It’s been a busy week; really, it’s been a busy summer. There have been so many things happening around each community in Platte County, it can make a person dizzy – but that can be a good thing, since most of the activity involved neighbors, friends, and strangers coming together to enjoy life.
Kinda like on the playground in elementary school. I remember back in the day – I won’t say exactly when – riding the merry-go-round was a popular playground activity. There was usually a lineup of kids who wanted another turn, but I got to have more turns than some of the other kids since I was able to spin the wheel much faster than some of my classmates. I had two advantages, though – I grew up doing farm chores, and we had a merry-go-round in our back yard. Sometimes my brothers and I pretended the sections were horses we were racing, so of course I had a lot of practice finessing how to get the most power out of each kick!
No matter what, on that long-ago playground – whether running as fast as you can and pushing the merry-go-round, or hanging tight while pushing with one leg – each time there were smiles, and “o-o-o-h-h-h-’s!”…and always a request for “faster, faster, faster!”

Though it was a lot of effort on my part, I really enjoyed those days of making people smile. Of course, there were times occasionally where we had to stop in a hurry so someone could get off before they got sick, and when the high schoolers had a chance to come over and push us all they definitely out-did my puny efforts. But no matter what personality or character differences there were in other areas of life, that time on the playground everyone was on the same page – or horizontal wheel, if you may.
This summer, the same sort of coming together of strangers and friends happened in each corner of this beautiful county. Many volunteers have worked tirelessly to put on successful events for their communities or interest group. There have been countless opportunities for the public to share smiles and enjoy doing something a little different than they did the week before…Some of you may have felt like you were on your own merry-go-round rushing from place to place competing in sporting events, swimming, or preparing for the perfect family vacation.
And still others set aside personality and character differences to ride the merry-go-round that wasn’t quite so fun when the entire region jumped into action to stop a raging inferno as it swept across Guernsey, Hartville, and Ft. Laramie foothills and grasslands. That one required a lot of cooperation, including the discipline of ordinary citizens to deny their curiosity and stay away from the center of the action to allow firefighters and emergency responders the room to do what they needed to do to corral the flames and douse the hotspots. To tell the truth, I think that’s one ride that I’d place in the “Stop! We need to get off!” category.
This past week, everyone got back on another horizontal wheel to ride: the back-to-school merry-go-round. Each school in this county has an amazing staff with so many ideas to make learning exciting, and everyone who rides that one will come out a winner if they keep pushing even when it gets tiring. It always pays off. Who knows, if you stick in there long enough, one of these days you’ll have a chance to ride the spin, rather than pushing it, and that is certainly a thrill.
In the meantime, have fun on the playground, don’t get too dizzy, and be patient. You’re guaranteed you’ll have a chance to take your turn on some form of merry-go-round.