Sweet Home has certain qualities that endear it to people who arrive here and who end up staying – often for decades.
We all know it, even those who complain about the way the downtown looks, the inertia that seems to keep improvements from happening as quickly as they would like, and other flaws in our community that we hear about, that we discuss.
But the fact is, Sweet Home is uniquely attractive in many ways that go beyond the scenery.
One of those unique qualities has been volunteerism.
Those who have moved to this community have often been struck by the quantity and quality of selflessness evidenced by residents, who traditionally have been quick to step up when there was a need.
Every community has volunteers, but the level of effort here has often been exceptional.
In Sweet Home, volunteers have been everywhere.
Needed some downtown cleanup before the Jamboree arrived? Just put the word out and here they came. We still recall watching then-Mayor Craig Fentiman torching weeds in the sidewalk cracks along Main Street during one of those efforts. He was right in front of The New Era, hard to miss.
We vividly remember what happened when Dirrell Harper’s mobile home got crushed by a tree back in 2009. An army of volunteers, many of whom didn’t actually know the disabled former high school football star personally, showed up on successive weekends to build him a new home. It was an amazing experience.
But it wasn’t just special needs like that; volunteers were everywhere.
We’d cover fires and accidents and there were always volunteer firefighters and medics on the scene. Volunteers would bring food and drink for those working in the smoke.
We’d drive by Sweet Home Emergency Ministries or Manna Meals and we’d always see volunteers bustling around in there. At the East Linn Museum there’d be Christmas choir concerts, the live Nativity – all the efforts of volunteers.
When spring rolled around, we’d all see the Beautification Committee volunteers out making sure the Main Street medians looked sharp. When we covered Memorial Day events, there were plenty of folk available to serve in the honor guard. Sportsman’s Holiday. The Jamboree. People were always willing to help.
Not so much any more, apparently.
In recent months we’ve heard that just about every one of the organizations named above – Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District, SHEM, the museum, parade organizers, the Jamboree, they’ve all mentioned how they are short of help, trying to make something happen with less.
What’s happened?
It’s not just Sweet Home, by the way. Google “decrease in volunteerism” or some similar phrase and you’ll see headline after headline about how Americans just aren’t giving as much any more. It’s been the focus of studies, the topic of much commentary.
Though charitable donations didn’t really fall off terribly during the pandemic and following, volunteer numbers have. Some ascribe the decline to deteriorating commitment to civic engagement among younger people. But another factor, and this is certainly true in Sweet Home in organizations such as SHEM and the museum, is that the volunteers who have contributed to the community for decades are getting … old. They’re “retiring” after, sometimes, 50 or 60 years of service.
It’s beyond our means in this space to provide a comprehensive analysis of why this is happening.
And we can’t provide a solution, just note that one is needed.
We all experienced the pandemic, and we all can probably agree that the shut-in time wasn’t good for just kids. It was bad for all of us. Amazon and social media might have benefited, but regular community life did not.
We all developed habits that might not have been beneficial, especially in this context.
Can Sweet Home get back to the service and outreach that has characterized its population for decades? That is a question only its citizens can answer.
Fact is, we’re needed.