Every town has a history. The best ones are told by the people who lived it.
As we look back on the founding of Ranlo on July 29, 1963, and celebrate 63 years of our town, we asked longtime resident and Town Commissioner Ronnie Laws to share some of his favorite memories from Ranlo’s early years. His memories of visiting his grandmother’s house, playing with cousins, and seeing the community together are a reminder that while much has changed, the heart of Ranlo has always been its people.
We learned a lot from him and can’t wait to share more as we honor our past while continuing to build our future together.
Read the full video transcript
It’s been a lot of changes in the Town of Ranlo. A lot of people have moved in here. I think it’s changed for the good u2014 the town has grown. I think the mill had a lot to do with that. Everybody got to know one another, and most of the people that worked in the mill lived in the village here. Of course, as people bought their automobiles and things, they moved out, moved away, but they’d still work at the plant u2014 they just had a way to get there.
Back then it seemed like everybody knew everybody. Where this house is right here, there used to be a bunch of big old oaks out here, and you could come out here on a Sunday and clang a couple of horseshoes together, and there’d be fifteen, twenty people out here in no time, playing horseshoes. You’d draw a big crowd.
I’d come over to my grandmother’s house u2014 we’d come over there, you know u2014 and I’d play with my cousins, and I guess I’d take them back to where I lived when I was growing up.