August 5, 2019 at 5:41 p.m.
Your pessimism gets us nowhere
Editorial
That will never happen in Portland.
We’ve heard those words over and over when it comes to a variety of different proposed projects in the city. The same goes for Dunkirk, Redkey and Pennville, throughout Jay County.
We hear them when new businesses are proposed. We hear them when plans for housing projects are floated. We hear them when it comes to trails, and apartments, and restaurants. It seems the echo of words decrying the things we can’t do reverberates endlessly.
Well, if you’ve uttered those words — “that will never happen in Portland” — you’re right.
At least, you will be if we all have that attitude.
What we find incredibly frustrating is that the local residents who utter those words — you may be one of them — are also among those who then complain that nothing ever improves in their hometown.
Sure, there may be some projects floated that seem unlikely. But success in growing a community, like anything in life, takes some amount of risk.
When we take a chance as a community, no one can be 100 percent sure what will happen.
We may succeed. We may fail. No one can forecast the future entire.
But we can promise you this:
•Nothing will ever happen if we reject every project out of hand.
•Nothing will ever happen if we turn our noses up at outside investors.
•Nothing will ever happen if we continue the “not in my backyard” approach.
•Nothing will ever happen if we don’t take a chance and throw our support behind something.
Are there those of you out there who really believe nothing good will ever heppen in Portland? Or is that just something you say to win friends in the coffee shop, at the ball diamonds or on Facebook?
If you truly believe that theory, you have already been proven demonstrably wrong.
Think about it. Really think about the list of things that have already happened in Jay County’s municipalities that probably seemed like pie-in-the-sky ideas when they were first proposed.
•A new pool facility. At a cost of more than $3 million, it took more than $1 million in private contributions to make it happen. But there it stands, a sparkling recreational center for those in Jay County and beyond, in place of the crumbling 55-year-old structure that preceded it.
•A post-secondary learning center. The Weiler Building seemed destined for the wrecking ball, languishing in a state of disrepair. Instead, a group of local leaders got together and fought to restore the building. Now we have John Jay Center for Learning.
•A thriving arts center. Most municipalities the size of Portland can only dream of having a facility like Arts Place and the programming it offers. (It continues to grow, with an expansion project scheduled to begin in the spring.)
These projects — ideas that certainly would never come to fruition in Portland, right? — stand as shining examples of what we can accomplish when we work together toward a common goal.
If you truly still believe “that will never happen in Portland,” you’re certainly free to have that opinion, silly as it may be.
Meanwhile, the rest of us will continue to strive to make those things happen, with or without you. — R.C.
We’ve heard those words over and over when it comes to a variety of different proposed projects in the city. The same goes for Dunkirk, Redkey and Pennville, throughout Jay County.
We hear them when new businesses are proposed. We hear them when plans for housing projects are floated. We hear them when it comes to trails, and apartments, and restaurants. It seems the echo of words decrying the things we can’t do reverberates endlessly.
Well, if you’ve uttered those words — “that will never happen in Portland” — you’re right.
At least, you will be if we all have that attitude.
What we find incredibly frustrating is that the local residents who utter those words — you may be one of them — are also among those who then complain that nothing ever improves in their hometown.
Sure, there may be some projects floated that seem unlikely. But success in growing a community, like anything in life, takes some amount of risk.
When we take a chance as a community, no one can be 100 percent sure what will happen.
We may succeed. We may fail. No one can forecast the future entire.
But we can promise you this:
•Nothing will ever happen if we reject every project out of hand.
•Nothing will ever happen if we turn our noses up at outside investors.
•Nothing will ever happen if we continue the “not in my backyard” approach.
•Nothing will ever happen if we don’t take a chance and throw our support behind something.
Are there those of you out there who really believe nothing good will ever heppen in Portland? Or is that just something you say to win friends in the coffee shop, at the ball diamonds or on Facebook?
If you truly believe that theory, you have already been proven demonstrably wrong.
Think about it. Really think about the list of things that have already happened in Jay County’s municipalities that probably seemed like pie-in-the-sky ideas when they were first proposed.
•A new pool facility. At a cost of more than $3 million, it took more than $1 million in private contributions to make it happen. But there it stands, a sparkling recreational center for those in Jay County and beyond, in place of the crumbling 55-year-old structure that preceded it.
•A post-secondary learning center. The Weiler Building seemed destined for the wrecking ball, languishing in a state of disrepair. Instead, a group of local leaders got together and fought to restore the building. Now we have John Jay Center for Learning.
•A thriving arts center. Most municipalities the size of Portland can only dream of having a facility like Arts Place and the programming it offers. (It continues to grow, with an expansion project scheduled to begin in the spring.)
These projects — ideas that certainly would never come to fruition in Portland, right? — stand as shining examples of what we can accomplish when we work together toward a common goal.
If you truly still believe “that will never happen in Portland,” you’re certainly free to have that opinion, silly as it may be.
Meanwhile, the rest of us will continue to strive to make those things happen, with or without you. — R.C.
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