On the Saturday of McCook’s Heritage Days, I woke up at 7 a.m., quickly threw on some running clothes and dashed out the door, arriving at the starting line just a few minutes before Coach Sughroue gave the official start to the 5K race. It was a beautiful morning for a run - with a lot of walking - and was made even more perfect because I wasn’t in charge. 

Prior to this year, my day would have looked a lot different. For starters, the day would have begun the night before by marking the course with arrows and signs so the runners and walkers know where to go. The next morning, I would have been up before the sun, arriving at the start line in the dark with a headlamp for lighting to further set up for the road race. 

Instead, Autumn Miller at Anytime Fitness had reached out a few months prior about taking over the race, which has benefitted the McCook High School Cross Country team for years. I didn’t know what changes she would make, but to me it was more important that the race continue since I believe it is an asset for the community and a great way to start the Saturday of Heritage Days. 

And she did a great job pulling the race together, making changes she wanted to see happen like simplifying the registration and making changes that she had to do like making a new route. I am confident that the race will continue, it will likely grow in numbers and the high school cross country runners will always grumble about getting up early on a Saturday to stand on a corner directing traffic.

It is this transition that needs to happen if we want to see our community grow and thrive. We need to be willing to step aside and let others take over. At a minimum, we need to be willing to let others get involved and make their mark on an event or in an organization. 

The event or the project, the program or the organization may not look like what you envisioned, but we must be willing to let others take over and get involved. 

It takes letting go of control. It means releasing your ego. It involves stepping aside. 

Am I perfect at this? By no means because it is a control issue. But I have been fortunate that others welcomed me and let my ideas be heard and boy, do I have ideas. Anyone who works with me knows that I think all of my ideas are golden. Yes, I know all my ideas are not golden but I can say they are, especially if I want to be McCook’s next Cloyd Clark, who if you didn’t know him liked to come up with ideas and get others to do them. I’ve only mastered coming up with ideas and then usually have to do them myself. 

And that is what I want to do for others: get them involved. This means listening to them and putting their ideas into action. All of that requires work and being intentional and perhaps hardest of all - setting aside our egos.

I showed up at the Heritage Days race for several reasons, admittedly one was just to see how the race went and if there was a good turn-out - which there was. I wanted to be there in case there were any questions - which there weren’t. And I wanted to be there to show support - which I am glad I did. 

And that last step is maybe one of the most important steps involved: showing up. 

All too freque ntly, when our time managing an organization or volunteering for a project is over, we quit paying attention to what the group is doing or we stop attending the event. Our presence is just as important - perhaps even more vital - after our time is over because of the knowledge we know, the experience we bring to those who are just trying to figure things out. This doesn’t mean looming over and imposing prior thoughts and ideas but rather just being available to bounce ideas off and provide history of things that worked and didn’t work so well in the past. 

If we want our hometowns to grow and thrive, we need our young people to get involved in the community, so they can take over. We need our newcomers to know that their new ideas are welcomed and can be put into action. We need to be open to current residents with a good, thought-out plan and be willing to help make it happen. And finally, we need to show up and support those who are working to make our hometowns even better place to call home.