By Dan Irvin
People who call Central Illinois home certainly feel the intangible spirit of this place. Let’s call it our character.
When visiting here, my in-laws from the big city out East always loved to read the Pantagraph and listen to WJBC to immerse them in what they thought of as the small town adorable-ness of the place.
I’m sorry to see Mennonite Hospital torn down on North Main as an architectural reminder of a kinder, gentler age. I still get a kick out of driving by the old post office just a couple of blocks south of there. It’s been preserved as part of Second Pres’s campus.
Further deconstruction of this spirit comes in the form of Bloomington’s consideration – possibly necessary, I must admit – of eliminating its policy of allowing anybody to address the city council on any topic for 15 minutes. I won’t go into it, but from what I understand, my mother would call this an example of one single person ruining something nice for the rest of us.
That said, the spirit is alive and well. I quite accidentally stumbled upon the Mack-Ca-Fest Farm Days festival over in Mackinaw on Friday night. It’s an annual community fundraiser benefitting the village and the junior football league and just about every other organization in town. That’ll give you a dose of feel good right there.
But a pre-eminent example of us at our best?: The philosophy, or dream of something called Not In Our Town, committed to fighting hate and standing up for a safe, inclusive community. Tomorrow night from eight to nine at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, 801 West Market, in Bloomington, the community is invited to a Vigil Prayer Service to lift up the families in Charleston, South Carolina, the community, and the nation with prayer and reflection.
An hour of anyone’s time is a small price to pay to show ourselves that THIS is our character; THIS is who WE are.
Dan Irvin is Vice-President of the Bloomington Public Library Foundation Board, and a member of the Heartland Community College Foundation Board.
The opinions expressed within WJBC’s Forum are solely those of the Forum’s author, and are not necessarily those of WJBC or Cumulus Media, Inc.
