Every year, it happens like clockwork at my house. At some point in the late fall or early winter, someone in my house gets up in the morning and stumbles to the bathroom, reaches into the shower to turn the handle....and nothing. There’s no water.
Once again, the pipe in our well-house has frozen because of the dropping temperatures. For the next few hours, we will be waterless until someone wanders into the frigid cold to turn on the heat lamp in the well house and the pipes thaw. This jury-rigged solution makes it work and yes, a professional is who came up with the system.
To have water in our house, we had to take that difficult first step: acknowledging that we didn’t know what we were doing. We had to ask for help. We had to admit we didn’t know everything.
In fact if I admit it, I don’t know how - and this is just a rough estimate - 99 percent of the world works.
I don’t know how electricity works, so that’s why I hire an electrician because it’s done right. I don’t know how to play the G chord on the guitar, so that’s why I attend concerts because it’s done beautifully. I don’t know why I’m gaining weight, so that’s why I see my physician because she can tell me that I do know why I’m gaining weight but I won’t give up my fries.
I also thought I was the only one who drove down the road wondering why wood is used for electrical poles, how birds are able to sit on electrical lines without getting electrocuted, or how long the stripes on a highway are. (Because wood is cheap but good, electricity takes the path of least resistance and that’s not a bird leg, and 10 feet which is longer than most people guess.)
Every day, I must admit that I don’t know something. Every day, I will wonder about something I don’t know. And every day, I will ask questions or research something. At the end of the day, there are a lot of useless facts in my head but I wouldn’t give up my curiosity for anything.
(I’m trying not to buy as many books as I have in the past but I couldn’t pass up “A Walk Around the Block” by Spike Carlson, where he explores everything from how squirrels use their tails to when manhole covers came into existence.)
Admitting you don’t know something is hard but that gives you the opportunity to learn something new, to need someone else’s expertise and knowledge, to reframe how you think. .
And it is not just the physical world around us where we need to acknowledge we don’t know everything.
It’s also our ideas and opinions and thoughts which affect our decisions.
Especially these days, we need to admit that we don't know everything about a particular subject..
Your neighbor doesn’t know everything. The person calling into a radio show doesn’t know everything. People posting and sharing on social media certainly don’t know everything. Even the experts may not know everything.
Yet sometimes, we give them all the same influence. We need to admit that the person who has devoted their life to a certain subject has more authority. We need to admit that the person who is dealing with the situation day-in, day-out knows more than we do. We need to admit that a person who has boots on the ground and deals with the problem on a regular basis is who we should listen to.
It’s not wrong to admit that we don’t know everything. In fact, it takes a leader with an open mind to acknowledge that they are willing to listen to others, that they are willing to change their mind, that they are willing to make an informed decision based on those who do know.
And at the end of the day, we need leaders - and a community - which are willing to acknowledge that they don’t know everything, but are willing to learn.
Linda Graff named McCook Volunteer of the Month for December 2025
By focusing on what is important, we can make an even better impact in our communities.
After a 10-year hiatus, the McCook Holiday Home Tours return focusing on downtown upstairs apartments.
While many people think volunteering is for older residents, serving your community has no age restrictions. And young people can regularly be found lending a hand or offering their services in their hometown. The November 2025 McCook Volunteer of the Month recognizes one of many young people are working to make their community an even better place to call home: Grady Riemenschneider. Currently a senior at McCook High School, Grady volunteers with a wide variety of organizations and groups. As a four-year member of the McCook Community Foundation Fund’s Youth Change Reaction, Grady serves as the ambassador for the youth group’s “Cars Under Stars,” the outdoor movie theater at the Red Willow County Fairgrounds. At nearly every showing, he can be found operating the projector and setting up the parking lot, as well as passing along his knowledge to the next ambassador. In McCook’s FFA program, Grady has held officer roles the past four years and is currently the chapter vice president, organized the chapter banquet in 2025 and coached for the conduct of chapter meetings. Along with serving as the president of the Driftwood Feeders 4-H Club, he assists with setup, tear down and fundraising for the dog show and helps fellow members train their dogs. Grady steps in to help and lead at local events, including Prairie Plains CASA’s Kick in’ It Up for CASA and the Cajun Broil; the Edward Jones Alzheimer’s Walk; operating sound boards for various groups; and Feed the Farmer. And he has served as a youth leader at McCook Christian Church for elementary youth since approximately 2018 as well as stepping up to ensure the ag program ran smoothly during a teacher’s maternity leave Upon request from his mother about some of Grady’s activities, Sharleen noted that he is the “Chief Household Operations Officer: first responder for Mom’s to-do list, go-to chauffeur and caretaker for his favorite sidekick (a.k.a. his nephew), and the family’s unofficial event planner who somehow keeps everyone together without a clipboard.” The McCook Philanthropy Council recognizes a volunteer every month who is doing good work in McCook and Red Willow County. If there is a volunteer in the community who should be recognized, please contact the McCook Chamber of Commerce at 308-345-3200 or visit McCook Volunteers on the McCook Community Foundation Fund’s website, mccookfoundation.org to complete a nomination form. The only requirement is that the nominee must be a resident of McCook or Red Willow County but please have information about the nominee along with where and how they volunteer in the community. The volunteer honoree is selected monthly by the McCook Philanthropy Council.
