More holes left in community?

Once again our communities must say goodbye to positive role models. As Josh and Rayne Rabe and Mr. Wilson and family prepare to leave our area, we must ask ourselves a question. Why do we constantly lose great people from our community? I see a pattern, and I think it’s one that is detrimental to our growth as a community.

But let’s back up a bit.

Josh has been the driving force for getting disk golf in North Dam Park, including fund raising and installation. He and Rayne have only been here a short time but I consider them friends and important pieces of Coulee Country. Rayne not only could be selling records because of her voice, she has an alter ego Chick Norris, leader of the Derby Dames. (Ironically, Chick Norris shows up in the same area where Chuck Norris’s brothers Huck and Buck reside. Coincidence? I think not) She has gotten a bunch of us excited in the area for something new. Roller Derby is here in the Coulee and in July we will see just exactly what it is all about. I was excited for these new, exciting people in the community. Fresh ideas, new energy, things were happening.

LR Principal Brad and Jenny Wilson, not to mention their awesome kids, have been here for a few years now and have definitely been positive influences on our kids and have become friends to hundreds of us. This one’s going to come back to bite us hard as they become Chelan Goats. We will be able to watch their success from afar. Positive role models for our youth, leaving.

How many times are we going to just sit back and let awesome members of our society walk away? Granted, some things are outta our control but others we just let walk away. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Well, let me throw some names out there. Dr. Ralph Monteagudo, not only a great doctor but was involved with Raider Sports. Chris and Wes Seylor, locals that were engrained in helping others in any way possible. Andy and Casey Clark, hometown heros that returned to give back to our community. Matt and Angela Bona, brilliant folks that influenced our kids in sports and in community. The Dice family, The Poppies, Marcy Ronyack, The Neilsons, The Lemays. I could go on and on.

These families have left for many different reasons and I don’t pretend to know the whole story. Here is what I do know. They were and are all major forces of good influence in the communities they landed in and they are missed in ours. They are all trend setters, go getters, people that demand respect and make the rest of us better neighbors. When we let these outstanding people leave our communities it makes us weaker as a whole. They are irreplaceable and leave holes in our area.

What’s the answer? We need to speak up as a community. We need to find ways to keep these beloved people. Speak out in their favor. Support them. Love them. They cannot be replaced. We just learn to do without as a community, and that hurts us.

I, for one, am tired of losing great people from our midst. I’m just saying.