I spend as much time biking on a sidewalk as the street (where I’m supposed to be). How often you see people on a sidewalk in a small town? Once every 1000 feet or so except in business area.
When my daughter was little we lived in a small town. She and I would ride around the neighborhood and I made her ride on the sidewalk. There were a few places where I did. Nobody would say anything as long as you aren’t running over pedestrians.