Dear Editor: The value of education deals primarily with the local understanding and appreciation of where we live and why: So often we hear youngsters saying: "I can't wait until I can move out of this dumb place!" And where do they want to go• Anywhere! There is something missing with our educational system if that is the end result of our tutoring. The kids wanting to leave. The Youngwood Institute, a department of the Railroad Museum, believes that when youth and adults know more about their ancestry, backyard history, the pioneers that created the town, the people who sacrificed to make this place livable -- the siblings will want to be part of the continuance of such a historic, friendly community. They will want to raise their families where they were reared. The museum officers feel that they are now providing that missing link to enhance the background knowledge of the Youngwood area. Not everybody desires to leave. Many have left, but before too long many have returned to what they then called their "hometown!" Not just the place in which they were accidentally born, but by having had an opportunity to compare that which they left behind with what they encountered, became an eye-opener. Some have been only too glad just to return home. To those who have had such experiences, they agree that the change of scenery was most educational. They soon discovered that people can make of their surroundings exactly what they wish to make of it. But that cannot be done when they find themselves surrounded by "strangers" that have an affinity to their "hometown." At that juncture, the wanderers who wind up returning will have taken a great interest in not only their state, but most essentially, the part in which they were born and lived ... their hometown. Curiosity is part and parcel of a genuine education. I know that feeling well. After years of moving and changing addresses about 13 times, I trickled back to Youngwood. My curiosity put me in touch with the past, and I was confounded by the fact that there were no shelves of records about my hometown. What there were, were scattered. I learned that the entire records of the Youngwood elementary and high schools were loaded on a truck and sent to a landfill, including athletic records, trophies and whatever. In my search, I found the town's anniversary publications as the only decent record of the past available. The Youngwood Institute for Historical & Cultural Studies was registered with the state by the Railroad Museum, and an archivist department was established in the 1980s to accumulate and preserve everything possible about "The Railroad Town." That has included the writings of prominent citizens who wrote of Youngwood's history and heritage, such as Gilbert Rutter, Wilda Fox Miller, and the late Ruth Love and Nadelle Ciganovic. These "Youngwoodians" wrote about Youngwood's noble inheritance, bought by the toils and sufferings of our ancestors. Here we have the American dream. And if wisely improved, and faithfully guarded, transmitting to our latest posterity all the substantial blessings of life, the peaceful enjoyment of liberty right here in this valley of opportunity, and of owning and using property, of exercising religion of our choosing, America's Youngwood will always represent that complete independence found nowhere else on this planet. Learn more about Youngwood by visiting the Railroad Museum. Or just call 724-925-7355 to volunteer your talents and become a vital part of this successful venture. As your family learns more about Youngwood and the area, you can be assured that your "kids" will never want to leave. Al Hopfer, chief executive officer/curator, Railroad Museum of Youngwood, Greensburg

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