Lorry Myers spoke with the Missouri on Mic team at the Centralia Public Library in November. Myers is a fourth-generation resident and a columnist for the Centralia Fireside Guard. While she loves the community aspect of the town, she says she’s worried about how specific tax boundaries are affecting public infrastructure, like the Centralia Public Library.
Missouri on Mic is an oral history and journalism project documenting stories from around the state.
Maggie Turner: What do you think is the best part about the community here in Centralia?
Lorry Myers: I would say the best part of the community are certainly what makes us better at ... who we are is certainly our school district. We are very strong with that where our senior citizens and community of all ages support our school district. I think that's a really big drawing point.
I love our park systems, those kind of things, you know. We, we voted on taxes to support those, and if you go through our parks and look at them, you can see how well-loved they are in our community. I think maybe I learned recently that our average age here in Centralia is about 38, which would surprise many people. They may think we have an average older base, so that's remarkable in itself.
Maggie Turner: Are you from Centralia, or are you also a transplant here?
I love to see the young people that grew up here move away and come back because they bring new ideas with them and want to raise their family here, and when they come back, they appreciate it. And you can tell those things in a community.
Lorry Myers: Oh, no, I'm from Centralia. My dad was from Centralia, his dad was from Centralia, so we are early people here, fourth generation. I am. My children are fifth generation. So yeah, we've been here a while.
I think what keeps it here is, you know, the people that make it work here. I mean ... we, if we have an image or an aspect, then somebody here has to maintain that. So, you know, as long as we have young people interested, and we have our seniors involved, and you know, these reasons why young people would want to move here, that's important.
Maggie Turner: Is there anything about Centralia and the community here that you think more people need to know about?
Lorry Myers: Oh yeah, a couple of things actually. Let's talk about our library a little bit, and we have a great library. It's one of the first libraries in Boone County. So the library boundaries, if you know anything about them, were established back in 1965, so every growth Centralia has had since those boundaries ... those taxes do not come to our Centralia library. So as you drive around and you see new subdivisions, those taxes are outside of that brand new school we have. It's going to Boone, Boone County Library, not Centralia. So our central library is landlocked now because of that. So that's a worrisome thing for the future.
Maggie Turner: Do you feel that there is any division in Centralia right now?
Lorry Myers: I think there's always a little bit in the community. You'll have those people that feel like they've been here a long time and they have strong ownership, and then you have some people that move in and may not think they feel as welcome as they should be. So there will always be that you know. There'll be a little bit of divide about what our seniors need and what our young people want. So we'll have a little bit of the divide ...
Really, we have a community that works well together. I think we have a, right now, pretty strong and open leadership in our city government, and we haven't, maybe always in the past. So I think there's more good things in Centralia going on than there are worrisome things.
Maggie Turner: What is your biggest hope right now for Centralia?
Lorry Myers: Oh, my, my biggest hope would be, I like steady growth. Not rapid growth, steady growth. I love to see the young people that grew up here move away and come back because they bring new ideas with them and want to raise their family here, and when they come back, they appreciate it. And you can tell those things in a community.
I think we, all of us, need to be open-minded because we can't, things can't always be the way they are. You always have to be, you know, what do we want for tomorrow? What about five years from now? So investing in things like our school district, our library, those kind of things that will carry us into the future is something that I think would be a good investment.
