Friday, October 31, 2008

Where Aren't They Now: 12

Nicki named her town: Pumpkin, Michigan.

Previously, Pumpkin was known as Springfield, Michigan. In elementary school, Nicki took it upon her bright and precocious self to write her congressman a letter, stating that there are far too many Springfields in the world and that their town deserved a moniker of its own.

Nicki suggested that a name like Pumpkin would put them on the map-- literally they are of course already on the map, but figuratively as well. In her letter she described how people from neighboring towns would flock to Pumpkin in the weeks before Halloween, in order to mail their greeting cards with the perfect postage mark.

The letter might have fallen on deaf ears if Springfield's congressman had not been in his final term and eager to make a name for himself. He championed the cause, and after the renaming he hung the letter in the Pumpkin branch of the USPS. Hoards of out-of-towners read it every autumn.

5 comments:

Ryan said...

awwwwww

Meggorie said...

anyone else flock to Google maps to see if there really is a Pumpkin, Michigan.

No?

Just me?

Awwww, I suck at life...

Unknown said...

Ha, I didn't even think to check... was there in fact a Pumpkin, MI?

luckeyfrog said...

You do a fantastic job of crafting an entire story and a definitive character in such a short number of words. I love it.

Unknown said...

Thanks! It's hard to limit the word count sometimes-- I'm intentionally trying to keep them short but usually I want to write so much more.