our small town is. He took me to his hometown: Broadus Montana, “The Wavingest Town in the West.” Population: 393. I have heard many stories about growing up in this wonderful town, and couldn’t wait to see it with my own eyes.
But first we had to get there.
*Facebook 7/2/10 – I can’t believe we are getting in the car AGAIN! After a three-day drive across the country and then a 10 hour drive to the Minneapolis airport and back to drop off the kids, I don’t know if I can handle another 10 hour round trip! But Broadus, Montana – Here we come!
*Facebook 7/2/10 – No worries, Bill says there is TONS to look at on this drive…
*Facebook 7/2/10 - We are in Faith, SD - home of Daisy Duke. But, alas, I've left my short shorts at home.
*Facebook 7/2/10 - There is not a lot to do on the drive from South Dakota to Montana and I don't know if you've noticed, but I've spent a lot of stinkin’ time in the car lately. New game: Bill is pointing out deer and I'm naming them like hurricanes. Hello Orville, Penelope and Quentin.
*Facebook 7/2/10 - Whose job is it to change the sign when the population changes from 204 to 205 in Nisland, South Dakota?
*Facebook 7/2/10 – Just crossed the border into Montana. This is now, officially, the 14th state Bill and I have visited together!
It was the 100th anniversary of the town and the all-class reunion, so just about everyone who had ever lived there was coming back for July 4th weekend.
It seems that not much had changed in Broadus since Bill left there 19 years earlier. Everywhere we went there were memories to be shared and people to meet. In Broadus, like Cheers in Boston, Everybody Knows Your Name. And surprisingly to me…everyone even knew my name! My Mother-in-law-to-be had arrived a week earlier so she had seen to it that everyone in Broadus was already prepped on the whole situation. I’ve never received such a warm welcome in my whole life!
The first night, as we drove into town, it was necessary to slow down to a crawl. The streets were overflowing with old classmates and family members talking together. There are two bars in Broadus, one on each side of the street and the party flowed seamlessly between them. Our car was mobbed by Bill’s family and friends and we had to fight for the chance to park and get out. The partying and memories didn’t stop all weekend.
I would have a very clear picture of Bill’s whole pre-college life, (including all his high school girlfriends) at the class of 1991 reunion planned for one afternoon. Cheryl, who grew up in Broadus with Bill, became my good friend as an adult, and introduced Bill and me last year, held the reunion at the house which once belonged to her grandmother. Since there were only 25 kids in Bill’s graduating class, the reunion was on her front porch. Drinks and conversation flowed, and I learned all about how my husband-to-be had been voted both Most Athletic and Homecoming King in High School! Who knew I was engaged to such a big deal?!
I watched Bill’s high school teammates play a softball tournament on the field where they had played since they were Little Leaguers. His buddies asked why “Little Billy Hoffman” wasn’t playing today. When I questioned him about this nickname, Bill admitted that after his first American Legion game in Miles City, the coach said in an on-air interview, “I was really impressed with Little Billy Hoffman’s playing.” Since there was really only one radio station that could be picked up in Broadus the whole town heard it! Humbly, Bill added, “Who wouldn’t be Impressed with me? I hit for a cycle and played awesome defense that day!” (I don’t know some of the words in that sentence, but it seems impressive to me…)
When we went to the “100 Years of Fashion in Broadus” show in his high school auditorium, I not only heard about the amazing clothing adventures of Broadus residents over the last century, I also heard, from Bill, about all of his “adventures” in that school. In the interest of protecting the “innocent,” I’ll just leave it to your imagination.
The Fourth of July parade was like a step back in time, watching all of the old cars and tractors go by, the kids running into the street to pick up suckers and tootsie rolls. Bill pointed out each person as they walked or rolled by. He knew everyone, and everyone knew him.
On Main Street, there is a store advertising antiques and espresso in a mural painted on the side of the building. Obviously the idea of shopping and coffee drew me in, but I was not prepared for what I found. Inside this building was a fascinating store called Copper Moon, filled with wonderful little trinkets, gorgeous home décor and garden accents. Different from the stores I was used to on the East Coast: Everything in the store was unique and appeared to be one of a kind. There I found three things:
- An amazing hanging decoration that was so perfect for our wedding even Bill agreed (and bought it).
- A salesperson, about my age (so a few years younger than Bill) who said when I introduced myself, “Bill Hoffman?!?!” [swoon] “Ohhhh. I know who HE is. He was senior when I was a freshman….Is he here?!?”
- A sign that reads, “Too Blessed to be Stressed” which now hangs in our kitchen.
The weekend was filled with activities I’d never done before, stories about Bill I’d never heard before, and more, “Oh, Jody! I’ve heard so much about you”s than you can imagine, usually accompanied by a hug. This town loved Bill, so they accepted me by extension. Although I was still getting used to the change from Boston to our small South Dakota town, somehow I could even imagine myself living here. For what this town lacks in chain stores and stoplights, it more than makes up for in heart. Bill says his best memories came from Broadus and it will always be “home” to him.
*Facebook 7/3/10 – Goin’ to a country dance and pitchfork fondue in Broadus Montana! Yee haw-got my new boots on.
Comment from my Manhattan Sister: Pitchfork fondue? Seriously!?
Comment from my East Coast Mom: Yum - I think.
Comment from me: Yup, it rocked.
© Jody Hoffman 2011
I've enjoyed your posts. Love the boots! I really didn't know which post to comment on, so let me say this, "Holy Qwap" I was laughing out loud! Thanks for following me at Life or Something Like It. Following you back!
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Posted by: Shannon | 07/05/2011 at 09:42 AM
Really enjoy your posts....Bill saw your Mom and Dad at the Spencer Damm last weekend and caught up on their lives....:) Take Care! and Keep up the Awesome Blogs!:) Love 'm!:)
Posted by: Charlee | 07/02/2011 at 09:44 AM