Downtown Salisbury Inc.

Placemaking at 9

My son Preston is 9 years old now.  Many of you may have seen us riding around town on bicycles.  We frequently ride on Fulton Street and sometimes head into the downtown.  One of Preston’s favorite destinations is Bernhardt Hardware Store.  Mr. Bernhardt always greets us and always smiles at Preston and says, “How’s my buddy?”  Of course, he often is pulling a red sucker out of his pocket for Preston as he greets us.  Sleds, wagons, a display case full of knives; the hardware store is the kind of place that makes little boys dream of great adventure.   It’s also the kind of place that helps little boys connect to their town.

The other day, we rode our bikes down to the hardware store and looked around a lot and picked up the few hardware items we needed.  On the way out, Preston asked if we could get some hot roasted peanuts, so we picked up a couple of bags and headed to Magnolia Park.  At the park we enjoyed one of those talks about life that only takes place where there are no distractions, no demands on your time.  It was a simple but memorable day.

Books have been written about it but I am not sure I could ever explain to Preston what “sense of place” really means.  I don’t really need to because on his own level he has made that connection with his community and his downtown, and he already understands it.  Thanks, Mr. Bernhardt, for helping make that happen.