Ease of getting to McCook destinations a definite plus

Of all the truisms about life, there is nothing I can conceive that is more truthfully important than the sentiment that is summed up by this statement: "It's About Time."

Think about it and I believe you will agree. Life, essentially, is a matter of time.

We live. We die. In between, there's time ... to be and to do.

Of course, how we use that time is up to each of us individually.

The importance of time came up earlier this summer in Gene Weedin's study group during the 'Marketing Hometown America' discussions. While pondering which words best describe the McCook experience, the group agreed that the best way to sum it up is: "It's About Time."

In contrast with the residents of large cities, the McCook Hometown Marketing group said one of the great advantages of living in McCook is that all facets of community life are only minutes away.

To illustrate this point, Gene Weedin and I spent Wednesday, August 17, 2016, traveling from Barbara's and my home at 1503 Norris Avenue to essential destinations throughout the McCook community. Gene and I took two different rides, using a stopwatch to measure the exact time it took us to reach seven different destinations.

Here's how quickly we made the trips from the Morris home, which is fairly close to the middle of town, to these destinations: McCook Public Library, 1.5 minutes; U.S. Post Office, 3.5 minutes; McCook National Bank; 4.0 minutes; McCook Community Hospital, 4.0 minutes; McCook Ben Nelson Regional Airport, 6.0 minutes; Schmick's Market, 6.5 minutes; Walmart Super Center, 7.5 minutes; Heritage Hills Golf Course clubhouse, 8.0 minutes.

Depending on where McCook folks live, the time for the in-town trips will probably be close to the same ... in some cases slightly less, in other cases slightly more.

So how do we proclaim McCook's advantage in getting around quickly? "There are lots of ways," Gene Weedin says. "We can advertise the fact on our web sites. We can also put it on Facebook, and maybe even put it up on billboards on the edge of town."

I agree. Let's do it. And, in addition, how about leasing a couple of billboard spaces in prime spots in Omaha and Denver to tell about McCook's time advantage.

Because, after all, "It's About Time," and McCook, Nebraska, is a much more convenient place to live than the metropolitan areas of America.