MADISON –When Lauretta Viglianco and her family moved to the South in 1991, they really didn’t know what to expect. She is a New York native and transplant from North Virginia and Germany.

“In no time, small-town life suited us just fine,” Viglianco said. “I love Madison as our little city is a melting pot all of these places and then some.”

“Abundant cotton fields, crop dusters, country music, catfish and key lime pie are now part of our lives,” she said.

Viglianco has neighbors who are “downhome Alabama, Auburn and Tennessee fans as well as implants from Europe, St. Louis, Florida and just about every state imaginable. It didn’t take long to learn that Saturdays would now be consumed by the great Southern tradition of college football.”

For nine years, Viglianco has worked as receptionist at Central Office for Madison City Schools. “I feel that I have met just about every family who has a child in our wonderful school system,” she said. “Living and working with people from all walks of life have added to my personal growth.”

As she watches Madison continue to grow by leaps and bounds, Viglianco is happy that the community has worked to preserve its small-town heritage with events like Madison Street Festival, homecoming parades and barbeque cook-offs. “I’m just as pleased to see the city offer a new movie theater, an ample supply of good restaurants and more and more shopping,” she said.

Madison’s proximity to Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga and Atlanta is another “positive amenity. I have enjoyed hosting numerous family members and friends from the North as they have so enjoyed these gems of the South,” Viglianco said.

Her husband Dan retired from USAAA. Their son Matthew and wife Robin live in D’Iberville, Miss. with their children Lily, Sage and Ava. The Viglianco’s son Thomas lives in Lincoln, Neb.

Their two sons attended Madison schools and “will always be proud to call Madison home,” she said.

Lauretta and Dan’s sons “have benefitted from all that Madison has offered us over the last 26 years,” she said. “No matter where we are in the world or what we are doing, the song ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ will always stir the best memories of our family life in Madison.”