Home Alone was good, working together was great

 It was pure joy to be at the “movie night” Tuesday on the courthouse lawn. Not just because of the movie, either. (It was Home Alone”.)

 It was the pleasure of seeing people work together. The Wharton Lions Club and John and Lucy Alaniz deserve our gratitude. I can’t wait to see more.

The proper word is “collaboration.” To write this, I am leaning on smart people to summarize the benefits of working together, thanks, in part,  to Firespring and Nutcache:

1.     Synergy. The outcome is bigger than the sum of its parts. More is accomplished together than by each organization trying to do it separately.

Sharing resources. When collaborating, there will always be things and resources to share. 

3.     Expertise. One organization may be an expert in one field and can help another learn about it. That’s good.

4.    Overcome obstacles. When an organization encounters problems other organizations may help find a solution.

5.     Strength. There is — there really is — strength in numbers.

6.    Community awareness. By being involved with others, your message and goals are better relayed to the community. And you learn everyone has in common.  Together, everyone is in a better position to make things better.

7.     New ideas. Working together adds different individuals with unique experiences and backgrounds — the “perfect mix” for new ideas. 

I don’t mean to preach to the choir. The Lions Club and John and Lucy get it (see above). However, once in a while, it’s nice to affirm what you already know is good and right. The common denominator, of course, is love, respect, kindness, forgiveness and empathy.

“Players win games, but teams win championships.”

 

SNOW!

Snow, lots of it — and a lot more at the free “Snow on the Square” on Friday,  Dec. 17.

Among offerings will be food trucks —  Georgia Mae's Good Eats, Backyard BBQ, and Rooster's 2 Go Waffle & Wings. 

 

And there will be Christmas Caroling, and that's being spearheaded by Ken Dimmick. The very capable Joey Pennington will be DJ. and the talented Laura Clemons will be face painting for the kids. Santa is flying in and will great children in the Gazebo. And the snow — thanks to our sponsors — will be bigger and better than the previous two years.

 

Our event sponsor is Roberson Air Conditioning, which also will have a display. Our gold sponsors are Mid-Coast Title Co., JM Eagle, and Exelon Energy. Our silver sponsor is Edward Jones — Chad Faucett.

 

There are lots of moving parts in an event such as this. There is, literally, months in planning.

 

We want to thank the Wharton Council and the Wharton County Commissioners Court for permitting us to do it. And we thank all the folks in the Wharton County Courthouse and their business neighbors and residents around the Monterey Square for being gracious to us.

 

I can’t say enough to thank the chamber staff, Linda King and Victoria Ritter. Linda would be a great President of the United States. However, we need her at the chamber, and at the mattress store she owns with her her husband, Carl. Victoria is brand new, but she proved herself working on our Christmas Parade and the multitude of stuff that followed.

 

And there are an army of volunteers to thank, but I want to give a special shout out to two folks. That’s Amanda Gonzales, the Maven of Food Trucks and Everything Else, and Lt. Ben Evans of the Wharton Police Department. Ben goes above and beyond to make things work.

 

“Players win games, but teams win championships.”