Paul Million spoke with the Missouri on Mic team at the Centralia Public Library in November. He's a life-long Centralia resident and family man who just welcomed his second grandchild into the world. He’s also a man of faith, and lover of small town life.
Missouri on Mic is an oral history and journalism project documenting stories from around the state.
Paul Million: When we found out my wife was expecting, we knew we wanted to come back home. Because not only is our family here, but everything that I grew up as a child just thinking of what an actual home was. It wasn't just the physical structure I lived in, but it was the entire surrounding community that we live in.
Anna Colletto: Yeah we’ve heard from a lot of people that community is what sets Centralia apart, that it’s really tight knit. Could you talk about that just a little bit more – what your experiences have been with that?
Paul Million: We've been involved, whether it's just through friendships, going through school, people that are still around town, that have also decided to come back. But when you get involved into a church community ... those are lifelong friendships or relationships that you count on. That, that you become involved with, that just makes it feel like home, beyond just the people ... that are in your actual families. The entire community feels like a family.
I would like to see more companies come into Centralia, more industry. When you rely on one, you’re put in the position to make sure that, or at least to hope that everything goes well with them because if they fail, then the town takes a big hit. So I would like to see more industry being welcomed in to town.
Anna Colletto: What do you think are the biggest challenges facing Centralia right now?
Paul Million: Hopefully, everything continues to go well. We have one large employer in town and, they’re still wonderful and doing great for us, I would like to see more companies come into Centralia, more industry. When you rely on one, you’re put in the position to make sure that, or at least to hope that everything goes well with them. Because if they fail, then the town takes a big hit. So I would like to see more industry being welcomed in to town.
Anna Colletto: What’s something that you would like people to know about you or your family?
Paul Million: Not about me so much, but about my family: We love the community. You know, everybody. It's just like our family. We don't always agree with each other, and we may not always agree with everybody out, you know, in town, but at the end of the day, you know, we come together and we, we fight for each other, if we have to, not in a literal sense. (Laughs) I want to make sure that’s clear.
Anna Colletto: No, I understand what you mean.
Paul Million: And again like I said, I know to outsiders, it may be hard to wrap your mind around, you know, a small town and how people can live in a small town. But, you know, we love it. You know, ... there are some downsides. As far as, you know, if we want to have certain things, we have to drive for those things. Or ... we may not have food being able to be delivered to our front door always.
But we, when you are in need, in this town, there are always people that are willing and happy to come to your aid.
