Time for A Good Time
Community Assets: Thoughts on Leisure & Recreation in a Small Town
Ogallala Commons defines the “Leisure & Recreation” community asset as
“the social opportunities, abilities, and infrastructure for resting, retreating, re-creating, and savoring life in the community or region”.
The Box
In a small town like the one where I grew up, thinking outside the box is a life skill. Especially when it comes to having a good time. The nearest mall is a 2+ hour drive. To catch any “big name” concerts, you've either got to wait for the annual fair in the next county up or drive those two hours again. The nearest movie theater is the next town over (a single-screen, but the concession stand made a great pizza last time I checked).
It’s true, obviously, that we don't have a lot of what’s considered “night life” or traditional “entertainment” in the urban sense of those words. What we do have, however, are a lot of things that I've found to be equally amazing…or, if I'm honest about my bias, way more amazing.
(Photo Courtesy of Cherilyn England)
The Opportunity
Thinking outside that box becomes much easier when you take a moment to look at the resources available and take advantage of the opportunities they provide.
We have some great high school athletic teams and our school provides a wide variety of events that are open to the community. We have some fun small-town dining options, miles of canyon lands to explore—complete with rock art, not to mention unique birds that are famous with bird watchers worldwide.
More than all that, however, we have people who know how to have a good time.
The perfect example of this is our community festival. For decades, my hometown has come together each summer to host a celebration of our heritage and our people. There have been years when we struggled and weren’t able to pull it off, but especially in the last decade, the event has been gaining momentum again.
(Photo courtesy of Monday Morning Update)
No one gets paid to organize it or host it, but somehow, it gets done.
That “somehow” is people.
Every Spring, a small group of serial community volunteers gather to generate ideas for the festival. Some years, it’s just a summer Saturday. In other years, like our Centennial, it’s a Friday night through Sunday morning extravaganza.
We've had a “Campo’s Got Talent” show, a parade, a short run, various food and art contests, a city-wide scavenger hunt, a massive slip’n’slide, a concert, a dance, archery competitions, a variety of old-fashioned games, a Firefighter Olympics, a box social, an outdoor community church service, and countless other activities.
(Photo Courtesy of L. Huffman)
But it’s not only the events that make the festival a success. It’s the people who take time out of their busy schedules to work and play as a community. They understand gatherings like this one strengthen relationships, create lifelong memories, and bring communities together with food and fun times all around. They take time to laugh, to be a little silly, and get completely exhausted for the sole purpose of having a good time.
It’s easy to get too busy. But a healthy community, like a healthy individual, is one that knows how to take a few moments to relax and have fun.
It’s worth the extra effort.
