South Carolina girl says Tecumseh is ‘my favorite place’

To the Editor,

My favorite place in the world is not in my home state of South Carolina, although I do love the place. My favorite place in the world happens to be 700 miles outside my backyard. In the state of Michigan, there is a small town called Tecumseh, located in the southeast Lower Peninsula – that is my favorite place. Tecumseh is #93 out of the 100 best small towns in the country to live in according to a magazine article I read, and is #1 in my heart.

Tecumseh, Mich., is a town of an estimated 8,000 people but its potential soars to a million in my eyes. I visit it every year during the summer for four to six weeks. My mother grew up in this town when she was in third grade and up, and my grandparents have called it home ever since. My grandparents are Ken and Pat Boyd, and they live on Park Street – right across from the pond nicknamed “The Pit.” I am their granddaughter Kellie Frazer, and I am 17 years old.  When I come to Tecumseh, I always visit the downtown area. I love the breeze in the air when I walk on the quaint downtown sidewalks to my favorite store, Lev’s Bakery. Mr. Lev DeJonghe, owner of the bakery, once took my sister and I in his private airplane to look at Michigan in a new perspective. Another thing that makes Tecumseh a great town to live in are the people you meet. The atmosphere is inviting, kids play outside with friends, and almost everyone has a friendly smile when you walk on by. This year I participated in drama camp at the Tecumseh Center for the Arts, knew nobody, and made some new friends by the end.

Small towns are not everybody’s cup of tea, especially ones where the nearest movie theater is ten miles away. But this place in my favorite to visit because of the places and the people that make it up. I am one grateful teenager to have had the chance to experience a magnificent town in the middle of America. If I could live here, I would in a heartbeat.

Kellie Frazer
Simpsonville, SC