Dear Neighbors,

I always joke, “I’m just a girl from Warren.” As we put together this special America 250 issue, it was a stroll down memory lane for me as well. Where was I in 1976 – the year of the Bicentennial? I was a graduate of Warren Elementary School and I have a vivid memory of dressing in Betsy Ross attire with my friends to commemorate our nation’s 200th anniversary.

I searched for a photo in my prairie skirt and bonnet, but as luck would have it, no luck. (Ha!)

Our very small-town Warren, Connecticut, is still dotted today with farms, forests and the nearby treasure of Lake Waramaug. There were about 100 students in my school (K-6) and in fact, Warren, Connecticut boasts that it is the home of the oldest one-room schoolhouse in the country -- kinda like Hatch is the Chile Capital of the World! The Fourth of July was marked with a red, white and blue parade, complete with our volunteer firefighters, women’s auxiliary, school band, boy scouts, girl scouts, cubs and daisies and of course fireworks. In a town of just over 1,000 residents, neighbors knew one another; I grew up with the freedom of rural life, and community gatherings were a central part of everyday living. Life in Warren hasn’t changed over the years, which is increasingly rare. The bicentennial celebration wasn’t just a day, it was year. I saved babysitting money and bought my first pair of red, white and blue Nikes. I wore them long after they actually fit and it broke my heart when I had to give them up. Sorry Forrest Gump, but I had them first!

The Summer of 1976 was the season between the comfort of my small school and the new fall semester where I would be bussed 20 miles away to a regional high school (grades 7-12) and it was terrifying to me. Instead, I ignored what was to come and that summer was all about outdoor adventures, riding bikes, exploring trails, building forts, and my most favorite was hanging out at the lake with my friends. There were 18 kids in my 6th grade class and my best friend Sharon and I to this day can still proudly recite each classmate’s name, mostly as a tribute to our memory.

Our country was just coming away from the Watergate scandal. There was also an aura that we had barely come back as a country from the Vietnam War. While I didn’t understand it, I knew there were painful reverberations everywhere. While there were no smart phones, there was TV and boy was I in love with Steve Austin – The Six Million Dollar Man – and I could sing every word to every Olivia Newton-John song and listening to Cassie Kassem’s American Top 40 on the radio every Sunday afternoon with my friends was a really big deal. Time stretched slower then.

I haven’t thought about 1976 in a long time and as we fast forward to 2026 - WHAT? 50 years? - I think about the experiences our kids are having. Let’s do everything we can to preserve their innocence, their sense of adventure and their connectedness to their peers. As adults, let’s cling to one another, knock on the door and say “hey” or maybe just put the devices down and find out what’s going on outside. I loved my Warren hometown then and I love my Las Cruces hometown now. I look forward to all of the milestones ahead that we've yet to experience. 

Happy Independence Day to our neighbors in Sonoma Ranch and all of our local businesses in Las Cruces who support us!

Tamera Ahner
Publisher