Last Sunday, I had the
distinct pleasure of selling tickets at the Milton Chicken BBQ and
Arts & Crafts On The Lawn sponsored by MACC and The Milton
Historical Society. Of course this event also included a Concert In
The Park presented by The Gathering Place and the Milton Lions Club
Car Show plus a myriad of vendors & crafters. What a
demonstration of community!
Some would say they
“worked” at the event but for me it was a joy. I was paired with
an long-time friend and colleague, Theresa Rusch, and we had a great
time becoming reacquainted and catching up on things. When you sell
tickets you get to see a lot of great friends, neighbors, and
visitors so it was a time of connecting and helping people enjoy one
of the great events of our city. My shift flew by.
It would be risky to try
to mention all who made this event successful but Dani & Kricket
from the Chamber and Kari from The Historical Society deserve our
accolades. A few might suggest that they were just doing their jobs
but, I must say, they sure do their jobs well!
I
observed large numbers of volunteers working their various tasks,
supporting their particular interests & groups, thereby
contributing to that sense of community. But far more than that, I
saw "teachers"; because all of these volunteers were teaching. They
were modeling the way to create something bigger and greater than
themselves – something for the future of Milton. After all, the
future is where we are all going to live. I strongly believe that we
adults must realize that we are teaching, for good or for ill, all of
the time. Our actions, our behaviors, speak so much louder than our
words and rhetoric. Our beliefs don’t make us better people, our
behavior does. And, also for good or for ill, “a teacher’s
shadow can hover for life” (credit to Mitch Albom – The Magic
Strings of Frankie Presto).
Also very heartening was
the large number of Milton students investing their time in the ranks
of the volunteers helping to create their preferred future – a
community that comes together to make good things happen for the
greater good of all.
Last Sunday, in North
Goodrich Park – Milton, WI – there were so many "teachers" creating
wonderful, hovering, long-lasting shadows. Shadows for their
neighbors & friends, and those visiting our community.
Image driving into a
small city and experiencing Milton Arts & Crafts On The Lawn plus
the Chicken BBQ. You would not be able to leave with anything but a
positive sense of community. Visitors were likely saying, “Wow,
those people have it together. How do they do that?”
Why do people want to
move to Milton? Why do they want their kids to go to school here?
It’s because they want to personally experience that phenomenon of
“community”. They see us behaving in ways that resonate with
them, that inspire them, that make them want to belong. All of us
want to believe that our existence matters. We all hunger for a
sense of purpose and meaning in life. We need to feel that we matter and that our lives make a difference. In
Milton, we have come a long way along that journey.
Kids Matter
Jon Cruzan
Community Catalyst
Cruzan4Milton
