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We've been working on our upcoming special section, "Our Hometown" here in the newsroom this summer, and it's amazing the things I continue to learn after having been here so long.

Our Hometown is one of my favorites each summer because it allows me to get paid for doing one of my favorite things - chatting with folks from all around Hamilton County. I always say to new reporters that news people don't learn anything "new" sitting in an office all day long, so getting out and about - visiting with the folks who live and work here - is an invaluable part of the job.

However, after a while, I have to admit that we sometimes have trouble coming up with anyone "new" to feature. I'm not exactly "new" myself, but even among those we have long known there may be a few "new" things to learn.

At the top of my list this year is Fred Marcalus. I've gone to meetings where Fred, and his wife, Ann, have played an active role for years and years. He's like "Mr. Main Street" for all of South Hamilton, and yet I never knew that he grew up in New Jersey!

New Jersey, of all places!

Actually, I have to blame one of my brothers for my fascination with how Fred told me about his childhood, growing up in the shadow of New York City in the 1950s.

This brother of mine, you see, is the world's biggest Yankee fan. I think he's mellowed a bit with age, but there was a time when you didn't want to be in the same county with him should the Yankees lose. The Yankees were to my brother as the Kennedys were to me - an unhealthy but quite enjoyable obsession.

Fred, lucky Fred, spent his childhood going to Yankee Stadium every summer. Even I drooled at the prospect of it all. New York, I think, was a kinder place back then and the Yankees of the 1950s were almost storybook in legend.

If there were a time machine, I would glady go back to the mid '50s or early '60s to sit and watch an afternoon game of baseball in the House that Ruth Built. I can almost taste the popcorn now, but it's not the only destination I would choose for that time machine.

In my interview with John Laird, we spent a lot of time visiting about his childhood in a river town, and it also sounds like a great destination back in time.

Laird serves as naturalist/park officer for Hamilton County Conservation. I have witnessed the department's environmental education programs absolutely blossom under Laird's leadership and I thought he'd be a fun person to feature as well.

What I didn't know is that he grew up in Lehigh and studied in Rochester, Minn. I enjoy linking the two towns because, to some at least, they would seem to be polar opposites. Rochester is, quite literaly, full of, well, brain surgeons, and Lehigh is, well, um, not. At least not literally.

Now how do I get myself out of this? I don't think I need to because, like the good folks of Kamrar, Lehigh folks don't get offended. And I sort of enjoy getting in a little trouble now and then anyway - especially with folks who know how to have a good time.

Besides, there's a lot to Lehigh that a lot of folks don't know. It's a town full of history and natural resources. My favorite local historian, the late Ed Nass, did more than a few stories about the link between the histories of Webster City and Lehigh, the Crooked Creek Railway to name one.

But I'm getting off the subject here. Laird's eductional programs for Hamilton County Conservation are absolutely delightful and I hope readers will enjoy learning more about the outdoor life from a person who has always had a love and respect for nature at its best.

These are just a few of the many people featured in this year's edition of Our Hometown.

This special section will be coming your way in the Tuesday, July 21, edition of The Daily Freeman-Journal.