For Love of Community
(By Bill Ryan)
OSMOND — Just before the noon whistle, this Friday past, an impromptu meeting was assembling at the city hall in Osmond. Invitations were unofficial, spread by phone calls and coffee conversations during the previous 24 hours. I received mine about 30 minutes before it was to begin, while in the post office. A quick rescheduling of some extremely important things on my TO-DO list, allowed me the time to attend. It was time well spent.
The four dozen or so men and women in attendance covered a large swath of the economic makeup of our town; farmers and pharmacists, ditch diggers and doctors, realtors and retail owners — a collection of individuals who have a true and sincere desire for the present and continuing development and improvement of Osmond.
I was fortunate to have been asked to “crash” the gathering. The eight-foot cafeteria style tables and metal chairs formed a U shape in the finest corporate fashion; donated pizza and soft drinks were served. Typically, food and beverage is the common hook to get people to attend these sorts of things – but they would have been there regardless. This was about community, and they love their community.
A young entrepreneur with a passion for owning their own business needed help. An unforeseen setback and obstacle had occurred that put their project in peril.
The financial and legal minds who spoke offered words of advice and encouragement. This was not an ill-planned enterprise or matter of lackadaisical execution, but rather crummy circumstances – for lack of a more professional sounding reason.
An infusion of faith and of funds was going to be required to get the ball rolling again. Had it been any other town or people than those in Osmond, I doubt if this attempt at a resurrection would even transpire.
No, rather it might have been a “Gee, that’s tough” or an “Oh well” – but not here. I’ve learned that folks in these parts tend to say what’s on their minds and tend to look at a problem square in the eye, and then roll up their sleeves.
“People,” we were told – “this is the number. Can we hit it?” Scrap paper and legal pads were passed around. Some of the citizenry were quick to respond, others you could see going into stealth mode; steely-eyed calculating grain prices and futures before writing. We were nearing the end. The figures were being tabulated in the kitchen as we chatted amongst ourselves and enjoyed another slice of pepperoni.
The wait didn’t take too terribly long as the accounting firm of “Seed, Corn and Cap” read the results. “I gotta hand it to you all, this is a fine group. We’re at 90% of our goal. That’s outstanding! With the others who couldn’t be with us today and who we’ll talk to later – by golly, I think it’s a done deal. Thank you. You never fail our town.”
Post Script: As of this Monday morning, sources tell me it’s a fair margin over what had been originally hoped for. The lights are all green and it’s a go. Any outsider getting wind of this and wondering how or why such a thing can be in today’s world – the answer is pretty doggone simple; it’s for love of community. It’s Osmond.
