"Well, here we are. This here's the mayor's office. Rufus has been gone two years now but the stink of his cigars lingers on."
We took seats on an old leather sofa and side chair while our hostess sat behind the desk that dominated the room. "I'm mayor now, until we get around to having an election."
"My friend called the town Alder's Bridge," Betsy said.
"Goodness, I haven't heard that name in years! That was before my time, just barely. I go back to the late 1940s."
"He was here in 1932," Howie said, speaking for the first time.
"It was surely a different place back then. There were lots of businesses and folks came out of the hollows from miles around to shop. In my time too; the war brought some money in and coal was getting dug so's there was jobs."
"How old is this building," I asked.
"It dates from the depression. The government built the place; 1936 I think it says. It replaced an old wooden one that burned."
"Do you remember any of the business names?" Betsy asked. "I understand there was a store named McGuire's Clothing."
"Not in my time; only Harold's and an army surplus store."
We asked if there was anyone around who might still be living who would remember that far back. She shook her head. "Hard life is a short life, for most folks around here. Some might be that old, but to remember back then, they'd be more'n ninety." She added, "Most old pictures and records went up in smoke when the old building burned. I heard we had a nice museum in the cellar."
"How about Croft's Feed," I asked, remembering another name.
"Oh, sure. I dated Amos Croft when I was a girl. The feed store lasted into the fifties. I miss their annual calendar. It was always hanging on our wall."
We bid Mayor Wilkie good day, content Alder's Bridge as we continued to call it, was in good hands. Our trip was definitely a success.
New Jersey. Not many small towns so I'll keep rolling and not tarry here. On to rural America where the pickings are as fertile as the country side and there's always a trusting little soul willing to help a stranger.