Some have told me that a few years ago, the people of Institute requested home mail delivery.  Originally, an Instituter would have to go to the Institute post office and get a P.O. box to recieve mail.  Now, most of the population is elderly or sick and may not be able to get to the post office.  We were told that we were too small a population to get home delivery from the Institute post office.  Instead, we'd have to change our addresses to Dunbar, 25064.  A lot of people agreed to do so, and got mailboxes and new house numbers.  The few of us who remained loyal to our town, still trudge to the post office.  In fact, my place doesn't even have a house number!  My next-door neighbor that since people get "Dunbar" mail, the City of Dunbar to claim our territory as their own.  That was her explanation for the moving sign.

     I think it's more than that.  What exactly, I could not tell you.  It's just a feeling that I have.  Do people want to intentionally eliminate us from the map?  Institute used to be a great city with movies, a train station, and even an airport!  But for some reason, all that is gone, and we're left with a population of 200.  Pretty soon, we're going to end up like the town of Satus.  Satus was erased off the map.  It was a small town just west of Institute.  Now all that remains is a building called West Satus Elementary School.

     Maybe the State doesn't think we notice the moving sign, but we do.  I came up with a solution.  It probably won't change any laws (It will probably break laws) or give us back our ZIP code, but it will get us noticed.  What I've decided to do(with an accomplist) is steal the Institute sign, and hide it until the State puts up a new one.  The night that the new sign gets put up, we steal it again.  That same night, we take the two signs and place them at their original locations.  The first sign goes to the post at the Dunbar Armory.  The second sign goes to the place where the border of Satus used to be.  Then, we anonymously tip off the media.

     My solution may be insignifigant.  In fact, to most people, my problem could be as well.  I don't want my town to disappear off the map.  Hopefully, my little stunt will open the public's eye.  If this is all in vain, at least I'll have a story to tell my grandchildren who may be living in Dunbar or  South Dunstitute Hill*  if it doesn't get blown off the map first.
 
 
 

* "South Dunstitute Hill" was a parody we (the citizens)created of the tentative name given to the result of a stunt that Kanawha County supposedly wants to pull.  They want  to consolidate the towns of Institute, Dunbar, South Charleston, and Spring Hill.