David L. Lewis: Du Quoin is all new again

On a recent and rare return visit to his native Du Quoin, retired University of Michigan business historian David L. Lewis was taken on a tour of the town by Mayor Rex Duncan and family.

He asked about Ward and Wheatley schools, McKinley and Lincoln, about various stores and shops he remembered and about the Marshall Browning Hospital.

Duncan shared with the council Monday night and with the town the experience.

It was easier to show Lewis the changes than to explain them.

They drove by the new Du Quoin High School to be dedicated later today. They drove past the Du Quoin Middle School and past the modern Marshall Browning Hospital and Marshall Browning Estates and the rehabilitation center.

They drove downtown where Duncan pointed out the water line replacement work and all of the sidewalks being replaced.

Nearby are the resources of the Du Quoin City Hall, the police and fire stations and the Du Quoin Public Library.

"It's all new," said the soft-spoken Lewis, whose accomplishments include the written history of the Ford Motor Co.

"Yes, I guess it is," said a reflective Mayor Rex Duncan who, like Lewis, had to think about all of the blessings on Du Quoin and its residents in recent years.

"It changed me," said Duncan of the experience. "We take things for granted and we shouldn't."

Members of the city council agreed.

A good way to end a meeting on a very positive note. But, it took an outsider looking in to remind us.