The romanticizing of small town America seems almost lost these days as Mayberry turned into reality television and Roadside America motor lodges died with the creation of a vast interstate highway network to help us get where we’re going fast.

Four hours in Hobgood Thursday evening taught me the spirit of small town America has not vanished and all you have to do to find it is to seek it out.

Having covered July 4 events in Northampton and Halifax, I decided to go to Hobgood to see what their celebration was like, drawn to a post I saw about a pie-eating contest and the fact I haven’t paid the town much attention since I created rrspin.com.

(More photos on our Facebook and Google + pages)

Driving the roads that lead to Hobgood is always a joy as I see the remnants of motor lodges when Highway 301 was the road before the monster I-95 was born. You see the old barns, the skeletal remains of roadside stores and fields with tobacco plants coming to full life.

Sharing ice cream.

You drive through Scotland Neck, with its unique middle of the street parking, and then head on down Highway 903 where farming is still a way of life, silos and barns being the monoliths instead of skyscrapers.

My welcome in Hobgood was warm and scanning the scene I felt I picked the right place, music playing, red, white and blue bunting adorning the depot building and the smell of hot dogs wafting through the air of an All-American evening.

I bought a 50-50 ticket and explained I would not accept the cash prize if I won but would return it to the town’s revitalization committee to keep in the kitty for next year’s celebration.

What struck me most about this event was it was not some meager attempt to recreate small town America to appease tourists hungry for a glimpse of what was. This event was what is — the present, the past, the future, rolled into an annual celebration of the birth of independence, not to create an illusion.

The pie-eating contest.

This is a community proud of its past and present and is not only doing what it can to keep its town vital, but has been working behind scenes of improving Halifax County, even helping out in Roanoke Rapids with a summer concert series at the theater here. If you remember, the Aaron Tippin concert there was an event planned by the people of Hobgood, which also showcased the musical talent of its people.

As promised, I was not disappointed Thursday night. The thing that drew me there in the first place, a pie-eating contest, was a photographer’s dream.

What I had not expected was how the fireworks would pan out. I had no idea it would be set to music and the synchronization was near perfect.

It cost $1,900 for the fireworks alone. That kind of money from a town as small as Hobgood shows a commitment by its people to provide a night where they come together as a community and celebrate the spirit of independence that has helped their community survive.

The triumphant winner.

Four hours in Hobgood Thursday night was as perfect as any night could be and it tells me that the spirit has not vanished and, more important, the spirit of community still thrives — Lance Martin