Can a single day capture all of what makes our communities special?
We’d argue Thursday, July 28, came really, really close.
The day started for the editor interviewing Heather Riniker’s day care kids about their upcoming lemonade stand. That story is coming for the Aug. 12 newspaper, but their choice for donations this year is the Summer Brand family. There’s the philanthropy and giving spirit of this community.
Next was Lisbon’s school board special meeting, where they learned that private placement generated an extra $600,000 for their next construction project. The planning for the future and being fiscally responsible for Lisbon in their school bond projects will help more of that project.
Then, there were two ribbon cuttings. The first was for two citizens who took over Ben and Flo’s yarn shop with their shop Wren and Purl, where they look to continue being one of the only shops where fibers can be sourced in several surrounding counties, as well as the community they hope to build around that. There’s those important small town businesses that are an essential part of this community.
The second was a celebration of a community project completed for the city of Mount Vernon, the dedication of Hilltop Park. It was honoring the commitment of volunteers, civic contributions and private citizens helping to raise a significant prize that made the whole project come together. It featured a chalk demonstration by area youth, music by Lane Gaffney and snacks and treats, as well as community.
And then there was the behind-the-scenes work that happened for the next story. A man, walking to raise funds for mental health awareness, arrived in Mount Vernon at 10:30 a.m. He did an interview with a television station, then stopped at Big’s from lunch. He posted on Facebook he was stopping in Mount Vernon for the day after walking from Mechanicsville. Enter the help of citizens like Paul Fugate, our Mount Vernon-Lisbon Police Department and Rick Elliott of the First Street Community Center. He found a place to set up a tent, and Fugate reached out to the editor to make sure his story of why he was walking across the United States had yet another avenue. There’s those helping hands in this community once again.
And the evening could have ended there, but the editor decided checking out that Shakespeare production by Open Arenas might be fun. And it was a production which would have made the Bard of Avon proud. It captured the humor and heart of the star crossed lovers from Verona, equal parts hilarious and tragic, all staged with minimal set and played with verve by area college and high school youth to give the audience a show they’ll remember. There’s those talented youth in this community excelling in what they love to do.
So many of the things we take pride of in this community were present in the stories the editor was working on during that day.