Well, Watonga spent some time this weekend showing what we’re made of.
We showed we’re proud of our town by filling the roll offs an amazing 23 times (at last count) with bulk items and yard and lawn wastes. It was an awesome cleanup and the whole town looks better.
We showed how proud we are of our scholars with the Lions Club Scholarship Banquet (Ok, technically that was Monday) where the best and brightest of our students were assisted in pursuing their dreams of higher education.
We showed what an excellent administration and staff are running our schools when the state school report cards, flawed as they may be, showed improvements all over the place and when one of our principals was hired away by another district, where we know he will do amazing things.
We showed how we support our local history and landmarks by having 70 ladies turn out for a tea party to benefit the TB Ferguson Home and Museum. I think we were all humbled by hearing in her own words how, after her husband passed away, Elva Ferguson was told women couldn’t run a newspaper. We were all proud of how well she did and showed that yes, a woman could run a newspaper, and run it very well indeed.
We showed we are still the heart of the heartland by the first fields of wheat being cut around the county. Some cut this early could end up as hay, but it will feed livestock and it will still wind up on our tables in a roundabout way.
We showed our students are faster and able to keep up their grades just as well as bigger, wealthier schools when our kids brought home state track titles and academic medals as well.
We showed our kids aren’t just able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, they can carry a tune and a saxophone while they do it, by bringing home a boatload of 1s from the regional band competition.
We won’t get a break in the coming week, either. We’re counting down the days to the reopening of a restaurant at the Lodge at Roman Nose State Park, we’re celebrating baccalaureate and graduation.
Then there is the fly in to celebrate the new and improved airport, which is already in line for additional upgrades and expansion.
This is what a great town with a great future ahead of it looks like. Be part of it, be proud of where we’ve come from, who we are and the goals we have set for ourselves and our future.