“There’s nothing to do here.” “I can’t have a career here.” “There’s no entertainment.”
On the flip side….”Good schools.” “Low crime rate” “Great outdoor recreation.”
These are just a few of the views from McCook youth as part of a recent survey.
This past spring, the McCook Community Foundation Fund conducted a youth survey through the McCook High School. All 400-plus high school students were given the opportunity to voice their opinion on a variety of topics related to their community.
This is the fourth survey of local youth since 2006 with relatively the same questions each time. The answers may vary a bit but for the most part, the results have remained consistent.
The youth want to stay or return to their hometown because they have a strong connection to the community but a majority say they have’t been asked how to make their community better. They want to be involved but again, the majority say they haven’t ever been asked by an adult or community leader to volunteer. They like the size of McCook, with more than half the students saying it is their ideal size compared to smaller and larger cities.
And in what I consider one of the most important questions, “Has an adult asked you to stay or return in McCook?” More than 65 percent said they had never received that simple invitation.
I admit that I didn’t consider that question important until my oldest daughter was graduating and I wonder if that was too late to instill in her that we wanted her to return home.
But along with simply asking our youth to return home, we need to be actively encouraging them to follow their dreams whether it is a career or entertainment. We need to create opportunities from unique office space to family-friendly activities. We need to help them realize that they can make their ideas, their dreams and their hopes come to fruition.
In other words, they can make it happen here.
This summer, the McCook Community Foundation Fund has hired a hometown intern to help tell McCook’s story. McCook High School grad Lexi Gross is spending the final summer before her senior year at Fort Hayes State University in McCook creating a video series called, “Make It Happen Here.”
We are focusing on those who “make it happen here,” whether it is starting a new business, creating unique entertainment opportunities or those who specifically choose to return to their hometown after time away from the community.
Lexi has been interviewing local business owners who took a chance to start a business which is unique to McCook such as Bill and Jade Lesko at Cita Deli and Tyler McCarty, who has built a shrimp farm 1,000s of miles from the ocean. She plans to create video of the water activities at our area lakes and use footage of area concerts to highlight musical opportunities. And she continues to interview those who have made a conscious decision to return to their hometown after graduating college or after living in another town.
All of these videos will be available on the MCFF website, on Facebook and YouTube, wherever we think and hope we can reach our youth to let them know that they can make it happen here.
Andy Long, executive director of the McCook Economic Development Corp., is really good at asking pertinent questions and one of my favorites is “What three words would you use to describe your hometown?” The question makes you stop and think about what is important about your community, what is going right and what needs improvement.
I have answered the question several times and the words I pick can fluctuate based on how my day is going or how someone responded to one of my many “golden” ideas, but generally I use positive words to describe the state of our community.
When you have a moment, take a minute to ponder the words you would use to describe our community. Are they positive? Do they suggest room for improvement? And most importantly, are you doing what you can to make it happen here.
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.
