The rest of the story......

I've always heralded small towns.  I love ours and feel so comfortable when I journey through them on my travels.  This morning I read another local small town story.... (Yep, I read it in the Thursday Post Standard..one of only 3 editions published weekly:-)

Fashion guru Tommy Hilfiger's roots are firmly entrenched in Elmira, New York. Who'd have thought that sharply dressed Hilfiger began his career in Small Town America.  He was always looking for an "exit strategy"...an escape from the small town where everybody knew everybody, everyone went to church on Sunday and everybody went to the local ballgames.  He changed his mind and ,with two classmates, opened a store in Elmira.  His fashions were flared jeans with accessories like candles and incense.....it was the early 70's you know and some were firmly still entrenched in their Woodstock mode.  The People's Place was a hit and he opened more in Ithaca and Cortland....college towns! Ten years later he was on his way to Manhattan to redesign his trademark "preppy with an edge" style fashions. He credits his Dad, Richard Hilfiger with his appreciation of "tweeds, tailored suits, beautiful shirts and very nice ties."  when his dad passed away 10 years later, he acquired a tie from his closet...his "lucky tie" and what still ties him to his roots and his hometown of Elmira, New York.  He shared that his lucky tie "reminds him of growing up in Elmira" and "there being something endearing about it..this feeling of being very, very safe!

                             Sound like something you might be feeling?   Me too!!