Collaboration and Celebration

I like to think of this time of year as the calm in the eye of the storm at work. The summer music series is wrapped up, Scottish Fest is over, we’ve shown our last movie in the park and the Christmas holiday chaos won’t start for another month.

It’s a good time to plan the next move and I’m already cooking up some fun projects for the 100^th anniversary of All Schools Day next May to collaborate on – a documentary and a commemorative book.

Notice I said collaborate because, goodness knows, I’m pretty limited in what I can do on my own. Both of these projects will require the help and participation of many current and former McPherson residents. We’ll need to borrow photos or videos and record people’s favorite stories of past All Schools Day celebrations. Collaboration, that’s a great word if you think about it. Not many celebrations have a 100 year history like All Schools Day and I think the key to its longevity is collaboration.

If you listen to the news today stories of divisiveness dominate the headlines, especially in this election year. It takes something truly remarkable to pull people together. Most often people will pull together during times of disaster, but it’s even more rare when people come together to celebrate. I’ve seen mass celebrations before but it was usually following a KU victory in March, when someone was defeated. All Schools Day really is the rarest of the rare – a celebration that uplifts 100 percent of the community.

If you have photos or videos or a great story to share about All Schools Day, please drop me a line at cvb@mcphersonks.org  or call 241-3340.

Speaking of great memories, why not make a few more this holiday? Tickets ($5) for the public holiday lights trolley tours go on sale Nov. 1 at our office, 306 N. Main St. Tours are held at 6, 7 and 8 p.m. on Dec. 6, 13, 19, 20, 21 and 22.