MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - Cookies, coffee, and a nice refresher. The perfect way to kick off the Historic walking tour in Downtown Okemos.

With a quick history lesson recap, comfortable shoes, and an open mind, the tour began at Okemos Community Church and stopped at several historical sites and homes along the way.

For some tour participants, it was a new history lesson and for others it was like reliving the past.

"From about the age of 8, to about 12 or 15, and there was nothing much here expect the homes on Hamilton Road. And I knew there was some historical houses here, so I wanted to attend that walking tour," explained Meridian native Virginia Everett.

Those historical homes brought up even more memories of friends and even family for long time residents in the community.

"It's interesting to me to think of those people who use to live there and don't anymore, but they helped make up the fabric of Okemos. They were an intrical part of the society," mentioned thirty year Meridian Township resident Virginia Ederer.

With history comes change, both good and bad.

"In 1972 we had probably three times as many old buildings and of course with development since then, we've lost a lot of them; but we still have about 15 buildings left out of the old 1972 survey of the old buildings," explained Jane Rose Executive Director of Meridians Historical Village.

Although a lot has changed, "there were no shopping centers no nothing, it was just farm fields." added Everett.

The classic elements of The Village of Hamilton still remains within Downtown Okemos.

"You can tell people really enjoyed their tour of the village," stated Rose