Oh That Smell

A friend once said to me "if you want to kiss a girl where it smells, take her to Albany". (Sorry if that offended anyone)

But what I won't apologize for is growing up in the town that the majority of people simply know as "the place that smells"; the 54-year-old Albany Paper Mill, a place that had been a traveler's icon, a town's identity and a symbol for a relatively comfortable living.

At 8:07am on Sunday, July 22nd, a part of that icon came down in just a matter of seconds.  

For the past couple of years the paper mill has stood empty.  Just a daily reminder of the 270+ family wage jobs that are no longer.  The last of the employees had left the paper mill the week before Christmas 2009.  Some of those employees were third-generation mill workers.  For years, these were some of the highest-paid jobs around. 

To the average traveler, it was a mile-long stretch of I-5 that you held your breath when you drove by.  To those of us who grew up with it, it was the smell of money and jobs.  You will be hard-pressed to find anyone from Albany who would complain of this smell.

It's a sign of the times I guess. In the year's to come, the next generation will never know "that smell".  They won't know how much the paper mill shaped over 50 years of history in their hometown. 

Finally, if you want to watch the implosion in real time, click on the following link courtesy of the Albany Fire Department:  VIDEO: Another view of the implosion, provided by Albany Fire Department