Walking the streets of Sykesville recently it occurred to me that in my 24 years living here, the word "change" is seldom used.

But it has occurred. Looking into windows of businesses, one sees that computers have replaced the old punch cash registers. Bright signs, flags and colorful flower arrangements have replaced the brown and beige look I can remember visibly from years gone by.

Expensive BMW and Lexus cars are parked on Main Street, replacing that old Ford pickup with the NRA sticker on the rear window.

Not all small towns are Mayberry, USA, and Sykesville is following that trend.

Of course, the disappearance of Jim's Barber Shop, Suzie's Tavern and the local breakfast eatery doesn't help.

People my age get set in their ways and are not inclined to accept much change. I bet all of the complaints regarding the new Springfield Avenue exchange came from folks over 65. Yet somehow we've grown to accept the new road, no matter which wrong direction we travel.

Take a look at Sykesville today, and be proud. First-class restaurants, a tea room, four beauty salons, cosmopolitan antique and collectible stores, up-to-date insurance companies, a super post office, beautiful churches and the list goes on.

Kenny Chesney sings the song "Don't Blink" and gets my attention every time. Soon my old black and white television from the 1960s will not show a picture. No cable, you see.

Is it time for a new $1,000 flat screen, $5 a gallon gasoline, $80 a dozen steamed crabs, and maybe even a car that parks itself? I'm not sure.

But I do know this: Sykesville is ready for whatever happens in the future. We have a fine police department with good leadership, a town maintenance department second to none, six fine council people, a thoughtful town manager and staff and a mayor with vision. Not bad for a Mayberry kind of town.

Some people will tell you how it once was: the bed races, the old firehouse that caught fire, watching as Hurricane Agnes took away a bridge and a complete set of railroad tracks.

But this past weekend, as I walked the streets of Sykesville amidst the annual Fall Festival and saw it teeming with families and bustling with commerce, it made me realize that our town seems to get a new look almost weekly -- but still clings onto something special.

It's easy to reflect on our past as Sykesville looks toward the future, but some things never change.

This past weekend was the 35th year of the Sykesville Fall Festival. Thirty-five years on Main Street.

Why, that's about how long ago it was when Andy Griffith had dark hair in his small town of Mayberry, USA.

Craig Taylor is the president of the Sykesville Business Association, which has organized and hosted the Sykesville Fall Festival for the past 35 years.

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