Dear Chamber Supporters:
I hope this letter finds you and your loved ones safe, cool, and with power after the events on Sunday. Over half of our community went to sleep Sunday night with power loss, the high winds came as a shock to us all and the results have been described by many as a “warzone” (pictures from around town). As a Tree City USA community, we can still see the effects of the storm as City crews move throughout town to pick up limbs of all sizes on the side of the road. Here is a picture of our yard the morning after. Causing more privation than the damage from tree limbs scattered throughout town was the effect it had on our power grid. There have been many long hard days this past week for our linemen and citizens without power. This can be said especially so for city workers from Sunday to Monday, which resulted in some working 24 hours straight, focusing all their attention and willpower on remedying any immediate issues that could be handled. As you’ve probably seen and heard (or possibly experienced), this was not a one-day fix… but rather five grueling hot days of manual labor. With that being said, the City of Ottawa reports that the town should be at 100% by the end of today. The majority of the work done over the last few days entailed repairing the main grid/streets which was causing the majority of homes problems. As of yesterday, City crews can now focus on individual cases where houses are still seeing a loss (about 40 or so homes as of noon today).
One of the takeaways that has been sticking with me over the last four days was the generosity of so many of our local businesses, nonprofits and community organizations. Along with the work of our utility workers and EMS, we’ve seen folks come together in support of one another, creating opportunities to escape the heat, grab a meal, or have someone to talk to. This includes the American Red Cross Association setting up cots and providing food and water for those in need in the Ottawa High School gym for several days. There have also been several surrounding municipalities that have been able to send experienced workers to Ottawa and give us added boots on the ground. I want to express my gratitude to all those who have been working tirelessly to restore power and aid in the recovery efforts. Whether you were out fixing power lines or helping your neighbor without power, you made a difference. All who showed dedication and commitment to our community are truly commendable.
I don’t think anyone expected the storm before it happened, seemed like it showed up out of nowhere. I think it’s important to remember that this is the nature of most natural disasters, often out of the blue. The events of this week give us the perfect excuse to talk about the importance of preparedness, whether that be flashlights, battery-powered radios or evacuation/shelter plan. When Makayla and I started hearing sirens Sunday night I immediately thought "I’ll google to check into the alert"… it’s safe to say I didn’t make it very far without the internet. We now have a radio on our shopping list!
My last thought before I move on… there were many trees upended and large branches tossed about Sunday night, but no bout of wind can affect our neighbor's kiddie pool (picture here). This plastic pool withstood 80 miles an hour winds and didn’t budge. I pray for that kind of resiliency in my own life!
Farm Bureau Annual Meeting
The Franklin County Farm Bureau Association invited its members out to their annual meeting this past Wednesday at Celebration Hall. The event started with a delicious dinner which was prepared and served by Mike and Kay Selman with Prairie Star Catering. The keynote speaker was Rick McNary, a writer and photographer but more importantly, a humanitarian whose focus is on world hunger (picture here). This passion for feeding the masses started on a mission trip in Nicaragua, where he met a little girl who was obviously starving. Rick said that experience lit a fire inside of him, where he knew he was capable of providing food to those without. Taking this passion back to El Dorado Kansas, resulted in over a decade’s amount of work to create an established food packing program where container units full of packed meals get distributed to countries across the world in need. This program is still being utilized throughout the country… one was actually done just this past year here in Franklin County at Celebration Hall where this meeting was taking place. As his career progressed, Rick found himself wanting to not just help transport food, but to create efficiency throughout the production, packaging, and distribution of food. This led him to start a column for FB Kansas Living magazine, where he would highlight different farmers and ranchers throughout the state of Kansas. Connecting their stories and goods to others, creating a shop-direct ecosystem for locally produced goods. What became of that was a deep respect for those who work the land. He mentioned earlier in his talk that he was not nearly strong or courageous enough to be a farmer, I resonate with that statement. I’m extremely grateful for all the families who have dedicated themselves to their work on the farms to keep us all fed. Rick made a great point when he said that less than 2% of the population feeds 100% of the population! A great reminder of the importance of Franklin Counties' biggest industry... agriculture.
Franklin County Honors
I was able to get a double dose of the Franklin County Honors this week, having a community dinner on Tuesday and then our Chamber Coffee this morning (pictures here). In case you had not heard, the Ottawa Veterans Day Parade Committee has rebranded, more fully encompassing all of what they accomplish throughout the year. This includes the Veterans Day Parade, the displays at City Park, the flags erected throughout Main Street, and most recently the Ottawa Honors banner project. This banner project entails an invitation to the public who want to honor family/friends who have served in our armed forces. Spearheaded by Jan Wallis and Elizabeth Lowderman, this inaugural year will have 115 different banners on display throughout Main Street (picture of a banner here)! These banners can be seen starting mid-October through mid-November. This project would not be possible without the support of the City of Ottawa. As the brackets that hold these banners onto the light poles on Main needed to be installed, the City of Ottawa agreed not only to put up the banners come October, but also helped cover some costs as well to keep this program affordable for those honoring our military personnel. They also will be the ones to store these banners from year to year to keep them safe to be hung once again. What a great partnership!
To be able to make these banners the group just needs a photo and the information that would be used for the sign. Sherry Wright, longtime Veterans’ Day parade organizer, said that she was nervous for this exchange when making a banner for her family member, as the picture she shared was a one of a kind. Her testimony was that Jan and Liz took extraordinary care of these belongings, really treating them like the relics that they are. If you are interested in honoring a loved one with a banner on Main Street, you’ll have an opportunity come this fall as they will open this up again for orders. Those requests placed this fall will then be displayed the following year. The hope is that this is done each subsequent year, adding to the display annually. This is a really neat way to engage the community in veteran affairs, I applaud this group for the efforts on not only this program, but all that they do to benefit those who have served.
Buck Bradley shared that their group is accepting and actively looking for help in a couple of different facets. If individuals are interested in being a part of the planning group, they are looking to add to their board members. If you are interested in helping come November with event setup, whether that be for the displays or staking flags on Main, it takes a village. If you are part of a group that would like to play a role in this, reach out to them here.
Celebrate
There are reasons to celebrate in Ottawa this week as there were a couple of individuals who were recognized at state levels. The Kansas Association for Career and Technical Education (K-ACTE) recognized our very own Dr. Ryan Cobbs as the administrator of the year. A testament to the program that USD290 has in regard to Tech Ed. The other individual is our DARE camp coordinator, and now DARE officer of the year, Larabe Alexander. Having a deep passion for this program, Larabe has coordinated our local camp for over half a decade now. Congratulations to both of these community leaders, thank you for representing our community so well!
If you hadn’t been invited yet, I want to make sure you are welcome to “A Powerful Celebration of Community Resilience” at Legacy Square this evening. A chance to celebrate with each other, unified under this week's hardships. There will be hotdogs cooked, but all are invited to bring sides or desserts if able to share. More than anything, we want to thank those who have worked so diligently to be lifted up. Shoutout to City Commissioner Zach Clayton for putting this together so quickly. I hope to see you there!
Ryland Miller
President/CEO
Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce
ryland@ottawakansas.org
785-242-1000
