The pictures were made in 1965 before the fire hall was ever built. Kept behind Dan Ryan's service station at the time.

Essay by Ben Addison - July 11, 2007

While walking recently past the monument in front of the Meadowview Fire Hall I noticed that this next October will mark 20 years since the passing of Dan Ryan. It hardly seems he could be that long gone, but he left his indelible mark on this small village.

As the opening of the new Meadowview Medical Clinic and Community Center nears I wonder what Dan would think of what has taken place.

To those who did not know him Dan may have seemed a simple man and as common as grass, but he was a shrewd business man with various investments including the service station he and his wife Stella operated on the square for many years. They also sold general merchandise, welcomed visitors to town and nearly always hosted a small group of local folks who would reminisce about days gone by, exchange funny stories or solve the world’s problems.

Dan focused a lot of attention on solving Meadowview’s problems, and while no one has held an elected office in Meadowview since it gave up the town charter many decades ago, I would frequently encounter people in nearby towns who referred to Dan as the unofficial "mayor" of Meadowview.

Indeed he was a man of vision and, though not an active politician, he certainly knew how to get things done.

Dan worked with several other residents to organize the Meadowview Volunteer Fire Department and he served as it’s chief for many years. I think he would be proud today of the way members keep the fire hall and the vehicles neat and clean and ready to respond to the next call. He would be glad to know that each member has up to date turnout gear, boots and helmets for protection and modern equipment with which to fight fires, extricate victims from automobile crashes and respond to other emergencies.

He would also be proud that the county’s elected officials are doing a much better job of providing adequate funding to equip each department. This was another effort to which Dan devoted much time.

Many years ago several members of the volunteer fire department spent many hours of hard work in renovating the old fire hall to make it into a suitable doctor’s office, so that Meadowview would then be served by a doctor who Dan had helped recruit to the community.

I believe Dan would be proud of the Meadowview Civic Club’s efforts to improve and beautify the square and of the annual Apple Butter Festival which fills the square with crowds of people one Saturday in October the way it was once filled nearly every Saturday.

Dan was certainly not the only person to contribute his time, money, efforts and talents to making Meadowview a better community. Fortunately there are many capable men and women who have been and continue to be willing to do so. It would be foolish to attempt to name them all here.

I hope the Maiden family will be proud of the way in which the new community center was designed to resemble as closely as possible the structure where they built a good business which provided employment for many in the community.

Today, as the community center is readied to welcome area residents to learn, to gather for meetings and celebrations, as a new medical clinic staff prepares to serve the needs of local folks for whom medical care is otherwise out of reach; Dan would probably show a wide grin, a trickle of tobacco juice escaping from the corner of his mouth, and he would be the first to say there is much work still to be done, but I believe Dan Ryan would be proud.