Whether we like it or not, we live by the calendar. Our schedules are dictated by the day of the week. We plan around what is already on our schedule. We look to see when we have days open to plan a trip or schedule a meeting.
When asked if we can attend something, the automatic response is “Let me check my calendar.”
The same holds true for a community. There are so many things going on that a calendar is a necessity. And good or bad, we have a lot of them.
The Gazette has a great calendar which lists everything from governmental meetings to area festivals. I think it is so important that it should be one of the first things listed on their website.
McCook Public Schools maintains its own calendar which is a necessity with the plethora of sporting and social activities the school oversees. The McCook Arts Council has a list of all the arts and culture events on its new website.
And the McCook Chamber of Commerce has maintained an online calendar for years, but just last week made it easier than ever to add an event by removing the login step to submit information.
Why is an online community calendar so important? Just look at what happened Monday during the McCook City Council meeting.
City staff and the council were working with the pool engineer to set a community meeting to discuss a new city pool. They settled upon Thursday, Aug. 5 at 7 p.m.
Unbeknownst to them, MNB Bank had already set their popular Hot Summer Nights Concert for that same evening at the same time. The band Soca Jukebox was booked. The venue at Norris Park was reserved. The promotional materials had been printed.
The city is now aware of the conflict and will likely - and hopefully - move the date of the pool meeting so that people can both enjoy a wonderful, free event in the park one night and have their own voice heard about the pool on another night.
The scheduling conflict just highlighted the need for organizations and individuals to use the community calendars already in place for several reasons.
The first is so things like Monday don’t happen where multiple events get scheduled at the same time or even on the same weekend.
I suffer from a severe case of FOMO - Fear of Missing Out. I hate when multiple events, especially within a community, conflict with each other and I must choose. I would rather support all the events and programs and projects that people have put time and effort into.
I realize everyone doesn’t want to attend the same events, but people shouldn’t have to choose to give up something because no one checked to see what else was going on.
Another reason for a strong community calendar is to show everything that is going on. Yes, I’ve already said that, but I mean we need to show everything that is going on to outsiders who may be considering moving to our community.
People want things to do. If they are considering moving to McCook or Southwest Nebraska or Northwest Kansas, they want to know what is going on.
If organizations list what they are doing, people - both local and visitors - can access everything going on, both to plan other events and to get excited about all the cool things happening.
Scheduling doesn’t just affect McCook. The Fourth of July and the last week of September are both examples of dealing with scheduling conflicts.
Culbertson is the king of celebrating the Fourth of July. And I am not just saying that because I help with the Freedom Run 5K and 10K road race on Sunday, July 4…but do sign up.
Culbertson residents put on a great event for all ages with a parade and games and swimming and a car show. No one wants to compete with that.
So Indianola has set their Fourth of July celebration for….July 3.
And McCook Christian Church has set their Freedom Fest celebration at the Red Willow County Fairgrounds for….July 2.
We can literally make a full weekend of celebrating the Fourth of July holiday thanks to all these communities’ hard work.
When the end of September rolls around, there are hard decisions to be made.
That is the standing date for McCook’s Heritage Days celebration. It is just traditionally the last full weekend in September and plans are already underway for the event.
Stratton Days are planned for that same weekend, as is Smokin’ on the Beaver in Atwood. All great, fun events to bring people together and celebrate their communities.
For our little part of the world to thrive, we know we must support our neighbors, so we travel to area festivals too which makes it difficult to then choose between staying in McCook or hitting the road. It’s a great problem to have and I hope all of them are a success.
Many of these events are now settled into their dates year after year. But as new events are added or meetings pop up, all of our communities would benefit from using, adding to, looking at, referencing regularly, emailing often and listing continuously on these calendars. We simply need to make it a habit to check our community calendars, as regularly as we do our own.
By creating all these events - and almost as important, just showing up - we are working toward making our communities even better places to call home.
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.
