as is typical in small towns, everybody knows everybody. the local police force is known, for the most part, to be upstanding citizens and take great pride in enforcing the law of the town, county, state and country. however due to the kinds of the town, the davis police force may be a little more lenient regarding certain laws and consequences than other police forces in larger towns. major and serious crimes are addressed appropriately but the town is just so small that it’d be more of a hassle to fine your neighbor for speeding or bringing in two of your former high school classmates for a simple fist fight…
speaking of high school, there is an unspoken rule that the mustang football players are given even more leniency than the average citizen— especially during a winning season. what cop in their right mind would ever want to be the target of the town’s ire for arresting the star running back for buying a 12 pack of beer? the davis police force, as well as most of the town, are willing to turn a blind eye to the broken laws, rambunctious behavior, or whims of youth when a football player is involved. boys will be boys, right?
other minors, even athletes, aren’t afforded that same clemency. it causes friction between social groups every now and then but welcome to davis, ohio.
Here at LOMH we respect that sexual identity and gender identity are sensitive topics and close to many of our hearts. However, out of this respect comes a very strong passion to ensure a proper representation of the LGBTIQ community, by not minimising the struggles of living in a small town. It’s indisputable that the internet has presented a strong platform and tool for young people within the LGBTIQ community. Support for the LGBTIQ community has not been widely accepted amongst the citizens of Davis, who remain disconnected and at times, ignorant, from support and education on gay rights often acknowledged and provided in metropolitan areas.
Therefore, be mindful when creating your character and discovering their sexual identity of the challenges faced by people in small towns. Davis, in particular, is a town where people are likely to be quite isolated if they come out as gay and would not be universally accepted by the community. Even as a young person within highschool, coming out of the closet is a terrifying experience and likely to wind them up with few supports. Please do not minimise the impact living in a small town has on young people who identify as LGBTIQ.
Similarly, we do not condone homophobia and do not seek to minimise its impacts. However, it is likely that some characters remain entirely ignorant and a product of the environment that they grow up in, where exposure to the LGBTIQ community is minimal, and not considered to be part of the norm.
As you may have noted from the other entries in the encyclopedia, Davis is very much a town that appreciates home grown hard working people. Therefore, we really do not encourage an abundance of characters that are not from Davis originally. This is the sort of town where children have known each other from birth, where your teachers probably taught your parents, etc. Therefore, it would be quite difficult for a family to really integrate into the community. Whilst the town is welcoming and will happily take the credit if a new comer does something amazing, they're far more inclined to have the back of one of their own.
We appreciate that race can be a sensitive issue and we will never condone racism or xenophobia. However, not to acknowledge the racist undertone of small town living would be a great injustice to the struggles that many face and seriously hinder the realism of this town. We encourage racially diverse characters, but it's pivotal to understand the old school social structures and beliefs of Davis that would have impacted their parents, and even them as individuals.
Davis has historically been known for small town, racist views. Please note that the KKK collapsed and disappeared from Ohio after 1925. However, the town has always been known for appreciating the norm--the All American boy, the girl next door. For years there has been difficulty embracing anything outside of the little "box" that so many citizens are placed in. Acceptance of various ethnicities has improved in the last fifteen years, however undertones still remain, particularly amongst the older generations. The older generation are often ignorant and conform to media intensified stereotypes of different races--it essentially boils down to a fear of anything that they feel threatens the norm of the little bubble that is their small town life.
As a result of this, growing up in Davis and being racially diverse would not be without challenges--though please do not feel the need to over compensate with this, slowly things are growing more progressive. Things to consider are that: your character's parent(s) may have struggled to be employed when they moved to Davis, your character might feel ostracised from the adults/older generation that most of the youth have grown up knowing and respecting. Once again, though, we reiterate that race is a sensitive issue, we are passionate about this ourselves, but realism is a key aspect of the town that we have built.
davis is very much a small town built with values that underpin various religious foundations. religion is important within the town--most grow up knowing the 10 commandments, listening to the pastor's preachings, and attending sunday school in the lead up to their personal baptism. that is, davis residents primarily practice presbyterianism. that isn't to suggest that every single person agrees with it, but the presbyterian church in town is the only church there.
when recent statistics suggested that only 42% of ohioans attended church every week, many of the residents of davis were shocked. for in their community, church is almost a compulsory component to fully being accepted. on a sunday morning everyone lines the aisles, preparing to listen to pastor allen's sermons.
In 1983 a large chicken statue was erected in the centre of town, a momentum to the prized industry of poultry that has grown over the years in Davis. The chicken has water spouting out from its beak into the brass tub around it. With annual chicken judging contests at the town fair, the town are proud of their roots. Poultry farming pulled them through wars and economic lows, being something the town still owes much of its prosperity to today. Since the 90's the Mustang football players have been hazing the freshman by having them TP the chicken, some have even been known to stick raw chicken on it if they're feeling particularly daring.
Edmund Rickett is the descendant of Atticus Ignatious Davis, the founder of the town. He was elected in 1993 with platforms such as: small business comes first, everyone has the right to their own vegetable garden, let's encourage more funding for sport (football, of course.) He's loved by most of the community, it'd be hard to find a bad thing to say about the guy--he only buys locally, he'll go down to the pub on a Friday night for a chat. Most would say that Edmund is a perfect example of a Davis citizen doing good, hard work.
Popularity within Davis has never been founded upon the idea of wealth, particularly evident with the idolisation of the footballers regardless of their financial status. With the primary sources of income being poultry and crop farming, the town has always valued the idea of the hard working, everyday American citizen. When deciding upon your character’s financial status please be mindful of the businesses within the small town and wages, particularly with retrospect to the rurality of Davis. To put it into retrospect when deciding if your character’s family is upper class, the Mayor’s family who have sat in that position since the establishment of the town is upper-middle class.
the davis booster club has been hard at work to provide the davis athletes and students with as much funding as possible. while the booster club supports all sports and extracurriculars of davis high, the boosters main priority has been to provide any possible outlet to secure another state championship. most of the booster club members will be the parents of davis students as well as any local football fans willing to get involved. they are the adults manning the concession stands and holding raffles. the money raised goes to transportation, new uniforms, or anything the club feels would help benefit the football team. while the booster club is supposed to raise funds for all athletics and clubs, many are put on the back burner. this has caused some conflict in the past but this is davis, ohio and football is the number one priority especially within this upcoming season.
jbbartram-illu
stormborns
kianamaiart
titsay
dededos
2087
theartofmadeline
andulkaphoto
