ByCynthia Salter Schulze

ROBERTSDALE - As I reminisce of my childhood as well as my adulthood, I am thankful I am a resident of a wonderful city, Robertsdale.

My parents, Clayton and Lisa Salter settled here 36 years ago. There choice stemmed by the fact that Robertsdale was a safe and great place to raise a family.

I have two siblings, Jimmy and Stephanie. My father is a local homebuilder and my mother was a stay-at-home mom, like many others during this time. This meant fresh baked goodies after school and home-cooked dinners at night. 

My brother and I used to ride bikes all around town. We didn’t have all of the retail shops, restaurants and grocery stores, only the old  Hammonds Grocery and a handful of other stores. We would ride our bikes to the  Hammonds, where we knew everyone by name.

The old Tasty Freeze was the hot spot for summer treats and we looked forward to the county fair. Our furniture was purchased at Furniture City with Mr. Kitchens and all of our prescriptions were filled at Lee Drugs.  My father could be found at Campbell’s Hardware or at the old Huddle House sipping coffee, when he wasn’t working.

Everyone knew everyone and if you didn’t you knew someone they were related to. I completed high school from Robertsdale in 1997.  I had the same Driver’s Education teacher that my father had, Coach Eddins. You could forget skipping school without being caught.

Safety was very important and most people had a police scanner at home.  I will never forget the time I walked in after attending a RHS football game and my father said “Oh you got a ticket going 55 mph in a 35 on County Road 55.”  I was stunned. Robertsdale residents couldn’t get away with much without going unnoticed. 

After attending college at The University of West Alabama in Livingston, I couldn’t wait to return home.  A little secret - I am a daddy’s girl at heart.  My 20’s brought along a new respect for my city. It had grown a lot since my bike riding days. We had fast food and a retail movie store, and a Winn Dixie to name a few.  The small growth made life more convenient, but it still had that same small-town atmosphere. 

When my nephew, Hayden was a toddler I used to take him on Monday’s to the cattle auction. He, like most toddlers, loved “Moo Cows.” 

Not much has changed since that time, but we have added some new stores and restaurants and a lot of businesses have planted their seeds here. I cannot blame them. I love the city too! 

My husband, Matt and I settled here as well. I have two daughters; Addysen and Lena and two stepsons; Austin and Logan. My children attend Robertsdale Elementary, just like I did. We are still members of my childhood church Robertsdale First Baptist. We live in close proximity to our schools.  My children still love riding bikes like my brother and I, only we go to the beautiful walking trail to ride now.  Instead of Hammonds Grocery we shop at Winn Dixie and instead of Tasty Freeze we have Sonic. My children, like I, still look forward to the Baldwin County Fair and Rodeo held here.

We live in close range to many malls and restaurants but again not too close, which I like.  Robertsdale is a family-oriented, safe, quaint town that still slows down to catch a little league baseball game or play in the yard on Sunday afternoon. Whether it’s running into someone familiar at the grocery store or knowing who is next to you at a red light we still give a friendly wave and smile. 

Cynthia Salter Schulze resides in Robertsdale with her husband, two daughters and two stepsons.