With the holiday's nearing, MCFF member and Mayor Linda Taylor reflects on the many things to be thankful in McCook.
The names of those people who have made a generational impact on McCook and Southwest Nebraska is a long list. Many of them are working day-in, day-out right now to make their mark on the community. And then there are those people who no longer call McCook home but still make an impact long after they are gone. Allen Strunk is one of those people. Allen passed away on Nov. 1 at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada but he never lost the love of his hometown. Born and raised in McCook, Allen was a member of an already well-known family, Harry and Arlene Strunk. The Strunks started and published the McCook Daily Gazette, with the motto, “Service is the rent we pay for the space we occupy in this world.” A saying that was so important that Harry had it etched at the top of his downtown newspaper office on Norris Avenue. That sense of service was passed along to Allen, who continued to serve his community as he took over leadership of the Gazette. I didn’t know Allen personally until he came back for visits years later. Even though my first job upon arriving in McCook was at the McCook Daily Gazette and Allen had turned over the publishing reins to Gene Morris many years prior, the Strunk legacy loomed large. He was instrumental in the building of the then-new YMCA, moving the facility from downtown to its current location next to the McCook High School. He was a key player in the new hospital, again moving from one location to a new expanded space. And McCook Community College benefitted his involvement in an expansion. Those projects continue to impact McCook today. And the support didn’t stop just because Allen retired from the Gazette and left McCook. There are programs the Strunks are involved in that benefit McCook and Southwest Nebraska. The Strunks continue to support Santa Claus Lane, which is overseen by the McCook Chamber of Commerce. And which after a few years of decline is seeing a resurgence of enthusiasm and nostalgia for the decorative holiday pieces lining Norris Avenue. Allen funds the annual McCook Area Outstanding Teacher award, which provides a financial prize to several teachers every year. And Allen recognized the work of the McCook Community Foundation Fund, providing a donation several years ago so that he could see its impact while he was still alive. This has led MCFF to consider how they will recognize and remember Allen for years to come. Because of his belief in service to his community, this could mean more recognition for the countless volunteers who keep our community thriving. It could be a day of community service, to see how many people can come together to make something happen. It could be a celebration for all the great things happening in our community. During Allen’s memorial service this past week in McCook, his step-daughter-in-law read the poem, “The Dash" by Linda Ellis, who published it in 1996. It reflects on the meaning of the dash between the birth and death dates on a tombstone. The dash is a reminder of everything that happens between the moment a person is born and the moment a person dies. The dash emphasizes the importance of how one lives their life during that time. The dash prompts a person to think about living, rather than worrying about dying. Ultimately, the dash is where all the good - and the bad - happens. And Allen Strunk made the most of his “dash,” both in his community and within his family. We can’t all run a newspaper. We likely aren’t going to etch our favorite saying into a building. But we all need to consider how we are paying the “rent for the space we occupy in this world.” And we can all make a difference in our hometowns, whether we currently live in them or even if we haven’t stepped foot on the main street in years.
Everyone feels a need to be needed and it is shown through the Big Give and Meal Kit Giveaways
SWNE Big Give reaches new heights thanks to enthusiasm of organizations, individuals and businesses
Food pantries are seeing an increased need, which means the community must step up with donations of food and time to help those who struggle to put food on the table.
