The announcement last week that our national forest will produce the nation’s Capitol Christmas Tree (along with 70 others that will be distributed throughout the capital) might first seem like simply a bunch of fun hoopla.
But it’s also an opportunity for Sweet Home – to gain some attention.
This is a big deal. On Friday there were TV crews and newspaper reporters from Salem to Eugene on Weddle Bridge for the announcement. Local officials proclaimed that this is an opportunity for Sweet Home to promote itself, get some attention.
We’re starting a year-long process that, if we play it right, can draw eyes from all over the state and nation as we make Christmas ornaments and, in November, cut that tree and truck it to D.C.
Whether this is just a bunch of hot air or a lot more depends partly on us. It is a great chance to turn eyes toward what we have to offer: outdoor recreation in spades – lakes, rivers, mountains, hiking, fishing, biking, boating, hunting, and more.
For those of us who have lived here for an extended period of time, and particularly for those who have never experienced anything else, it’s easy to forget or fail to recognize what we have to offer.
Some of us have jobs or businesses in Sweet Home. Other than the fact that it may seem inconvenient not to have easy access to a plethora of shopping (at least where we can actually inspect what we’re buying) and we have to travel 20 minutes or more to a hospital, there’s not a lot to complain about.
Unfortunately, that’s not true for many of our neighbors – or our kids. We’re not really a self-sufficient community. We’re a bedroom community that suffers a brain drain every workday morning when some of our best and brightest citizens head off to jobs elsewhere.
Several years ago Sweet Home had another opportunity when it was selected as one of four communities nationwide for the 2013 Federal Lands Livability Initiative.
Representatives of the Conservation Leadership Network toured our community over the course of several days, then produced a 160-page report full of practical recommendations for how Sweet Home’s economy, transportation, housing and other community needs could be improved. The report was delivered and it has since taken up residence on some local bookshelves and not much more.
A big problem was that there wasn’t enough critical mass – time and energy – in town to actually implement those opportunities. Then, after some key individuals departed Sweet Home for various reasons, that void became greater.
It’s been a missed opportunity so far.
Behind that alphabet-soup name on the cover, the report contains page after page of examples of how other communities have successfully addressed the challenges Sweet Home has faced since the spotted owl hit us. It offers page after page of grant and funding opportunities available to communities that have been gifted with a Livability Initiative.
Google “Sweet Home Livability Initiative” and take a look.
So what does this have to do with a Christmas tree that will stand on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol?
At least three things come to mind.
One, we’re going to be in a spotlight for this year. Who will be viewing this tree in D.C. late next fall? Members of Congress and their aides (the ones who actually write the laws and advise their bosses), agency officials. These are people who need to know why communities in the Northwest like Sweet Home are important to them.
The ball’s in our court, folks. People will be looking, at least casually, our way. What can we do to help them realize that Sweet Home is a great place to live – and work?
Local officials recognize this.
Mayor Greg Mahler, who is a very busy guy himself as owner of one of the largest local retail businesses and a volunteer firefighter – oh, and a grandfather, is certainly eager to talk about the possibilities: “This is a great opportunity to take advantage of this, to put us on the national level, especially from an economic development standpoint, to increase the growth of our community,” he said after the announcement.
County Commissioner Will Tucker told the crowd on Friday that he plans to accompany the tree as it retraces the Oregon Trail (backwards) to St. Louis, Mo. And then on to Washington D.C.
“The hope for me is for this tree, as it travels, to allow us to tell our story – how we grow the best timber in the world, while we clean the air, sequester carbon and do all these great things,” he said.
The second thing this tree can do for us, I hope, is help us reflect on who and where we are as a community. Like I said, some are comfortable, but that doesn’t mean Sweet Home is in great shape.
Is our downtown attractive enough to make people feel like stopping to browse and visit on their way to the lake or the mountains?
We’re blessed with hundreds of thousands of acres of private timber, which provides job opportunities that other communities haven’t been able to take advantage of, but having a broader sector of economic opportunity besides just cutting trees would provide resources to address other aspects of community health.
All that could present an opportunity to recruit new talent, jobs and services to town.
Thirdly, it’s just a chance to get together and have fun.
Think you know where there might be a “perfect” tree out there in the Sweet Home Ranger District? Go find it and let the staff down at the ranger station know.
Want your ornament to hang on a tree in D.C.? Go make one, and have some fun doing it.
Some of these may be big ideas, but the reality is that this chance will pass unless we do something with it. Some of our neighbors have seized theirs and made something happen.
We’ve just been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Let’s see what we can do with it.