“Let There Be Light”

I was reading my hometown newspaper, the Times Record News yesterday (Tuesday) and there was a front page article that caught my attention. The TRN leads with the story of a traffic signal being turned on.

That’s right. The intersection connects an upper middle-class neighborhood, Tanglewood, with a major artierial, Seymour Highway [note: the map linked above is incorrect, Seymour Hwy is now Business US 277, not US 277].

Anyhow, why am I writing about this? Well, the traffic signal itself- sure, it’s a good thing. What I get a kick out of is the neighborhood’s reaction to the signal being turned on. From the story, the signal has been requested for years and so “the day was so long in the making that about 50 neighbors gathered at the intersection to wave at the newly-stopped traffic on Seymour.”

Not only did they just waive at the traffic on Seymour Hwy though; they also had a party to celebrate. Below, Bob Horth, a member of Tanglewood Neighborhood Association, is giving out hot dogs to residents who came out for the event.

What am I trying to imply by all of this? I really don’t know. It caught my attention though. I can’t decide if this is just more evidence of why I can’t explain what Wichita Falls is like or evidence of a great community where people can gather for any little reason. (On a quick aside: for those who take the former to indicate that Wichita Falls is a small hick town, I’m not going to try to act like we’re the next Fort Worth or Austin but we do have three sporting teams- one hockey, one outdoor football, one arena football and home to the largest one-day bike race in America. We’re not that small.)
What do you think? A sign of a small town (or a mid-sized town trying to act small) or a great example of a community being a community- post your comments.

(photo by Harry Tonemah, TRN)


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3 responses to ““Let There Be Light”

  1. Zach Avatar
    Zach

    I don’t know I wouldn’t throw a party if they put a light up here at Barnett and Johnson. It’s murder in the mornings or when Rider and Jefferson let out.

  2. Shellie Avatar
    Shellie

    Okay, well if you lived out here in Quatz Hill, CA, you wouldn’t even be questioning if Wichita Falls was a hick town or not. Out here people walk their goats (yes, I do mean goats) down the street on dog leashes… That should put some of your minds at ease about Wichita Falls.

  3. Shellie Avatar
    Shellie

    Oh and if some of you are looking up this little town (which nobody is probably doing), I misspelled the name, it’s Quartz Hill. Forgot the ‘r’.

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