Recently I was on episode of the YouTube channel called “The Bookish Hour.” Once again a reader questioned the small town I’ve created in my book series. “There’s no way a little bitty town can have all that fun going on! All those stores and events, they can’t be real. You’re just making all that up!”
Why are big city people so arrogant? Why do they think they’re the only ones who can have any fun? Do they imagine us small town folks sitting around on our front porches sipping sweet tea and talking about the good old days? Yeah, they probably do.
I’m going to set the record straight. Graisseville, the village I’ve created is my Small Town Girl Life and Small Town Girl Mysteries is completely based on Grand Cane, Louisiana. The elected officials definitely stray far from our village council and mayor, but most everything else stands side by side with the truth.
Graisseville has a public school, that pulls from small towns close by. Grand Cane used to have a public school, but it closed. The school building houses a small private Christian school. But we do have a community theatre, a coffee shop, a bank, a post office, a village park, two churches, a bed and breakfast, and a historic district. We have founding families, although they don’t hold lavish by-invitation-only parties. Well, maybe the other three families do, and they just don’t invite us.
John’s paternal great great great grandfather, Thomas Abington, helped to build our village. Thomas and Israel Rogers, Wright Hobgood, and John Wagner influenced the development of the area around two wagon trails that intersected in Grand Cane. So if there are any lavish parties going on with the founding families, they should add us to the list! Grand Cane’s mayor hosts an open house every December, and she invites us to her gathering. But that’s as lavish a party as we rate.
We have a Christmas parade and a Mardi Gras parade. Bands perform downtown from time to time. John and I park our food truck in downtown Grand Cane on Monday and Thursday evenings. Behind our bank is Creole Creations, a place to go every Saturday night for food and live music. We’ve been a few times, and it’s a lot of fun! Bring bug spray and a chair, though.
Village Cuisine is scheduled to open back up in early September, featuring lovely upscale dining with fabulous food. Rhonda Meek catered our wedding, and we highly recommend her.
Every July our airport hosts a balloon fest. Grand Cane is also the home of Desoto King of the Street, an outdoor venue to watch drag racing. Desoto Motosport Park is just outside our tiny village, with dirt pit tracks, mini bike tracks, wood trails, and a main track.
Let’s not forget Long Range Alley Gun Club, 800 acres of shooting for handguns, rifles, shotguns, and archery. Come to think of it, all these places would make excellent locations for a murder. I’ll keep that in mind when starting my next book.
I may just keep this article handy, for the next time someone spouts off that I’m creating ridiculous small towns that could never exist. Small towns offer so much more than sweet tea and front porches. But if you’re missing any of the conveniences of the big city, head on over to Mansfield, population 4,714 (according to the 2020 census). Progressive National Bank on Washington Avenue has an elevator.
Jann Goar Franklin graduated Russellville High School in 1989. You can reach her at jann@jannfranklin.com