Local legacies: How do we define success?

Here it is, Labor Day, and I am laboring by writing yet another column. It is not the grinding muscular type of labor but more a challenge of the mind. It is my memory interspersed with everyday life.

The challenge of today is identifying successful people. Are they our friends and neighbors that have managed to make themselves rich? Have they made life better for the people in the community that lives around them? Are their children successful and independent? Are they happy?

Looking around our hometown community here in the Southwestern corner of Nebraska, I see a vibrant fairground. It has two huge arenas for all sorts of equestrian-related events, plus the buildings to support such events. Not only horse but large agricultural events—farm shows and meaningful Christmas Nativity plays.

How did it happen? Well, a far-thinking Fair Board conceived of the idea and then convinced a local, successful, large, land-owning, horse-loving bachelor to dedicate his estate into building such a huge equestrian facility.

It draws, almost daily, large numbers of participants from far and wide, and those visitors contribute to our local economy through fuel sales, room rents, food, shopping and the other everyday expenses of life. Our local college has even grown a rodeo team which draws students from as far as the state of Hawaii. Who was the success, the donor, the fair board members, or we, the community?

Our mid-sized town now owns a fancy state-of-the-art public swimming pool. Due to lagging construction, it barely opened before the swim season closed but was really well attended the few happy hours that it was available to the public. Who can take credit for the success in finally opening to the public. Was it the committee that put the proposal together and tirelessly pushed it through to completion? Is it the local taxpayer who is funding the project? Yes, I think that it is helping to make for a more successful community.

Since, yea about 1926, our community has had a nice and active YMCA. I, along with a thousand others, learned to swim there. The original building was built and donated to this community.

A new larger facility was built to replace the old and is now in need of an upgrade. Money has been pledged and it looks like an open question if taxpayer funds will be needed. Will our community be more successful if the money is spent to upgrade the facility? Who can take the credit?

Related to our community taxpayers financing and building our new Aquatics Complex (swimming pool), a voted-on bond issue also agreed to build a huge new sports complex. New and bigger baseball, softball, and soccer fields, plus the buildings and food service to support. Lots of dollars, and hopefully, it will turn out great and again be a huge success. Think positive!

Our local Junior College was the first in the state of Nebraska. Donated and continuing improvements all donated by local successful business persons. We have three venues dedicated to the arts. Again, all donated by successful persons of our community. Our Community Hospital was mainly built with donated funds.

The upcoming (first called German) Heritage Days was conceived by a successful farmer/Legislator and has become a very great community event.

In your old columnist’s heart, I firmly believe that our great United States was founded upon Christian principles. I turned to a blog named “The Christian Life” for inspiration and found the following: “Whereas worldly success is centered on the promotion and gratification of ourselves, biblical success is centered on obedience to and glorification of God. Success is obedience to God, empowered by the Spirit of God, motivated by love for God, and directed toward the advancement of the kingdom of God.

Success begins with obeying God’s command to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. When a person receives Jesus Christ, they also receive the Holy Spirit. The Spirit empowers and enables believers to obey the teachings and commands of God. This obedience is motivated by our newly implanted love for God.” Ah, the Holy Spirit, which teaches of love and service to our fellow man.

Personally I am proud of the twenty five years that I dedicated to service in our US Air Force. I firmly believe that I had a very successful career.

I am forever grateful for the Air Force retirement benefits which you, the taxpayer, pay for; my retirement pay and especially the medical benefits for both me and my wife. The benefits of modern medicine have wonderfully prolonged our lives, for which I am immensely grateful.

On retirement, I came back to this community and served in local government as a County Commissioner, on the City Council, and other positions of leadership. Hopefully, I, too, have contributed positively to this wonderful community.

That is how I saw it.