When the going gets tough … nice folks help a lot

With some trepidation, I picked up last Wednesday’s Star newspaper to see what would be reported about the Festival of America event that took place on July 3rd and 4th. I was pleased to see that the “Holiday weekend had its problems” article by Scott Hunter kindly stated the facts of what happened during the festival, but didn’t wander into the nasty rhetoric I had been hearing over the previous few days about the event.   

I’ve been thinking a lot about how mean and nasty words can hurt feelings and turn a bad situation even worse, and how kind and helpful words can turn a bad situation around and make it bearable. Losing power in the Visitor Center Park while the festival was in full swing on the evening of July 4th was disappointing, to say the least. The mean and nasty language we organizers and volunteers heard in the park from out-of-town visitors was pretty tough to receive and remain calm through. 

But I was so proud of my community residents, who remained upbeat and cheerful despite a bummer of a situation. I’m so grateful to the USBR and Taylor Enterprises employees, who immediately sprang into action to help the Chamber with a series of problems that all hit at once (lost child, medical emergency, and power outage all happened in a 15-minute window).

Particularly helpful were Dale Carriere, Lauriann Mountjoy, Bryce McCleary and all the folks on the Fire and Safety Crew at the USBR.

Not a single person who was angry, yelling and cussing at us was a local resident. Our local community was AWESOME. While the weekend was indeed a tough one for those of us who worked very hard to put it together, it was a nice reminder to me that a lot of really nice people live here and know how to be kind to each other.

Thanks, Coulee peeps!

Peggy Nevsimal

Executive Director

GCDA Chamber

of Commerce