Eleanor

 When my husband and I were out shoveling gravel at the church, a woman walked by and stopped to ask us if we were reopening the church. Petite and white-haired, she said her name was Eleanor, and she has been coming to the local campground at the conservation area for decades.

We told her some of our plans for the place and fell to chatting. She has a keen interest in history and has done her family history going back generations, though none of it is on computer. But she has printed up copies for all her children, so at least the information won't be lost. She said she has lots of family photos to preserve, and I bit my tongue to keep from blurting out an offer to digitalize them all for her and put everything on Ancestry. I think I have enough projects to keep me busy for now. But what a goldmine of information!

She expressed interest in our stained glass windows, so we let her go into the church to look around and see them glowing from the inside. She greatly enjoyed this and took pictures. I feel good restoring this bit of local history.

Since Eleanor has been coming to the area every summer for so long, we thought it a good idea to ask her what she feels the community needs most. There is no local place to eat and little entertainment other than bingo at the campground, but they do hold weekly music nights with someone on guitar. She thought people would welcome just about any business we wanted to run, because there's literally no competition in Warwick. It sounds like food and music is the way to go. She also liked the idea of a meditation centre or yoga hall.

We told her to stop back next year and see what is happening with the church, and she promised to return. An interesting lady, and an enlightening conversation.