Every day, you wake up and have the opportunity to decide what kind of person you want to be. Am I going to get up early to exercise rather than roll over and hit snooze again? Am I going to volunteer for that organization in town which has been looking for help? Am I simply going to be more kind to others?
While most of our decisions are automatic, each and everyone of us has the opportunity to make decisions which can make you the best version of yourself - a person others want to emulate.
Just like an individual can change him or herself through intentional decisions, a community has that same opportunity.
Every day, community leaders, organizations and individuals make decisions which determine what our community will be. Every day, we make decisions which shape our story. Every day, we make decisions which can make us be the community others talk about and want to be.
This doesn’t happen by chance and usually it doesn’t happen overnight, but all those decisions add up to tell the story about our community. To be the community others want to be, we need to be willing to make those decisions and some of them won’t be easy.
For example, we need to be willing to invest in ourselves through both private and public funding.
Today is a great example of where each and every one of us can invest in ourselves. Big Give McCook gives everyone the chance to make an impact by making a donation to the 29 non-profit organizations, which help our community both exist and thrive.
By working together to combine our financial resources, we can help these groups which are making McCook and Southwest Nebraska a place others will want to be like. They are building projects that will make families want to move and live here; they are serving those citizens who may be struggling and need the occasional helping hand; they are meeting the needs of our community and then taking those ideas one step further to make our community even better.
While these organizations are essential to our community, the role of government and our tax dollars also play a huge role in our community’s story.
Making the decision to raise or lower taxes is never easy but it has a tremendous impact. Some officials are proud that we have the lowest taxes in the state, but that decision means we also don’t have the funds to make impactful improvements in our community, affecting our story. Consequently, do people see our “story” and decide not to move here? Do they see a community that doesn’t want to invest in itself? Do they see a community which takes the easy road even if the hard road will be beneficial for generations to come?
It is the time to ask ourselves the hard questions, tackle the hard issues and decide what we want to be known for.
Do we want to be that community which invested in itself in a once-in-a-generation project?
Do we want to be the community which has policies in place which encourage people to open a business or renovate an aging building?
Do we want to be that community which is willing to make and learn from its mistakes? Willing to admit that we don’t know everything but will ask others for help? Willing to lift up those offering to get involved and invest their time, skills and resources in their community?
We must be willing to invest in ourselves and in our community if we want to make McCook and Southwest Nebraska the community others talk about and want to be.
McCook's last hometown bakery closed this past week, leaving a void not just for donuts but for connections.
Many organizations and businesses in McCook offer the opportunity to recycle, reuse and repair items that may just end up in the trash.
Organizer for Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival and former librarian named Oct 2025 volunteer of the month.
McCook's Third Thursdays were created to get businesses and organizations involved and designed to create life-long memories for the community.
Long-time community advocate Barb Ostrum received the Sept 2025 McCook Volunteer of the Month award.
We need to celebrate our young people while they are here and encourage them to return.
While some like myself appreciate a rainy day, others dread them for a variety of reasons. We need to be empathetic as interact with others.
MCFF Fall Grant Deadline is Oct. 1. Complete list of former recipients on MCFF website
With so much going, it is time for a “This, That and the Other Thing” column, where we will cover several topics, not very deeply but hopefully with a sense of humor as we clean up and prepare for a busy week in McCook. *** McCook again made state and national news this week for ice. This time, it was in the form of hail that pounded the community for hours upon hours. Conversations this week begin with “where were you….?” or “how many windows did you lose?” And while they may be legitimate and are offering their services, it is like vultures with all the roofing repair and dent removal businesses which have descended upon McCook following the storm. As city officials noted, do your due diligence with any company doing repairs for you and follow the old adage, which is old and still around because it’s true: If something seems to be too good to be true, it probably is. And one last note on the storm, we need to be careful what we ask for. As storm after storm approaches McCook and then splits in two to go around the town, we finally got one to roll right over us. The storm liked McCook so much it slowed down and just there. I was in Lincoln during the storm and trying to determine when I would drive home. I thought the weather app had frozen or the radar was broken because every time I looked, the storm was still sitting over McCook, doing its damage. I guess we can be thankful the next time a storm seemingly just goes around us. *** We are in the thick of McCook’s Heritage Days celebration. Congratulations to all the Heritage Days Royalty, which was announced at the MNB Bank Mixer this week. A special shout-out to Bill Donze, better known as Mr. Bill and his wife, Kathy, who were honored as royalty for their impact in McCook. As many know, Mr. Bill is fighting cancer and the prognosis isn’t good. The chances of him selling snow-cones and candy out of his van next summer near the McCook Aquatic Center are not good. One judge of his impact was the response to my column about Mr. Bill a few months ago. The post was shared thousands of times, viewed nearly 70,000 times with just as many comments by people sharing their fond memories of Mr. Bill. So when you see Mr. Bill riding down Norris in the convertible this weekend in the Heritage Days parade, send extra prayers and well-wishes to the man who has brought so much joy to so many kids - and adults too - over the years. *** Continuing on the Heritage Days theme, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the McCook Rotary Club is tossing all egos and formality out the window this weekend. As the president of the McCook Rotary Club, I invite everyone to at least watch, if not participate, in the Rotary’s first inflatable costume relay race on Saturday as part of the festivities in Norris Park. These are those giant, blow-up costumes you usually see around Halloween. The first costumes were usually T-Rexes but now there is everything imaginable available as a design. With the idea for the race originally conceived by Melanie Goodenberger, she has purchased everything from corn on the cob to a cowboy riding a chicken. This is a fund-raiser for the Rotary Club with a cost of just $20 for a team of four to participate in the relay race. But it is also a chance to giggle, perhaps make a fool of yourself and just have fun. Come to the park Saturday afternoon for the Wiener Dog races and stay for the Rotary Relay races. While the dogs will already be close to the ground, the relay race participants will likely just end up on the ground. *** With so much going on in McCook this week, I debated whether there should be another activity the next week but the response has already been great for the Lied’s Arts Across Nebraska’s next production in McCook. Hosted by the McCook Creative District, the Omaha Street Percussion ensemble will perform at the Fox Theater on Wednesday, Sept. 24. There is a matinee showing at 10:30 a.m. but I will be up-front…we are testing the capacity of the Fox with every seat already claimed with students. If that is the only show you can make, please come and we’ll find you a seat but it may be those up in the rafters. Otherwise, please plan to attend the 7 p.m. show on Sept. 24. And even better, there is no cost thanks to the Kimmel Foundation and the Friends of the Lied. This is a busy week and a busy weekend but this is a great opportunity to sit back and enjoy a fun, entertaining evening of live music.
Most likely, we aren't going to be good at something at the start. But that shouldn't stop us from trying.
