Use Progress in 2022 to Make This McCook's Decade

As any adult can attest, the days may go slow but the years go fast. We blink and the kids are grown and we have wrinkles that weren’t there yesterday. We may not notice the day-to-day changes, but things change over the long term.

But the same can be said about years versus decades. Not much may seem to happen in a year but look back on the past decade and you can see all the change - in yourself and in your community.

In early 2020, McCook Community Foundation Fund (thanks to Andy Long) claimed the 20s as McCook’s decade.We have the good leaders in place. We have resources available. We have great ideas we want to pursue. But several things need to happen to make this McCook’s decade.

To make this McCook’s decade, people and organizations need to come together. We can’t operate in silos. We need to collaborate to get things done.

A great example of this is the Wellness Initiative. Led by Troy Bruntz at Community Hospital and the Community Hospital Health Foundation, several entities including the City of McCook, McCook Schools, the YMCA, McCook Community College and MCFF came together to make McCook healthier and more active and just a generally better place to live.

Two major accomplishments happened in 2022. The McCook pickleball players also were part of the Wellness Initiative and used the resources and enthusiasm of the group to raise funds and renovate McCook’s outdoor pickleball courts. If you haven’t seen them on the east side of McCook, stop by and see how Russell Park was transformed.

The Wellness Initiative also helped pass the sales tax bond issue for a new outdoor swimming pool and ballpark project. These entities realized the importance of the bond issue to the future of McCook and Southwest Nebraska and worked together to make it happen. So within this decade, McCook should have a new pool and improved or new ballfields and green space for future generations.

To make this McCook’s decade, we need to come up with not only good ideas but good plans to make them happen.

A great example of this is “Cars Under the Stars,” a project by MCFF”s youth group, Youth Change Reaction. These high schoolers spent their summer fund-raising to bring a drive-in movie theater to McCook and reached their goal on the first day of school in August. They are in the midst of purchasing equipment and lining up contractors and plan to have Cars Under the Stars in place at the Red Willow County Fairgrounds in time for a spring showing.

How did this happen? These young people followed all the steps needed to be successful. Thanks to Denise Garey with Nebraska Community Foundation, they had great training on how to present their plan and how to ask for support. They had information at their fingertips to answer questions about the drive-in. And they were young, enthusiastic people wanting to make something happen that would leave a legacy. It was hard not to support them, so keep an eye out for a movie at the fairgrounds next spring.

And finally, to make this McCook’s decade, we need people to get involved. And it needs to be something you are enthusiastic about because that is what will get you through the long hours, the sometimes tediousness of the project, and the setbacks along the way.

To find an example of this just walk down Norris Avenue in McCook right now and look up. Those lights lining the skyline of downtown McCook happened because one person, Taryn Arterburn, wanted to see more Christmas lights. After a few calls, she found the right people to make it happen. These people each brought something to the table, such as expertise, funding or just a willingness to screw in lightbulbs or climb on a building to hang lights. All to make McCook shine during the holidays and special events.

And the project isn’t over yet. Over the next few years, there will be more lights, more decorations and more downtown beautification in general. Anyone who would like to be part of this project, whether volunteering time or donating money can reach out to Taryn or myself.

As 2022 comes to a close, we need to take the time to reflect on what we did accomplish over the past year. If we take just a few minutes, I am sure each of us can come up with a list of things which happened, things we are grateful for, things we are glad that happened.

But we need to take that momentum and continue to build upon it if we are going to make this McCook’s decade, if we are going to make McCook an even better place to call home in 2023 and beyond.

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Dec. 2025 Volunteer of the McCook Beautifying Downtown McCook

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By Ronda Graff • November 25, 2025

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Honoring the Strunk Legacy in McCook

By Ronda Graff • November 22, 2025

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