Q. What is the best thing about living in your community?
A. McCook wasn’t love at first sight for me. I thought I wanted to live in the city, but it didn’t take me long to fall for life in Southwest Nebraska. There are so many things to love including the people and the outdoor life. What I love most about McCook is that anybody can be involved in anything, anyone can make a difference in the community, the only thing stopping a person from being engaged is their own want to and willingness to jump in and get their hands dirty. I would have never had the opportunity for community impact in the city that I have here. For me that’s very exciting.
Q. Did you always plan to return to McCook/Southwest Nebraska? If not, what changed your mind?
A. I never had any plan on ever living in McCook. I never would have if God hadn’t specifically called me here. That might sound kooky but I don’t have another answer. I’m here because this is where God has me and my family.
Q. What is your favorite memory of an event or activity in McCook?
A. There are so many great events in the area. Friday night High School Sporting Events, the Red Willow County Fair, Heritage Days, to name a few. Two of my personal favorites are Baseball at Felling Field. As someone coming from the outside I don’t think people realize how special Felling truly is. I also love the Southwest Nebraska Freedom Festival and hope to see it grow in the coming years.
Q. Why do you think it’s important to have McCook Community Foundation Fund?
A. I think it’s important to have MCFF because McCook is a special place. I believe it is one of the very best places in all of Nebraska, heck maybe all of the US to call home. That said, there is plenty of room for growth. There are lots of people who have amazing ideas swirling around in their heads about how to make McCook even better. Those great ideas are only going to multiply in the future. In the meantime, their needs to be a group of people tirelessly committed to growing the resources and structure to help make even greater things possible one dream, one great idea at a time. MCFF is doing exactly that and I personally can’t wait to see what the future brings!
Q. What excites you when you think about the future of your community?
A. What excites me about the future of McCook is possibility. I’ve never had anyone here tell me that I couldn’t do something. In McCook if there is a dream and a plan, it can be possible, someplace like that is an amazing place to live.
Q. What do you hope to accomplish by being part of MCFF?
A. I hope to be part of dreaming, scheming, and helping to accelerate the fulfillment of many crazy dreams and amazing ideas that make Southwest Nebraska the very best place for any child to grow up, any senior to retire, and any family to thrive. I hope to be part of conversations that cause our amazing aging generation to dream about a future in McCook that is greater than any moment in its past, and to make that possible by investing much of their wealth right here in the area. I hope to be part of projects that cause people all over our state to say, you know where we should think about finding jobs, starting our small business, growing our family…McCook.
