Over a century ago, a group of McCook citizens came together to form the Can-Do Club. One of their goals was to build a new hotel in McCook. Even though there was a hotel across the street from their chosen location, they saw the need to build and grow their community and expand the commercial attraction of downtown McCook.
And they made it happen. The Keystone Hotel was built in 1922 and served as a beacon on the high plains for those seeking respite. Coincidentally, the hotel across the street burnt to the ground during construction of the new hotel but let’s not dwell on that.
This was a milestone in McCook’s history. This was a group of people working not just for themselves but for generations to come.
The Keystone's glory days lasted for 40 years through the Depression, dirt storms, wars, motel development, and creation of Interstate-80. Generations of residents and visitors benefitted from the hotel towering over downtown McCook.
By the early 1960s, the Keystone was on its last leg as a hotel, eventually becoming a retirement center. Another generation of McCook residents had benefited from the foresight of the Can-Do Club with a home for the community’s older citizens, but age was taking a toll on the building and it fell vacant for several decades.
After a few failed attempts by groups and individuals over the years to revitalize and renovate the Keystone, a new group of Can-Do Clubbers came together to save the historic building in the mid-2000s. They never officially went by that moniker but for arguments sake, they were the Can-Do Club because they wouldn’t accept defeat as an option.
Along with grants and sales tax income, the McCook Economic Development Corporation had the backing of several local banks, organizations and individuals to finance the renovation of the Keystone and to bring it back to its original glory. They made it happen. They came together to save the building, which is key to downtown McCook. Get it? Key. Keystone. Let’s not dwell too long on that.
This was another milestone in McCook’s history. This was a group of people working not just for themselves but for generations to come.
On Sunday night, another group of unofficial Can-Do Clubbers was recognized in those same historic walls of the Keystone. Standing beside the century-old granite walls and towering columns in the middle of the room, several couples were honored by the McCook Community Foundation Fund for their foresight and their willingness to support the next generations through planned gifts to the community.
Jessica and Heath Bortner, Jeff and Diana Gross, Matt and Shelly Sehnert and Sean and Becky Wolfe have all made the decision that a planned gift to MCFF and ultimately the community of McCook was something they “can-do.”
These couples already give back to their community on a daily basis, through their jobs and through volunteering but now they will be giving back for years to come and ensuring that their generosity stays local.
Keeping that wealth local is the concept behind the “Five to Thrive” movement. If someone decides to leave even just a small portion of their assets to their community, that money will stay in that hometown and that money will help the community grow and thrive for the next generation. If someone leaves just “five” percent of their assets to their community, their hometown will “thrive.”
All of this is part of the transfer of wealth that is happening across our state. According to a study conducted by the Nebraska Community Foundation, more than $608 million will transfer from one generation to the next over the next decade in Red Willow County. If there are no local heirs, all of that money may leave the community.
But that doesn’t have to happen.
We are in a pivotal moment in McCook’s history. Our population is aging and we need young people to move back home. But we need the amenities, the infrastructure and the activities they want for them to return to their hometown. We need innovative ideas and the funds to make those ideas a reality and planned gifts to your community is one way to make that happen.
This is going to be another milestone in McCook’s history. And we can be the group of people who worked not just for ourselves but for generations to come.
