O A K F I E L D ,   N E W   Y O R K

Thursday, September 16, 2004

Community: #5

Chamber of Commerce: 37 Main Street, Oakfield, NY 14125

Hours: Mon-Fri 9:00am-5:00pm (eastern)

Phone: (585) 948-5862

Links: Chamber of Commerce | Email

Population: 1,805 (2000 US Census)

Gender: 48.2% male, 51.8% female

Race: 97.0% White, 1.2% African American, 0.2% Asian, 1.6% Other

Median Income: $45,270

Rating:

(5 max)

I haven't visited my childhood hometown in over 10 years. My last visit before moving to Portland, OR proved that few things had changed, leaving me with a feeling that even in this seemingly ever-changing world, some things -do- remain the same.

I enter the village on my bike (I'm touring via bike to increase my range of visibility so I won't miss anything) from the northwest and first pass by the elementary school. The school hasn't changed since my last visit. My first memory of school was my first day of kindergarten when I got off the bus. I recall my bus was identified as the "blue bird" bus. Each bus had a unique animal sticker pasted on its side so children could select the right bus when the time arrived to board for the ride home. When you're in kindergarten it's likely you don't know how to read numbers. I was 5 years old at the time, the second youngest in my class (I think Brian Kingsley was the youngest), and I don't remember if I knew how to read numbers. I probably didn't.