A lot of well-intentioned people have encouraged me to live in the here and now and let tomorrow take care of itself, but that kind of attitude is exactly what has gotten us where we are today.
For too many years the residents of Enid have not given much thought to tomorrow.
We’re all guilty.
In our struggles to get by — financially or emotionally — we tend to let tomorrow take care of itself.
Which is well and good until tomorrow comes.
Ninety years ago the residents of Enid built a state-of-the-art facility that today still provides students at Garfield Elementary School with a boiler-system-style of heating.
Enid Public Schools has some of the most dedicated teachers in the state, but they often get overlooked.
It’s hard to look past antiquated buildings and substandard heat and air and see the education children receive is top-notch.
One of the jobs Brent Kisling has been tasked with as the new executive director of Enid/Garfield County Development Alliance is to sell our town to businesses interested in locating a home.
Often the first thing officials with any business look at when seeking a place to locate is the schools, Kisling said.
It’s hard to sell what’s inside the package when the companies will not look past its wrappings.
“We’ve historically not dreamed big enough as a town,” Kisling said, when speaking of economic development.
It’s hard to dream in a time of economic recession, but it’s time to try.
The city is moving in that direction.
In the past few years, an effort to clean up and restore downtown has been evident in the occupied buildings and regularly scheduled entertainment activities.
Recently, supporters established Farmers Market at Grand and Garriott. The market not only will allow Enid and area residents to buy fresh vegetables and Oklahoma products it will dress up the old depot building near the railroad tracks and help open an aesthetic corridor to the downtown area.
“Great things are happening here,” Kisling said.
They must, and they must continue, because the only way Enid is going to gain in prosperity is if we do it ourselves.
No one in Washington is going to promote our town, and no stimulus package is going to bring higher paying jobs to our community.
We have to dream bigger.
Does that necessarily mean spending more money at a time when we are wondering where our next paycheck will come from ... and how much it will be?
Not necessarily. But it may come to that.
If your children were suffering, you’d find a way to help them.
As I see students sitting inches from a radiator at Garfield only to have to shuffle the room around come winter when that heater is needed, I think our children need help.
This fall public school officials are hoping to revive a plan to address remodeling and replacements needs for the district’s buildings.
Whether that involves a bond issue is not yet known.
However, bond issues are the only avenue for public schools in Oklahoma to build and maintain buildings. State funds allocated to school districts mostly are tied up in salaries and benefits.
Hopefully Enid residents will step forward and dream big.
If your family members were suffering, you’d find a way to help them.
Enid became a part of my family when I moved here in 1993. Since that time, I have watched it decline in many areas.
I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work.
I’m ready to see it grow.
It is exciting to watch new players emerge to help build it up.
This city has so much potential. It only stops when our dreams do.