Memory Monday #55

     My hometown is the county seat; even though small in population, it is the largest town in the county.  We have a beautiful courthouse with large trees and a lawn all around it.  It is the center of the Square with streets on all four sides and businesses located on the opposite side of the streets facing the courthouse.

Courthouse in Pittsfield, Illinois

Courthouse Dome at night-the crowning glory of the structure

Businesses along one side of the square

    A State Highway ran through town, creating one side of the square.  And during my high school days, a stop light was actually installed at one corner so through traffic had to come to a stop!  A by pass was built many years ago, so the 18 wheeler truck traffic no longer comes through town as it did in the past.

     It was the summer before my Senior year that the town decided to try out different traffic patterns on the  non-highway streets. One of the attempts at creating a smooth flow of traffic was to make these three one-way streets.  They tried going around the square in one direction for a few weeks, studying the flow.  Then going around the square in the other one way direction was given a trial.

     During this time, the local police were trying to keep everyone going in the correct direction...especially important during business hours Monday through Saturday..9:00 AM-5:00 PM.  After 5:00PM the square was empty...no businesses were open so no one was parking along the streets.  One night, after everything was closed up, some of my friends and I were "cruising" around town.  Everyone had a special route from one end of town to the other; down to the high school, around the Dairy Queen, up to the square, by certain peoples' houses....then repeat the whole process...several times.

      This particular night, a group of boys from a neighboring town started to follow us.  We all thought this was quite a lark, of course.  But we had to pretend to be indignant by the situation. So we got this great idea that if we went around the square the wrong way, they wouldn't dare follow us knowing that the police were keeping a close eye on such mishaps! But they dared...much to our pleasure!!!
     And, of course, the town policeman on duty (there were only four total and they took turns being on patrol) noticed our indiscretions! So siren blaring, lights flashing, he pulled us over....both cars! Now this particular officer of the law was not very fond of teenagers so we all knew we were in BIG trouble!
    Tune in next week to hear about our being "under arrest"!