Ghost Town

Beautiful Downtown Fair Play (that's what my friend Doris used to print on her calendars when she and Dennis ran the little mom & pop grocery store) is in a decline.  The grocery store is now The Pub (I preferred the store).  Open 7 days a week previously, I noticed yesterday that The Pub is closing on Mondays.  Across the road is/was Fair Play Hardware.  It's been there forever.  Joyce, the prior owner, still worked there when she was well into her 90s.  Art took it over when Joyce finally hung up her hammers.  He added a cooler for sodas and stocked some snack foods, along with the hardware supplies.  It was nice to be able to pick up the occasional oddity close to home, especially when Steve was in the middle of a project and needed one more widget.  Months ago the "Open" sign didn't go on.  Hmmm.  Then a small sign said the store was closed for renovation, but there was never any activity.  Now even the sign is gone.  Since Beautiful Downtown Fair Play had only the two businesses, the loss of one could mean that Fair Play is again becoming a ghost town.  I discount the presence of Winery By The Creek next to The Pub as a business, as wineries are prevalent everywhere in this area.  Photographs from the 1800s show that once upon a time Fair Play was a fairly bustling mining camp.  All that is left from that era is the cemetery, where, by the way, Doris and Dennis are buried.  Well, if Fair Play is destined to be a ghost town, I know there will be a couple of friendly ghosts.