Friday Fun: Hometown Pride

Tom Kakanowski_4k8aym

While I haven't lived there in decades, I'm very fond of my hometown, and I enjoy any chance I have to show it off or talk about it. Tell us about your hometown! If your community is known for a product, like corn, or a manufactured product like a car, show that off. If you have a historical landmark or even many historical landmarks, highlight those places. If you feel your community stands for particular values or attitudes about life, feature those. I hope this will drive people to communicate about things that they already love and to which they feel connected.

My hometown is Beamsville, Ontario, Canada.  Wikipedia says its 11K people, and while its a small town, I know that number is wrong, as it was bigger when I was growing up (22K people and 32 churches), and things have only grown there.  Beamsville is in the heart of the fruit belt in southern Ontario, and is home to 25-30 wineries.  It sits along the Niagara escarpment (which starts at Niagara Falls), and has both unique soil and microclimate ideal for wine and fruit in general.  It was founded in the early 1700s, had a role in the War of 1812, Was one of the locations pilots trained in the Royal Flying Corps in World War I, two Beamsville pilots separately won Distinguished Flying Crosses.  We have a few local heroes, my classmate Bill Berg (NY Rangers, NY Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs), Olympic Silver Medallist Tonya Verbeek, The Massey Harris (later Massey Ferguson) company cane out of Beamsville, and a band most people still know these days, Rush.  Neil Peart lived in town, but Geddy and Alex all lived within an hour.

It's a beautiful place in the spring when the fruit trees start to bloom, and in the fall when the colours change.

Now it's your turn!

 

Marjorie

I grew up in Racine, Wisconsin. 

Per the bing link , Racine is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is located 22 miles south of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the city had a population of 78,860, making it the fifth-largest city in Wisconsin. Its median home price of $103,625 makes it one of the most affordable cities in Wisconsin to buy a home. In January 2017, it was rated the most affordable place to live in the world by the Demographia International Housing Affordability survey. West of Racine are rural communities, including Union Grove, Wind Lake, Caledonia, Burlington, and Waterford. These western Racine County towns and cities offer a wide variety of interests including antique shops, plenty of parks for picnicking and plenty of lakes.

 

ALL INFORMATION BELOW is courtesy of Microsoft Bing

SC Johnson - 

• Johnson Wax Headquarters is the world headquarters and administration building of S. C. Johnson & Son in Racine, Wisconsin. Designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright for the company's president, Herbert F. "Hib" Johnson, the building was constructed from 1936 to 1939. Its distinctive "lily pad" columns and other innovations revived Wright's career at a point when he was losing influence. Also known as the Johnson Wax Administration Building, it and the nearby 14-story Johnson Wax Research Tower were designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1976 as Administration Building and Research Tower, S.C. Johnson and Son.

WIndpoint Lighthouse - 

• Wind Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse located at the north end of Racine Harbor in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is in the village of Wind Point, Wisconsin, on Lighthouse Road, next to the Shoop Park golf course. The lighthouse stands 108 feet tall. One of the oldest and tallest active lighthouses on the Great Lakes, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Racine Zoo - 

• The Racine Zoological Gardens, or Racine Zoo, is a zoo situated on 28 acres on the shore of Lake Michigan in Racine, Wisconsin. The zoo is operated by the Racine Zoological Society, a non-profit organization. With more than 100 species of animals, the zoo's collection focuses on species native to Wisconsin, including a building dedicated to reptiles and amphibians that are indigenous to the state.

Wingspread - 

• Wingspread, also known as the Herbert F. Johnson House, is a historic house in Wind Point, Wisconsin. It was built in 1938–39 to a design by Frank Lloyd Wright for Herbert Fisk Johnson Jr., then the president of S.C. Johnson, and was considered by Wright to be one of his most elaborate and expensive house designs to date. The property is now a conference center operated by The Johnson Foundation. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.