Opinion: Resurgence of public participation a plus

One of the things that’s struck me in returning to The New Era is how the community has rebounded from COVID.

Even in the summer of 2023, when we thought we were “retiring,” things were not back to “normal.”

One gauge of that, at least for me, was that when I would go to a school campus to report, many kids would just ignore me if I greeted them as I walked by in the halls.

Now, I’m certainly not the most magnetic personality in the world, but I often got the sense that these kids were bothered that I was even trying to give them attention.

“Hey, how’s it going?”

Stony stare straight ahead.

After all, we didn’t know each other, so why would I be talking to them?

That’s changed – not universally, but youngsters now seem a lot more relaxed to me than they did even a few years ago and that’s good news. Yeah, they’re still more interested in TikTok than, say, greeting me, but they seem more open to communicating with a stranger, and it’s not just because I subbed some of their classes while I was away from newspapers.

Participation in sports was on the upswing by then, but it wasn’t really what it had been in, say, 2019 – at least the athletic maturity wasn’t there yet. We’re really starting to see some real differences now, I think. It’s nice to see the COVID pandemic growing rapidly smaller in the rear-view mirror.

But it’s not just the youngsters.

I bring this up because I’ve been reminded recently of the importance of community interaction.

What triggered this was Lebanon’s travails with its football stadium, which you may have read about earlier this fall. (If you didn’t, you can at www.sweethomenews.com/lebanon-high-school-asks-for-help-to-capture-1-million-prize).

In considering what life in Lebanon must be like without a facility to host football games, graduation and other sports and community events, I started reflecting on the importance of community events.

In today’s world, I think that’s become particularly true. The value of youth sports is multiple but one that’s key is how these activities provide a distinct social bond in Sweet Home, Lebanon, Harrisburg, Scio, Philomath, Junction City and thousands of other small communities across the nation.

And, in Lebanon’s case, when you don’t have a facility in which to gather to have that community, that fan experience, well, you’re up a creek.

I was reminded again of the value of community earlier this fall when Sweet Home celebrated its Homecoming Week with an historic football victory over a foe the Huskies had not defeated in recent memory.

Thankfully, the stands were packed and the Sweet Home faithful were lined up, five deep, around the bend in the track – as one old-timer noted to me, “just like the good old days.”

It was good to see. But it was just of many examples.

My wife and I were at the Christmas Tree Auction Saturday night and, although it might not have been a record-setting night in terms of cash flow, it was a good one, organizers said. It was pretty much a sell-out and people clearly were having a good time. I did (which sometimes isn’t the case, I have to admit).

But as I drove around earlier in the day, I noticed what seemed to be more than usual foot traffic on the sidewalks earlier that day. People appeared to be out and about, going to the bazaars, flocking to the Evangelical Church men’s Christmas Tree sale. OK, that was a bad pun.

Granted, I’m just speaking anecdotally here – I didn’t grill the proprietors to see how they did, but the general sense I got was that people aren’t huddling in their houses. And that’s a good thing.

There was a big crowd Friday night at the Singing Christmas Tree performance, bigger than a lot of ones I remember.

Earlier this year, National Night Out and the reincarnated Sweet Home Rodeo were big successes. So was the Jesus Festival. And the Harvest Festival. Those were all events that brought the community together.

In this holiday season, you can pat yourself on the back if you participated. And if you haven’t, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in something beside your TV screen. The Parade of Lights is one, on Saturday night. See details on it and other holiday events starting on page 2.

In an age in which there’s way too much paranoia and hostility in public, it’s just nice to see people getting along and having fun together.

Hope your holiday season is full of healthy fun!