Sauk Centre Journal: The Blog

Don't worry: Most of this blog will, I expect, be copies of entries from the Sauk Centre Journal.

First, thought, I thought it might be a good idea to write a sort of 'background' post.

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Hypocritical Bigots, Tom Sawyer Clones, and a Reality Check

In 1997, I'd found two sorts of 'Small Town America' described online:

• Morasses of hypocrisy and intolerance
  • Generally stifling someone self-described as
    • Creative
    • Misunderstood
    • Maligned
• Beautiful, serene havens of bliss populated by
  • Jolly shopkeepers
  • Unhurried natives
  • Tom Sawyer clones wearing
    • Bib overalls
    • A straw hat

Although there are a few elements of truth to both stereotypes, those places weren't like the small towns I'd lived or worked in.

At all.

I could have started my own website, gushing with angst at the awfully unfair way small towns were presented.

Instead, I created a website called "I Love it Here!" - which grew into Brendan's Island. Eventually, I wrote this:

Small Town America: This Dad's View

Like the Brendan's Island of legend and history, "Small Town America" is often more of a myth than a real place.

But, just as real places very likely lie behind the story of St. Brendan's voyage, real places lie behind the myth of Small Town America.

Brendan's Island, the website, reflects the reality of small town America, at least in my experience here in Sauk Centre, Minnesota.
Brian H. Gill, Webmaster

I started the Sauk Centre Journal on November 7, 2001. At that time it wasn't called by that name. It was the home page for the "Sauk Centre this Season" section of the Brendan's Island website, which I updated as the seasons passed, or something interesting happened.

Over the next eight - nearly nine - years, I got into the habit of updating the page twice a week, re-named it the "Sauk Centre Journal," and gave the Sauk Centre Journal it's own URL: saukcentrejournal.com.

That's enough about the Sauk Centre Journal. Now let's talk about me.