Well Bemidji, it鈥檚 safe to say we have been through a lot these past few weeks.
To those community members and businesses whose daily lives remain impacted, my heart goes out to you. I know we have many community members who simply don鈥檛 have the resources to recover from events like this.
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Shortly after the storm, I was walking downtown checking on businesses. I noticed Keg N鈥� Cork had posted something on their sidewalk sign that I believe perfectly captured our community attitude. It said, "We are beat-up, but we are not beaten."
Symbolically, while only a handful of trees remain standing in Paul Bunyan Park, the statues of Paul and Babe remain unshaken. So too our community.
In watching the community come together to heal, a couple things really struck me. The first is that heroes tend to emerge in times of crisis 鈥� and Bemidji has its share of heroes. I鈥檇 invite everyone to bring to mind who was a 鈥渉ero鈥� to them.
I鈥檇 like the highlight several groups 鈥� those that I have personally seen go above and beyond in support of our community.
First and foremost is our city leadership and city staff. I have had direct experience with the mayor and city council, the city manager, engineering, the building department, parks and the fire department.
Across the board, I am deeply grateful for the tireless work and leadership. Our city has simply provided outstanding service to our Bemidji community.
I have also seen exceptional leadership from the United Way as well as the many nonprofit organizations serving our community. In a time of crisis, having a solid foundation of nonprofit leaders like we have in Bemidji is a sincere blessing.
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Their focus has been to help the community 鈥� whatever it takes. They identify a need and find a way to fill it. They made a difference in the lives of our families these past two weeks.
The leadership and staff at Otter Tail Power and Beltrami Electric are heroes as well. Their work to bring back electrical power as quickly as possible was both difficult and dangerous. As you look back, it is incredible to see what they accomplished in a short period of time.
To the tree workers, roofers and contractors 鈥� both from our community and those who came from other areas 鈥� I offer a sincere thank you. On Saturday after the storm, I was in awe of the sheer enormity of the cleanup that would be required.
While we still have a long way to go, we have made great strides. None of it is possible without the workers doing the everyday work of cleanup.
Finally, I鈥檇 like to thank our economic development partners at Greater Bemidji who stepped up in an unprecedented way to support our community鈥檚 small businesses. The Northwest Minnesota Foundation, Headwater Regional Development Commission, Bemidji Area Chamber of Commerce and City of Bemidji have partnered in ways we never thought possible. The result has been we are able to provide hope to small businesses in our region that were impacted by the storm..
These are just a few of the 鈥渉eroes鈥� that I experienced the week. Who were your heroes?
The second observation I have had since the storm is how quickly (and powerfully) we come together during difficult times. Over the past few weeks, I have seen the best of Bemidji emerge.
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I have seen neighbor supporting neighbor. Organizations that do not typically work together coming together to collectively increase their impact. Public officials working together with private businesses to return our community to a sense of normalcy. Organizational silos disappearing as we focus on collective recovery.
In this time of incredible divisiveness at the national and state levels 鈥� and, let鈥檚 be honest, right here in our community as well 鈥� it is heartwarming to see that during this crisis the things that divide us have taken a back seat to the things that unite us.
Our shared values of family, community, neighborliness, concern for one another and stewardship of this wonderful place we call home is bringing us through this crisis together.
Winston Churchill reportedly said during World War II, 鈥淒on鈥檛 let a crisis go to waste,鈥� meaning crises can be opportunities for improvement. The disruption they cause allows for progress that might not happen otherwise, turning challenges into chances for positive change.
What progress can be made from our latest crisis? Maybe as a community we can integrate the spirit of partnership into our community DNA 鈥� where instead of coming together in unprecedented ways during challenging times we work closely together all the time. Perhaps we can start focusing more on the community values we share, and less on what we disagree on.
We have seen the difference it makes when we act as one community. Why wouldn鈥檛 we want that to be our everyday standard?
Several of my friends like to jokingly call me "overly optimistic." It鈥檚 hard not to be optimistic about our future after seeing firsthand how our community came together over the past few weeks out of love of this community and support for each other.
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Sadly, that sense of community is no longer a common thing in our world. Thankfully, we now know it is ingrained into who we are.
We may be beat-up, but we are far from beaten. Quite the opposite. I think we are stronger as a community then we ever have been.
Dave Hengel is the executive director of Greater Bemidji Economic Development. He can be reached at (218) 444-5757 or dhengel@greaterbemidji.com.
The Trust Project
