About Redbud Grove
Redbud Grove, Illinios, does not exist. It is a fictional town, thinly disguised and based upon the small, Central Illinois city of Arcola, where I spent most of my childhood. Some changes have occurred since that time, but the small town ambiance and most of the buildings and houses I remember still stand. Even so, it has changed.
Many local families are descendants, second and third generation, of several of my former grade school classmates. I subscribe to the Arcola newspaper, The Record-Herald. I smile as I read the athletic and scholastic achievements of children and grandchildren of people I still think of as “boys and girls.” The names have not changed. Only the faces are different.
It was a simpler time, in that there were many less diversions and ways to occupy one’s time. Books, Saturday afternoon matinees and outdoor games, bicycles, rollerskates and ballgames in the park provided summer entertainment. Children were expected to be children, not models that reflect current Hollywood dress and behavior, as so many of today’s young people do.
No, I’m not yearning for misnamed “good old days.” When older people speak with longing of days gone by, it’s not the times they want to bring back, I think; rather, it’s their youth. For me, Redbud Grove captures that golden time, years of innocence that defined our days.
The original brick still covers Main Street, as well as many other streets in Redbud Grove/Arcola. However, the high school is the only original school building left in the town, and that now has a new addition.
Progress means change. Old buildings must be refurbished or replaced. After a time, no one is left to remember the old structures; and only photographs record what once stood where. That’s one reason I firmly believe that everyone who can write should do just that: jot down every memory, the name and description of every friend, family member and event as it comes to mind. When we are gone, our memories are gone, too.
The fun thing about Redbud Grove is that I could and can fictionalize events that should not be reported exactly as they occurred, to protet the guilty as much as the innocent. I have written so many Redbud Grove stories that I sometimes have to ponder what is real and what isn’t, what happened and what did not.
I’m working on more Redbud Grove stories, some of which will be posted here, some elsewhere. Many characters described in the first Starlight book, as well as new ones, still have stories to tell, secrets to reveal, murders to commit, romances to experience and things to hide. I’m excited about the possibilities.
Check back from time to time. The stories will probably be written and posted in increments, or segments, something to keep you coming back, constantly wondering what new event, person, element is creating havoc, humor or mayhem in Redbud Grove. I can hardly wait, myself, to see what is going to transpire. Only time will tell. Y’all come back, hear?