Village Wisdom: Anchors (intro) by Erwin A. Thompson

Rebecca Pincas and her family hosted a gathering at the Edwardsville Library to share the labors of several yeras of hard and dedicated work. The subject: “The early history of Melville andi ts people.” Several of the old families were represented in the audience, who later became participants in the discussion of the history that we had all been a part of starting with our heritage of our roots in the Melville community.

The presentation of the material was superb. Soft music was present at just the right time to bridge what might have been an awkward pause. Becky and her sister shared the narrative of the slides. This was done from different locations, with beautiful timing as to when the changes were accomplished.

Both of the narrators have good voices, but more importantly and unusual in today’s world where most people seem to believe that the faster they talk the more important the audience will consider their message, their enunciation was clear and their diction completely understandable to me.

It was a great program. I have a little more insight into the work involved, as I have been working on preserving family and community history for over forty years, and Becky has consulted with me as she worked on the material and has used some of the pictures from the Riehl / Thompson collection.

I believe that the appreciation of the program could be directly measured by the dedication of the listener to the subject at hand.

“History belongs to everyone!” (Nolan)