Growing up in the country, far from the city lights and very much removed from city politics, I never knew much about mayors and city council members.

Most local political talk in our household centered around an office they called road commissioner, or more precisely, commissioner of roads and revenue. Even then, it seemed the main topic of every political discussion was roads.

While farmers had begun to trade in horses and plows for tractors, most families also owned a car. School buses had replaced shoe leather as school systems consolidated. Roads went everywhere, but, sadly, those roads got paved only when some wealthy, influential, politically active or blackmailing individual could "grease the palm" of the road commissioner. Until that happened, folks living on a country road had to depend on the whims of the commissioner to send the "oil trucks" out. These vehicles came with discarded used motor oil to pour over the roads in an effort to lay the dust. It did little or nothing to make the roads smoother, but it did help to keep down dust during long dry spells. You could tell how long it had been since the last visit by how deep the dust was on the furniture. The sound of that slow-moving monster machine was music to our ears.

As a child, I never saw a connection of such services to politics, but in adulthood, in retrospect, it seems obvious. Somewhere along the way, I began to pay attention and finally began to vote. National politics (our real national pastime) is one thing, but local politics is our day-to-day concern.

No matter one's station in life nowadays, a vote in a local election, attendance at a forum or town hall meeting, a note to a councilman or email to a mayor, a discussion with the water meter reader or city manager or parks director or public works employee - all these mean more to our daily lives than what goes on in Washington, D.C. Washington can't fix a pothole. They can't manage a coyote round-up. They can't pick up the trash or dispatch a fire truck. And they certainly won't listen to our voice on the phone, nor will they promptly answer an e-mail. As necessary as it is to have federal government, it is local government that assures us that water will flow from our faucets, streets will be traversable, our homes will be safe, the school bus will pick up our children at the appointed time, and tornado sirens will wake us when we're in the way of weather danger.

With local elections in progress even now, and, as always, with Woodstock's history in my thoughts, I went to scrapbooks and history books to refresh my memory about Woodstock politics. There have certainly been some interesting characters at city hall. Amongst all the ancient items at Dean's Store, I found two "election" cards that brought back many memories.

Before the advent of TV and other modern methods of communication, candidates for public office handed out colorful cards, much like business cards, with necessary info. Some of my earliest memories include these cards. They were lots of fun to play with, and we would make up card games and anxiously await the next ones brought home by voting-age adults. I saved a few because some relatives (including a road commissioner!) were deeply involved in Dalton and Whitfield County politics.

One of the cards at Dean's Store states, "Vote for and Elect C.J. Bowles Mayor, City of Woodstock, December 6, 1977. A man with the necessary experience to serve." At that time, city elections were held in December. Another, earlier, card for the same candidate carries his picture and these words, "C.J. Bowles is my name and I'm running for Sheriff, Cherokee County, Democratic primary, May 27, 1964. Your support and influence appreciated." This seems to be a strange date for a primary since this was before our more modern presidential preference primaries. Newspaper clippings fill in some gaps.

In a January 1972, clipping we see outgoing Mayor Bowles swearing in the incoming mayor, James Newton Barnes. Woodstock mayors took office in January and served one-year terms. A Woodstock Star report on Jan. 30, 1963, revealed that Mayor W. B. Drinkard began his third one-year term at a January council meeting and that Police Chief C.J. Bowles would be retained on the police force. (Mr. Bowles must have liked law enforcement since he would run for sheriff the next year. Perhaps his defeat in that election was his motivation to run for mayor later.)

An article in the Nov. 18, 1975, News/Shopper states that C.J. Bowles qualified to run for mayor in the Dec. 2 election against incumbent Bill Long. It states also that he was the mayor previously, in 1969-71 and 1973. Other records state other terms for Mr. Bowles, 1973-1975 and 1978-1981.

It should be noted that at least one mayor aspired to the office held by his father. Smith L. Johnson, Jr. was mayor 1951-1955, following in the footsteps of his father, Smith Sr., just a decade before in 1941-1946. The mayors who helped to usher in the phenomenal growth of the '80s and '90s were Evelyn Chambers (whose brother J.D. Whitmire served as mayor 1948-1950), and David Rogers, who died mid-term after leading the city through its memorable Centennial year. They set examples for us but there is no mayoral race this year.

Choose your councilmen wisely. They'll be history someday.

Juanita Hughes is the retired manager of the Woodstock Public Library.