The story behind this blog...

Anyone who walks or drives down Main Street Hamlet, North Carolina, most assuredly can see it, and certainly, with or without rose colored glasses.  A new improved City of Hamlet is obviously emerging.  Scaffolding can now be seen up and down Main Street as a few buildings are getting a long awaited face lift to renew them to their youthful appearance of a century plus 9 years ago, or thereabouts.

On the historic Lackey Building, craftsmen are delicately casting missing pieces of ornate trim work, as if they were highly skilled and talented plastic surgeons. Their handiwork is filling in spots top to bottom which were lost to decay over a century long and very slow process.  Amazing brand new parts have been recreated and cast in fiberglass, rather than in mortar or concrete.  Which I've been assured by one of the experts on the job will way out last the originals.  The old facade is being renewed with touches like new eyebrows being placed again atop windows which had been hidden forever to re-dress them up as they deserve. And filigree-like missing trimmings are being crafted and painted in a lovely gold finish to live side by side perfectly filling in the gaps to their original counterparts.  They fit so perfectly, it appears as if they were painstakingly handwritten in calligraphy.

Painting is also ongoing to take the buildings back to rich period-ish color schemes.  Honestly, I literally teared up with excitement and joy when I first saw the work being done on the old Lackey Building.  I'd visualized it being renewed for some time now, and have watched the progress over the past five months.  But, to see it coming alive again, really touched me.  Plus, what I visualized paled in comparison to the real thing.  The only glimpse I'd ever seen of it in the beauty of its heyday up to that point was in black and white photos from long ago.  And my childhood memories aren't much different than the way it looked a few short weeks ago.  That building has always captivated me and I've taken many pictures of it during the course of the past couple of years.

To some residents and passerbys, it may appear that the renovation of Hamlet began a year ago last summer when the new planters, and their partners "the benches" were installed.  But, evidence of the rehabilitation and preservation of Main Street Hamlet was first seen back in 2001 when a temporary railroad station was put up by the City of Hamlet and Amtrak to take care of passengers during the prep and move across the tracks and restoration of the town's beloved "1900" Queen Anne Victorian train station.  At that time the visionaries saw the badly needed station restoration as the catalyst to spur economic development which would one day put Hamlet back on the map.  As is always with true visionaries, the future was vividly seen years earlier, but such an endeavor takes time, patience and intricate planning.  Finally, metaphorically the stars aligned and a plan of action was put into place with very deliberate steps taken to make it happen.  Baby steps turned into major strides.  The very first glimpse of this phase in my mind began when those new planters and benches popped up along Main Street a year ago this past summer.  It was at that very time I actually came up with the idea for this blog, its name, and grabbed it on Blogger.  It's been sitting waiting silently for me to give it life, as I've been observing both the subtle and more obvious steps to transform Hamlet.  And to be boldly honest, waiting for the right dose of inspiration.  Well, that happened very recently when a delightful kindred spirit graciously crossed paths with me.  Up until then, it's been a period of watching, and waiting with oodles of anticipation.  Then, the Lackey Building's facade restoration progress further signaled that it's the right time to birth this blog.

Now, the above is only part of the story behind what has compelled me to author such a blog about Hamlet.  There are elements that make Hamlet's renovation very personal to me, which I shall share now...

Since I was a small child, Hamlet, North Carolina has been a meaningful place to me and more than just a special town.  It holds a piece of my heart where fond memories live of loved ones gathering from all across the country at my grandparents home.  Back then, it was almost magical.  It holds memories of riding trains from the Seaboard Airline Railroad Station in Portsmouth, Virginia to Hamlet, North Carolina.  My mother and I were always greeted by my granddaddy and uncle along the tracks with flashlights in hand to swoop us both off the train during the wee dark hours of the morning after midnight.  The passenger car we traveled in was known as the "Tidewater" car and was always the last car, so it never quite made it into the train station area.  We'd see my uncle's car with headlights brightly beaming first and in a matter of a couple of minutes, off we were whisked to their home.  Needless to say, it's been quite sad to lose a good part of our family here and also to see Hamlet's steady decline over several decades considering the memories and stories it has collectively held for my family.   

A few years ago after Epilepsy struck me, I was at a place where I'd lost parts of myself.  At that time to help re-tap into the core of "me", I set out to reconnect with the generation of cousins that exists within the generations of cousins/kids my mom's siblings had.  With eight children in her family, the stair step ages covers over fifteen years.  I was the only girl of six kids born into a bit of baby boom of "boyness".  A period of about three years in the early 1950s.  The me I was, was gone and it was tough adjusting to the new me and finding my way.  I realized early on that I could no longer rely on my past accomplishments to boost my confidence, or gauge myself by my former capabilities, skills, or talents without suffering the consequences of feeling defeated.  I had to figure out whom I was now.  And certainly, I couldn't gauge myself based on a number of neurologists' opinions, diagnostics and failed treatments.  It wasn't "as if" my life had changed drastically overnight -- it indeed did.  A great deal of my independence and freedom, went away along with it.  The essence and spirit which makes "me" me needed some reminders of its roots.  And the experience of reconnecting with my cousins (who are really more like the brothers I never had) gave me some of those key reminders.  As always, my goal "then" when Epilepsy struck me and "now" as I'm still adjusting to it, is to never allow it to totally overtake me.  This is a thread on Project Rewire I come back to again and again, but here more or less will be the evidence, that it hasn't overtaken me.  There are times, admittedly, I must give into it, but good things can come of it.  Monday and Tuesday of this week were such days, but to help me push past and through, they became the right days to finally work towards bringing this blog out of hiding.

