Flat Creek group is community-centered

In 1947, you couldn't get from Flat Creek to Shelbyville as quickly as you can now. The Internet hadn't even been thought of in the science fiction pulp magazines that were flooding the news stands, and many places still had a party line, so "conference" calling was a matter of bad manners, not good business.

It was at that time when several soldiers, just home from the war, and their families decided to start a club in the small Bedford County community. Other areas were doing it too, creating community centers whose purposes included everything from mowing lawns for the elderly to raising money for school light bulbs.

More than 60 years have gone by since then and a lot has changed. Small communities such as Flat Creek have become bedroom communities, home to young couples who drive to bigger cities to work. The internet, home entertainment systems, and cell phones that have more computing power than Apollo 13 have created a global virtual village that seems to be threatening the existence of the real village.

Not in Flat Creek, though.

Monthly gatherings

"I guess we have 50 to 60 show up every month," said Ike Farrar, the entertainment chairman for the club, which holds a potluck dinner the first Saturday of every month. The food is often accompanied by live music, including award winners and television personalities, such as Hee Haw's Roni Stoneman. "We had overflow the night she was here. I guess we had about 120 people."

Farrar is one of two of the club's founders still living, the other being Richard Gordon. The 91-year-old World War II veteran fighter pilot studied the club scrapbooks in his parlor in front of a comfortable fire.

The parlor and the man -- like the concept of community clubs -- seem to be caught in a time that no longer exists. Antique chairs, marble-topped tables and vintage wallpaper belong in the room of the more than 160-year-old house as if they were the original furnishings. There is comfort here -- and durability.

Home improvement

Flat Creek was Farrar's home before he left for the war and it's been his home since he came back. Making home the best place possible was one of the driving ideas behind the community club, not just in Flat Creek, but all across the state.

"They were all through different communities," he said. "They were called community improvement clubs. We tried to beautify and clean up the area, make improvements. We took up a collection and put fluorescent lights in the Flat Creek School. We encouraged everybody to clean their farms up, and the fence rows."

But the improvements they wanted to make weren't just cosmetic. The young club also raised money for what Farrar believes to be the first fire truck in any Bedford County community outside Shelbyville, a surplus vehicle from Sewart Air Force Base in Smyrna. They collected groceries and clothing for those in need, and they always met once a month for fellowship, and to plan the next list of good deeds.

There was even a competition at the time for which community improvement club was improving its community the most. Because of the size of Bedford County, and the limited time of the contest's judges, the club never got to show off its best work. One year, the members opted to created a display in the club house with photographs and samples of their work, from cleaned-up roadsides to home-cured hams. That year, they won top honors in the state.

On the move

The club has had several homes, beginning with the old Flat Creek School. When the schools were integrated, the club bought the building that head been used for black students, and later, purchased the old Cumberland Presbyterian Church, where it remains today. Each move has led to bigger space and better things. Not only does the club meet there once a month, the building hosts dance classes, receptions, fellowship dinners and other social events. And while the club members, many in their latter years, aren't exactly out bushhogging fence rows anymore, they still collect food baskets, bring Santa to those in need, and generally lend a helping hand wherever they can, as often as possible. Just Saturday, the club hosted a pot luck dinner with area elected officials, giving leaders such as State Sen. Jim Tracy and County Mayor Eugene Ray the chance to talk about the future of the county and what was in store for everyone.

Helping hands

Roxanne Francesconi grew up in Flat Creek as one of the Hale girls and the club is important to her memories -- and her future. After living away from home for 40 years, she came back to Flat Creek with her husband to retire and is now the vice president of the club, helping president Roger Debatin coordinate club activities, both social and charitable.

"It's my heritage," she said. "I feel like it's an obligation to help."

It's not an exclusive club. You don't have to trace your ancestors back to gray uniforms or Revolutionary War land grants to belong.

"With newcomers, we take them in as if they've been here their whole lives," she said.

In fact, Debatin is one of those "newcomers" but he shares the essential quality needed for a member of the Flat Creek Community Club -- community spirit.

"We're people of all walks of life and is always pleasant to get together and enjoy fellowship and exchange ideas," said Farrar.