Did you ever notice how local folks describe where they live in our area? Its easy to spot the folks that are part of the community, who helped build this area, who raised children here and who have buried members of their family here. Its fairly easy to tell which folks call this area home. You see, they never, or seldom say, we live at fire number such and such. Or they seldom say, "we live at Pelham" or "we live at Ray". They, and their family, have lived or probably have lived in every area of town and in every direction from International Falls, Minnesota. You can always spot them when they describe where they live because there from "South" of town or "Up the Lake", or maybe "West of Town" or maybe even "west of town on the river". Even the ones who have temporarily left town and reside in the cities or out of state use this system to describe where they live around here. Those who grew up in town frequently still refer to their home as, "on 9th street" or on 7th street or maybe even "Jamison" or "Hollers Addition" or "Carson Lupie". I can allmost always tell the folks who call this place home. Through all the trials and tribulations they have endured or had endured while trying to eck out a living here, they still staunchly defend the place they call home and many who have left still envision coming back home someday. Thats a good thing, I think, and reason to believe that all is not lost in our little place in northern Minnesota. Its our little place that we call home because we earned it.

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