“For three months I’ve been counting down the days and saying to my husband, ‘Mike, do you know we’ll have lived in St. Charles for 20 years on March 30th?’ What are the odds you’re interviewing me today? It’s our 20th anniversary living out here. After I got married, I moved out of my parent’s house in Creve Coeur and bought a house a quarter mile away. I lived in the area for 36 years looking at the same houses, streets, and stores, so I needed a change of scenery. The buzz at the time was, ‘You move to St. Charles and you get more for your money.’ Young people were flocking here, but we were middle-aged. Plus, I didn’t know anyone in the area. But once I got the house-hunting bug, I couldn’t be stopped. I said, ‘Mike, let’s just take a drive and see what’s there.’ We started driving around on the weekends, weaving in and out of different subdivisions. We got lost a few times, but I loved the wide streets and new houses. Everything was clean. Plus, they had every major grocery store, bank, and restaurants galore. Long story short, we saw the house we're in now — a three-bedroom ranch in a quiet subdivision — and made up our minds. I told my boss, ‘I’m moving to St. Charles.’ He looked at me and said, ‘St. Charles? There are no Jews there!’ And I said, ‘Well, I guess I’m going to be a pioneer.’”

📷| Colleen O’Connell Smyth