Feed the flock

Congratulations to those individuals who organized Bison Days last week and made it happen. Possibly the effort will inspire more of our valuable youth to stay in our community after they graduate.

You may know that your old columnist loves visiting with people I meet daily. I am a somewhat regular visitor to a local hardware store here and the young high school senior who clerks part-time there recognized me from a prior contact at the high school. She announced that she’d be gone the first couple of days in March visiting a college to see if she might further her education there. Not a regular college but one billed as a culinary (fancy name for cooking school) institute. I urged her on but in the back of my mind felt an opportunity lost.

I didn’t have a chance to participate but inquired if our Bison Days had an opportunity for our students to visit or an interest in visiting one or more of our local restaurants. The answer was yes and at least four of the locals offered tours of their kitchens and information on how the business operates. I suspect a special treat to eat was also part of the deal.

For years our local Memorial Methodist church has hosted a free dinner, everybody invited, one evening a week. We euphemistically call it “Feed the Flock.”

Grannie Annie and I participate by running the coffee and cold drink table. They also pack and deliver meals to shut-ins who request them again free of charge. Other churches and civic organizations also participate occasionally on a volunteer basis. I asked the young lady at the hardware store if she would like to volunteer to help cook but somehow her paying job takes precedence.

Several years ago the old Elks Club building was donated to our local college. At that time several of us suggested that the college establish a culinary institute there. Nearly every small town in this part of the Great Plains has one or more places to eat and our idea that trained cooks would be in demand. It could be a plus for this community as the students could plan a nice evening meal once a week and families or special dates could have a special night out. The idea didn’t sell and so it goes. Nurses are also in demand.

Note this is the Lenten season and our local Knights of Columbus is hosting their traditional Friday evening Fish Fry. Come and enjoy the camaraderie of friends and neighbors as you pay respect to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All you can eat for only $15.00 per head.

Speaking of jobs. Small-town USA, villages, in our area of southwestern Nebraska are struggling a bit. The lumberyard in nearby Stratton recently closed. Yes customers can travel to larger towns nearby for needed supplies but that also means lost opportunities for jobs there in the village.

Our school systems aren’t helping either in their quest to consolidate and make larger empires for highly paid administrators. Such consolidation has left a well-built school building in Stratton. It isn’t exactly empty as it still has the computer system in place along with furniture. I see the building as an opportunity for a business to either expand from another location or start up at a lower cost than building new. I am sure that the townfathers would welcome any ideas!

That is how I saw it.

Dick Trail