Since Epilepsy struck I've depended on the Lord to direct me in unique ways to help rehab myself, and give me a purpose again.  One thing I did a little over two years ago now was to begin blogging to help restore some pesky word retrieval and vocabulary issues.  There is no need to go through all of that "here".  It's on Project Rewire, but a part I've never shared there, I'll share here because it's part of my Hamlet ties story.

So, back to the upside of brain mis-fires and reconnecting with my cousins, most definitely, the reconnecting has been a blessing to me.  There is one in particular where we share some like interests, and passions.  Heck, if there were a twin version of cousins, we'd possibly be an example of it, sans the oil mixing with water boy cousin vs. girl cousin thing.  Around the time I began Project Rewire, I'd reconnected with him and within a a few months, I found myself reconnected with Hamlet, too.  For many years I'd been too busy with my career and responsibilities to find time to do anything interesting locally, such as walk down Main Street Hamlet like I used to do with my granddaddy.  Or, even visit the newly restored Hamlet Depot.  The closest I'd gotten to it was trips to the old Hamlet Post Office, where I'd climb the worn steps, remembering the days I'd go with he or my uncle to pick up mail from their P.O. Box "128", which the Monroes had for what seemed like forever.  (Isn't if funny how short for "forever" truly is sometimes?)  Then, one day out of blue I decided it was time to snap some photos of the Depot and surrounding area to show my cousin how things had changed since we were little kids and his last visit here in 1982.
 

Dusk was falling, but a light turned on inside me.

He had to put up with my photos, because in comparison to the shots he takes, as a more perfection oriented photographer, mine probably made his eyes sore.  However, the stories I began sharing captivated him to the point he actually said I should consider recording them one day.  Now, that was a compliment and an idea of epic proportions was birthed. It put a dream into our hearts, and him on to a new career path.

Anyway, it was a gorgeous Autumn afternoon for my husband, Steve's and my first visit there.  Much like it's been the past few days.  As I walked around the Depot building snapping photos, I was instantly enthralled and transported back in time by it.  I was also very much smitten by Main Street Park, as well as Main Street Hamlet.  But two simple things, brought me back to myself in a way I hadn't experienced since who knows when.
 
First, there's an area beside the Depot where "memory" bricks have been placed in tribute to various individuals and loved ones.  Many of which were railroad people; my granddaddy and uncle Monroe, included.

Just seeing their names hit me like a ton of bricks and reminded me of my railroad roots.  But, what hit me like a lightening bolt was standing on the railroad tracks not too far from where the two used to meet the train my mom and I journeyed upon from the Seaboard railroad Portsmouth, Virginia to attend our family reunions.  It was as if both had scooped me up like they once had to remind me of the strength that resides in my mom's side of the family.  All of we women are very strong individuals.  That strength along with the strength that comes from my dad's side, in joining my strength, and the strength the Lord gives me, gave me even more reason to push past and through.

It's been a journey of a different type since then, and I've learned some hard lessons along the way.  Yet, I continue to remain smitten with Hamlet which is obvious to those who know me around here.  And the same can be said of my husband, Steve.  When I reconnected my heart to the Depot and to Hamlet, it inspired a fondness for both within him, too.  He loves train watching now, as much as I do.  So, it's become another special thing we share in common. 

Now, as a Depot Historic Depot volunteer and one of its newest board members, I'm filled with enthusiasm.  I'm not at all about what "can't be done", but about "what can be done" and I see a wonderful future for the HHD&M as a key attraction to bring more and more visitors and tourists to Main Street Hamlet. 

As on my Project Rewire blogging endeavor of late, I've had to go backwards to catch up to now, more than a time or tow.  That's partially because I actually have more of a life now than I have had in a very long time.  Well, the same will hold true to a certain degree in All Aboard Hamlet, too.  There will be a key difference.  Some of this blog will reflect how the hands of time are aesthetically being turned back as historic preservation efforts and projects to restore the City of Hamlet to its original beauty of yesteryear are being completed.  And, as a community oriented blog, my hope and prayers are that others within will freely contribute their stories and memories of their heartstring ties to Hamlet.  Those that live here, or elsewhere.  I also know without a doubt, I'm not the only one challenged by an illness, or disease, but persevering to be triumphant with ties to Hamlet.  Such stories will always be welcome here, too.  On another note, I'm very open to sharing this blog to promote the talents of locals who may not have a web site, blog, or other "net" avenue to show case their various "art" mediums.  In addition, if a fun event is happening in Hamlet, why not call "all aboard" here?

Seaboard Festival 2009 - A Community Working & Having Fun Together

I've deliberately kept the format very simple to read and to encourage contributors.  Please feel free to email me at the address indicated on my profile should you have questions or have something you would like to contribute here.  I can also very easily be found on Facebook under "Jeanne Holland Newton" and at our brand new Hamlet Historic Depot & Museum Facebook group.

Thanks to all for being first readers of All Aboard Hamlet.  Hope you make it a habit.  Please do consider following and sharing to make this a successful community blog.

Next entry will spot light the birthday of a very special Hamlet Historic Depot & Museum volunteer. 

And note, this blog is very much a work in progress.  I may be tweaking the color scheme and settings, as well as adding content and images to the right side panel in the coming days.