China Grove, my hometown...

"Where I come from

There's a pickup truck with the tailgate down

Where I come from

The pine trees are singin' a song of the South

Where I come from

That little white church is gonna have a crowd

Yeah, I'm pretty dang proud

Where I come from..."

The lines of this song say a lot.  Small hometowns.  Full of Football Friday nights, Bar-B-Que, feed stores and stories.  Yeah, everybody knows you in a small town.  I always tell my kids they better worry about what they do because I promise you, somebody knows me or my family and it will get back!  But that doesn't always stop us does it?  Over the next few weeks I am going to do a series on "My Hometown" and of course its China Grove, NC in Rowan County.  First, these few shots around town. Then we will explore different businesses in China Grove.  Maybe find out some "stuff" you didn't know or wished you didn't.  Either way, it's gonna be a wild ride.  Enjoy the shots around town to kinda give you just a tiny look into this place in Southern Rowan County we call China Grove. ( For the record, it's not the one from the Doobie Brothers song...the song says "When the sun comes up on a  sleeply little town down around San Antone"....but we do pretend it's us!!!!)

One of the first signs you see coming into China Grove headed South off Hwy 29

One of the many schools...along with a sign and awesome star burst I caught through the trees.

Our middle of town light... Directions are always given using the stoplight as a reference.

 Every small town has its dramatic group, its barber-shop quartet, every home has music in one form or another
                                                                              -Kate Smith

Sunlight through the trees downtown..

Every town needs a railroad...going somewhere.

“A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.”

Paint the sky if you dare...

"School Days, school days"....ray of sun through the trees again.  This always amazes me when captured in a photo.

Ready for the election!  It just so happens that Mrs. Cox was one of my English teachers at South Rowan High School!

No town would be complete with out a local farmers market.

Highways that are part of our everyday lives...

Coming in from Lentz road..."Country road take me home, to the place I belong..."

"When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul."

The Feed store.  So many memories as a child coming here and to the Roller Mill for feed.  Every time I walk in here the smell is just as I remember as a child.

One of our flags around town.  God Bless The U.S.A.

One of our hometown banks

Our newest addition.

That's right...Chinaberry Trees...now you know

Flag above our Vietnam Memorial in the park, downtown.

China Grove now has Sushi...I would have never believed this years ago.

With Susi downtown...we really are Worldwide.

Farmers & Merchants bank...I remember going in here as a child with my parents because this was the bank we used for the family business.  I still use this bank today.  Some things never change in a small town and that's one of the many things that make it special.  Most kids just want to get out of a small town, only to return one day to raise their family.

I grew up in a small town
Wheat fields for a downtown kind of place
There was really not much around
You blink and you miss it

I never knew what life would bring
But I always had big dreams
I love to play my guitar and sing
And every night I'd wish that

I'd get a shot on the Opry stage
Have people come and see me play
Blastin' out on the radio waves
Enough to make my mama cry

Cause that's where I come from
That's who I am
Hard workin' and God Blessed
Yes sir thank-you ma'am
The best things around that I have ever seen
Came from small towns and big dreams

Small town went and grew up
But I never changed much by God's grace
Friends and family kept in touch
When I moved to Tennessee

I sing my songs and travel 'round
I met a girl and we're settlin' down
We want to find a small town
Where we can raise a family

Cause that's where I come from
That's who I am
Hard workin' and God Blessed
Yes sir thank-you ma'am
The best things around that I have ever seen
Came from small towns and big dreams

Been around the world don't matter anywhere I go
Small town stars to city lights
I find my kind of folks
It's about you and who you are
It's all a state of mind
And as I'm giving you my heart
I hope you find
That's where I come from
That's who I am
Hard workin' and God Blessed
Yes sir thank-you ma'am
The best things around that I have ever seen
Just look around you'll see what I mean
The best things around that I have ever seen
Came from small towns and big dreams
That's where I come from
Small towns
That's who I am
And big dreams
That's where I come from
Small towns
That's who I am
And big Dreams