WHAT A WORLD we live in…Two overseas wars, polarization and dysfunction at home, a 2024 election crisis looming, hatred toward Jews, Muslims and Arabs spreading, the homeless multiplying by the thousands, technology heading into the scary unknown, and climate change, likewise, taking us down an uncertain and frightening path…
It’s almost enough to make us want to throw up our hands and concede defeat. We’re cooked, we’re finished…It’s almost enough, but not quite, especially for those of us who live in Greater Marquette, which, if you think about it on this Thanksgiving week, is an island of relative beauty, tranquility, goodwill, rationality, and generosity.
CONSIDER, FOR EXAMPLE, our physical home—the Lake, the hills, the towering pines, the gorgeous Fall colors, the glorious snowfalls, the pure, pollution-free skies and lakes, the stupendously gorgeous hikes and rides you can take while losing yourself in Nature…The fact that a beach and a ski hill are literally ten minutes away from each other!
WORRIED ABOUT BAD things happening to you? Yeah, the crime rate isn’t great, but it’s much better than the rest of the country…We occasionally leave our cars running in the winter when we’ve got a quick errand to run. We sometimes leave our doors unlocked at night…And the NMU campus? It’s considered one of the safest in the nation.
SEXISM? BIAS AGAINST women, gays, lesbians, and the entire LGBTQ community? No, it’s not totally absent from Marquette, but then again, the city’s new mayor and mayor pro tem are both women, and there are numerous gays and lesbians holding prominent positions in the business world and in government…No headline-seekers here, no controversy…Just a general acceptance by most of us that the world is changing.
WE THRIVE ON communal events—the Fourth of July parade, the Christmas tree lighting, the Canathon, the Hiawatha Music Festival, Art on the Rocks, the Blueberry Festival, the Italian Fest in Ishpeming, the UP 200, the Noque, the Ore-to-Shore…and so many more, all year round…All of them bringing people together in beautiful settings, free of strife that seems to plague so much of the rest of this country…And these events aren’t brought to us by big corporations or the government, but rather by community-minded individuals and groups who aren’t seeking money, power, or status…They’re just trying to make life more fun and fulfilling for the rest of us.
WE HAVE SERVICE organizations aplenty—in fact, three Rotary Clubs in Marquette alone! Yes, these are groups that provide business networking and a social outlet for their members, but their essential mission is to serve, to help, and to spread funds and manpower where they’re most needed…to families in crisis, to youth groups, to the homeless, to Search-and-Rescue, to deserving students, to community theaters…to beautification! Our gorgeous, flower-filled southeastern gateway on US41 every year is provided not by governmental money, but by individuals donating their time to make things pretty for us.
OUR CHURCHES PROVIDE not only a sense of community, but also outreach to others suffering from need, from loss, from grief…And other groups—our hospices, the Women’s Center, Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly, Room at the Inn, Superior Connections—step in where they’re needed, and comfort those who are going through tough times…And again, so many of these support groups are composed of volunteers— people giving up their time, and sometimes money, to help their fellow man and woman.
MARQUETTE IS RELATIVELY small and yet, remarkably, it has both a major hospital and university—an affordable university that offers free classes to senior citizens…And is there any doubt that our doctors and nurses and school teachers are some of our most valuable citizens? Many of them are underpaid and under-appreciated, but they’re still working hard to safeguard our health and prepare our children for their future.
YOU WANT CULTURE? How about a town that offers multiple theater groups, art galleries, and a symphony orchestra?! How many towns of 20,000 residents can say that?
ONE OF MARQUETTE’S greatest attributes is that it’s child-centric. Kids can safely play on the sidewalks and in the playgrounds, head to the YMCA for a variety of sports, hone their skills at the skate park, and show their stuff at the beaches. They can wander their neighborhoods without their parents worrying every minute when the kids are not in sight…Organized sports—hockey, football, basketball, soccer, gymnastics, and others? They’re everywhere.
For the kids who don’t care for organized sports, there are other options: head for the hills on bikes with the 906 Adventure Team and Start the Cycle. Those are the types of programs you won’t find in most cities simply because they don’t have hills and forests where kids can safely ride.
SO, IS ALL this just a bunch of Pollyanna sweet talk? Or shameless boosterism?…After all, we do lack sufficient housing and child care in town, we probably cater too much to tourists, we’re facing the threat of over-development, and too many families are suffering from domestic, alcohol and drug abuse…Yes, these problems remain real and need to be addressed…But sometimes, it seems we hear only the criticism, the carping, the griping…The loudest voices, especially online, are frequently the most negative.
Fine, continue with the constructive criticism. That’s how a community can make itself better.
BUT DURING THIS Thanksgiving week, maybe we should all take a break from the negativity, and appreciate what we have here…Take a walk in the woods, enjoy a stroll on the beach, smile at your neighbors, relax with your family and friends. And give thanks for what we have here on the shimmering shore of Lake Superior.
And while you’re enjoying your family, your friends, and your feast on Thanksgiving, maybe take a few moments to reflect on those less fortunate than you—the struggling single mothers, the chronically ill, the addicts and alcoholics who can’t break the habit, the bullied children, the mentally ill who can’t seem to find a brighter future—and send them your thoughts and prayers. Better yet, resolve to help them in the year ahead…And maybe next Thanksgiving, they, too, will be able to sit down at the table and enjoy a sumptuous feast, while their hearts are filled with gratitude.
POEM OF THE WEEK
THANKSGIVING
The wind pushes down the road, a warm breeze
just warm enough.
Thank you for a word…a whisper.
So many colors surround, leaves falling, carpeting a
soft path.
Thank you for a life of memories, so full and bright.
A time of transition, neither summer nor winter,
a time of rest.
a moment to contemplate.
Thank you for your patience, at times undeserved.
A thought, a subtle gesture,
a warm fire, an ever dimming light,
a time to gather together.
Thank you for being summer, and I winter,
yet we always meet in the fall.
—Bill Volkov
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Well said, Brian! I am thankful for many things, and one of the greatest is living here in Marquette.
All the woes you describe in the first paragraph the result of misguided Liberals policies. Climate change is nonsense, the data fudged, and liberals like you promulgate it based on bad data and thus push the socialist/communist agenda to take down the USA by throttling down or economy. Stop it, Brian, you useful idiot.