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05/01/2003 Archived Entry: "MORE ODDS AND ENDS, CHOPIN, FAMILY, SCHOOL BUDGETS, TEACHERS AND WHAT'S FOR DINNER."

MAY DAY, MORE ODDS AND ENDS, CHOPIN, FAMILY, SCHOOL BUDGETS, TEACHERS AND WHAT'S FOR DINNER

HAPPY MAY DAY!

Clouds and overcast conditions appear to prevail today. Comfortably chilly.That’s okay with me. It’s the kind of weather I prefer. As long as it’s going to look like it, it might as well rain. There was someone from Wisconsin on my blog this morning who may want to know what the weather is like in his home town.

As a May Day celebration, most of the family came by last night to enjoy dinner and some togetherness. The Abilene chef and the Salina doctor rarely can make it as they are “on call”. I loaded the smoker with everything under the sun and I can tell you right now that two teenage boys, our “runners and jumpers”, can devour most of everything after track practice. One is nearing 12 feet tall and hollow from stem to stern. It all just vanished except for a few baby back ribs I salvaged for ME later, since I really need to sample them. Yeh! There were 3 slabs of baby back ribs, a 10# boneless rib roast and a 5# hen….all gone! Well, they will have some leftovers for a few days of lunch material. Everything else vanished.

Dane stayed so we confiscated the TV and watched West Wing, a new program, and our favorite show. I usually get voted out on it, with the vote always being 1 to 1, but last night the vote was 2 to 1 and we prevailed. I really enjoy that show and marvel at the close resemblance between CJ and the White House spokeswoman, whose name I can’t recall, who was on frequently with White House responses during the war. It was so striking it looked as if they tried to find someone who looked like CJ.

I understand the war will be “officially” over today. The President is going to say so which makes it final.

Yesterday, before all the smoking and mise en plase, I had big toe surgery. Yep, that buster who can cause discomfort got straightened out yesterday. "They said" I wouldn’t feel any discomfort and I didn’t. How they can rip out a good part of a toenail and not have it hurt later is a mystery to me. It makes me cringe to think of it, but it was no problem, no inconvenience and no discomfort. My podiatrist is one tall handsome dude so there is NO pain in going to see him. I just wish I’d known about such toe things 10 years ago.

Speaking of the Abilene chef….she got an A++++ on her kitchen inspection from the state people who like to look under and over things to find a bit of glob stuck where it shouldn’t be. I guess one of the restaurants in west Salina recently was shut down because they flunked their inspection. Another closed for some other reason…but two Mexican restaurants are gone from Salina. I think the new one, Los Portillos, and La Casita get most of the business anyway. But one has to wonder about commercial (and some domestic) kitchens. The only one I feel really comfortable with is whatever one Ally is managing. She scrubs it from the ceiling down, including all the equipment and prep surfaces..and the floor...with Clorox every night…just as she has done with each and every restaurant she has managed. She has horror stories to tell about restaurant kitchens. Beware!

And, that person to whom I’m related who attends SMU and doesn’t like for me to mention what she accomplishes, was just elected president of Tau Beta Pi, the honorary engineering fraternity. That’s the one she was just elected to on her grades and other accomplishments. She looked at the list of two senior male candidates and thought..."hum, I think I should run for that office." One was campaigning via the internet from England where he was doing a semester at Oxford. She threw her name in the hat, campaigned and won. That is sumpin’. She's a worker.

The Combo Group (Chamber, ECED, Inc. and County Community Development) will be at the prison this morning to talk with employees who don’t live here about the possibility of moving here. It’s a very good plan and one that will require persistence, repetition and sheer doggedness. The Group needs our support as this is very good plan. I think they should take students along with them, as they are able. Young people need to be very involved in everything we do and they need to understand the value of loving where they live. Ellsworth is a very much under-appreciated treasure.

We have to do something right now to get young families to move here….we need breeding stock! We need children for our schools, people to buy groceries and supplies and use all our other services that we have provided. We need to grow. Stop and think where this county would be right now without the prison.

We've sat on the idea that we have the prison forever and don't need to do anything else. The day after it was announced we were being awarded the prison, Dane told me we have to work every single day to bring new businesses to town or we fall behind. It's a daily effort that we must make...constant and relentless. Well, fall behind is what we have been doing for the past 5 years, at least. We've lacked the leadership to do more.

It’s a morning for the Chopin Collection …Arthur Rubinstein, op. 9, 15, 27, 32. I have them all and particularly like them for morning music. Well, this morning anyway. My E drive is messing up. I might have to give Dell a ring.

Ken Hakoda has decided to stay one more year to see the group of students he started with as freshman graduate from high school. That is a good thing and maybe we can figure out a way to keep him after that. The numbers in band and chorus under his leadership continue to grow. It is a sign the music program is giving to students what they want and deserve. The parents certainly approve. Students respond when the right person is at the helm. When they withdraw from programs and quit athletic teams in numbers, then you have to realize there is something wrong with the leadership. Kids understand when they aren’t treated fairly and equitably and they respond accordingly.

When we are losing really good dedicated teachers, as we are, because of budget and program cut-backs, you can understand the necessity of working to bring new people to town to increase our school population. The Combo Group arose out of the awareness of the school fiscal crises. Some good has come from that. If all the groups in town can learn to work together, and leave the disputatiousness behind, then we can show progress as a community. Individuals have to learn to step down from wanting to lay claim to every accomplishment, many gained by others, if they want to enjoy success in their endeavors. We are all in this together and we are at the "sink or swim" stage of our survival. We have an excellent school system, far superior to most across the country, and we need to work together to keep it that way, in my opinon. That will mean we have to do something to make the town grow.

We need small businesses to see the value in coming to Ellsworth. We must provide incentives for them to locate here. We must provide the services they are accustomed to where they live now. We need more “Mom and Pop” shops who can join the ones we already have and lend stability to our town. We don’t need a gigantic smokestack operation that might leave after a couple of years.

Eventually, people are going to realize that until we have available something more than land lines for our internet services progress isn't going to occur. Some companies simply won’t establish themselves here without high speed internet. It’s the way progressive companies do business. There is no sign on the horizon that anyone is going to do this for us. The city ought to build their own cable and high speed internet services so they can control them and assure us of their continuation. It’s hard to convince people who don’t even own computers that this is one of the essential components of a successful town. If we are to grow, there are several basic things we must have, and this is one of them.

In another light, Mike Tyson is suing Don King for $100 million claiming King stole huge chunks of his earnings during their long and lucrative association. King is countersuing for $110 million. These two guys really deserve each other.

Lastly, and best of all, our middle grandson has completed all of his work to become an Eagle Scout. Now he has only his board of review and his award ceremony remaining to fulfill. I am so very proud of him. It takes a lot of hard work and perseverance to complete all that is necessary to achieve this particular award. Most young men give up on it about the time they reach high school because it's too hard and then they get interested in other things. Drew is exceptional in many ways, this being one that shows his quiet and thoughtful leadership qualities. He is self-directed in a very positive way.

Have a very happy first day of May.