Marion, Michigan has a mystical hold on those who come from here, no matter where they may be. I’ve spent considerable time thinking about the Marion phenomena, trying to understand. I’ve written about it more than once and I still do not have an answer. Marion is a part of me; I carry it under my skin and in my heart every day. I’ve often said that I would like to be able to see Marion through fresh eyes, but I can’t.
This town has built a lot of good people. Most of them you will never have heard of unless you are from Marion. They are the people who live and work here. They raise their families, go to church, attend school events and the Fair, love Old Fashioned Days, vote, hunt, help their neighbors, own homes here and yes, die here. They are proud to say I’m from Marion. I understand that part, I just don’t know the why and I guess I never will. We all have different reasons.
I was born in Osceola County and spent my first two and a half years living above my aunt’s grocery store, just across the street from my dad’s Sinclair gas station. Then we moved to Blevins Street. I knew everyone and they knew and looked out for me. I went to the Marion Schools where I received the best education I can imagine (and yes, it was that way) and made friends which have lasted a lifetime. From these people and this place I was given confidence, a good perspective and a solid moral and physical compass….and that compass often pointed me home.
I spent a number of years not living here. I didn’t set out to leave, it just worked that way. Growing up I always reckoned that I would spend my life here, working in the family IGA, or maybe the Post Office, or best of all if I was truly lucky, following my grandma at the Marion Press. But I married, had children and lived in a much larger city for twenty years. For this girl from Marion, Michigan, it was an experience of mixed blessings.
The city was both exciting and disturbing; a far cry from the little northern Michigan village I’d always known. My first Christmas season there I couldn’t wait to visit the downtown. I was just certain that the decoration and light display would be amazing, being so much larger than Marion, it just had to be mind blowing. It wasn’t. There was virtually nothing, aside from store windows. I ached for Marion and the lights strung across Main Street and wrapped around each light pole. That was Christmas. Those big city stores had nothing on Flemming’s window. As with all the other holidays, Christmas is not Christmas unless it is at home.
In all the years that I was not here, not one single day passed that I did not wonder what was happening at home… Not a single day. I sat at my desk in that big city and wondered what Marion looked like each day; how deep was the snow? Or how cold or how hot is it? What was happening on Main Street and just what were the folks at home doing anyway? My Marion compass pulled at me and thankfully brought me home again a long time ago.
All of this rah, rah stuff doesn’t mean that Marion doesn’t have detractors, it always has. This is not a fairy tale town. I recently spoke with someone who returned after a long absence. When I commented on how nice it was that they were back, and how long it had been, I got this.
“I’m just here for the kids and grandkids. I still hate this town.” Being a native, I knew why. You were dealt a lousy hand, mostly from your own making. For the most part, and for good or bad, growing up is what you take from it and what you do with it.
The Marion Community Page on Facebook, which we all follow whether we admit it or not, can be a volatile place, and seems to have become a place to complain more than to compliment. There are a lot of good ideas and local business offerings posted there. Sadly, the ideas are mostly talk.
I get it about all the roaming dogs, blight, maybe the chickens, and especially about the lack of a grocery store. That one continues to be a button pusher. And on that one, I agree.
It seems that IF there is to be the often talked about fabulous grocery store in our future, with adjoining Ace Hardware, those intending to do this would post, give regular updates, and encourage future customers. I, for one, am not encouraged by hearsay and those in the supposed know. By the way, how many Ace Hardware’s have you seen in a town of our size? We haven’t had a stable grocery store since the old one left the hands of local owners. Think about it.
There are those who expect magic from their Marion experience, but it doesn’t always work that way. This is a good place, filled with good people and, like anywhere else, some who are not so. We need to quit complaining and pull together for change. No need for a local law. There is a state Blight Law, it just needs enforcement, and that can be costly but, worth it.
Perhaps it is best said in a twist on the old Love Story saying. If we are lucky, ‘Marion, at best, gives us what we need to get.’ It should be that simple.
This M&J Market ad is from July 1970.
