It was some kind of week around here last week with so many things going on it felt like a roller coaster and a twister all bundled up into one. We had festivals and funerals, football and fun all wrapped up and going on at the same time.
If you will allow, I am going to try and touch on a myriad set of topics this week.
First, we lost a local hero last week with the passing of Clay Dews. Clay had become very special to all of us through social media and a love for him and his mom around the community. Clay was a warrior, a fighter and a hero and his light will be missed, but man oh man, is he having a good time now.
Football can be so much more than just a game. Yes, it was rivalry week last week and football games were played, district records were impacted, and the Cardinals and Bears celebrated big wins. But there was more than that.
You can say all you want about the rivalry between New Boston and DeKalb, and ya, it is not only one of the longest rivalries in the state, but it is also one that folks around here take pretty seriously. The Bears have run off a string of victories over the last several years, but New Boston had their string of years before that. The thing I want to point out is something that transcended the game itself.
At halftime, the two bands took to the field…together. The band directors that had this idea deserve a huge round of applause in my opinion.
To give a glimpse of how meaningful that performance was to folks around here, our reporter, Susan Lindsey, a band mom herself, recorded the performance and we posted it to our Facebook page on Saturday. As I sit here writing this piece early Monday morning, that performance has already been viewed almost 30,000 times.
On top of that, the fine folks of New Boston also took the time out before the football game to have a moment of silence to remember Clay and his family. Talk about class…there it is.
Rivalry or not, we live in a little corner of the world that by and large, we know how to act and treat even our biggest rivals with decency and compassion.
While there were other places in the country where violence broke out at football games last week, here in west Bowie County, there was fierce competition, and fierce compassion.
Moving on, we all should stand to our feet and give a standing ovation to all of the volunteers and organizers of this year’s Oktoberfest in DeKalb and Pioneer Days in New Boston.
Both events were simply just the best kind of family fun and entertainment, a place of our size could hope for, and I know for a fact it took a lot of hours and a lot of work to pull both of them off.
The planning for these events basically starts for the next year as soon as this year is over. Kudos to every single volunteer and every sponsor that joined together to make them happen.
Family fun was definitely the name of the game in both towns for their annual festivals and we are blessed communities to have them. I personally enjoyed the Bob Seger tribute band most of all. The Seger System that performed at the pavilion in New Boston last week took me back decades to a time in my life that was so much simpler. Yes, it was the 80’s and no, no comment on how old that makes me. Sitting there listening to the band crank out all of the Seger classics was the highlight of my week.
We have our share of problems around here, nobody will deny that. Even this week there were things going on that made me want to tear my hair out, but honestly… overall…I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. I know so many of you feel the same way.
