When I read back-issues of The New Era from 30 or 50 years ago, I see a little different Sweet Home than the one I moved to just over five years ago.
But the one you’re reading about today is starting to sound a lot more like the days of yore.
Those were the days when Sweet Home was entrepreneurial, confident to the point of being almost brash, and quite a bit respected around the state. It was when legislators who didn’t even represent this area would come to the Chamber of Commerce awards banquets. It was when Sweet Home residents made their marks in a variety of arenas €“ chess, High Q, forestry, sports and a lot more. It was when the storefronts were filled with businesses and there was a can-do pulse running through the town’s veins.
I understand that a lot of that was fueled by the booming local economy. I’ve heard from old-timers about the steady stream of trucks, loaded with timber, rolling through town day after day. I know there were a bunch of mills that provided jobs, basically to anybody who was fit and wanted one, back in the day. I also know that all that ground almost to a halt during the dark days of the late 1980s. It’s easy to see why things, and that spirit I was talking about earlier, went south.
Sweet Home has made efforts to regain its form after the nasty turnarounds in the 1980s. I’ve read about some of those too.
People didn’t just give up, at least not completely. But some things needed to change and I think we’re seeing that things are changing.
The Sweet Home Active Revitalization Effort (SHARE) has certainly contributed to that in the last few years, and I have to say that if Saturday was any indication, things are picking up.
Of course, I’ve only been here five years, but Saturday’s Downtown SALEabration, dreamed up by members of the SHARE Programming and Marketing Committee, brought out some of the best in our local businesses as well as scores of vendors and folks selling yard sale items. And it drew a crowd under somewhat adverse circumstances €“ blazing heat.
Last year we wrote nice things about the turnout for the inaugural SALEabration, which also drew crowds (on a hot day) and had lots of vendors, but this year the local merchants stepped up. They opened their doors, they put out welcoming displays and signs. Those who normally provide services that might not play well in a SALEabration-type setting (haircuts, massages, anyone?) still found ways to get in on the action.
The temperatures were scorching for most of the day, and that may have curtailed the turnout a bit, but it was impressive. I had a lot of things that I had to get done Saturday, but I really wanted to visit some of the local stores. They made me want to.
Fact is, some of those same people did it for the Oregon Jamboree too. Local entreprenurial efforts have been on the rise during the big festival in the last few years, but this year topped them all.
The point is, we’re seeing energy from our merchants. Some of them have quit relying on the “good-old-boy” network €“ which certainly should be part of their business €“ but have realized that there’s more out there and all they have to do is figure out how to get a piece of it.
The Chamber of Commerce’s stepping up too, offering classes and seminars to help local business people learn techniques to increase their market share.
Like I said, I think I feel more entreprenurial energy in the air. And we should be happy about it. I am. It’s great to see people getting motivated, who see the potential that Sweet Home has to pick itself up by the bootstraps and make something happen that will be better than it’s been for a long time.
Not every entreprenurial idea is going to fly, unfortunately. We’ve come up with a few here at the newspaper that were clunkers. But we’ve also had some that readers and customers liked.
The point is, people are seeing the possibilities and even though Sweet Home will surely be different than it was back in the “glory days,” it’s starting to look more fired-up all the time.
Thanks to all the people who are making that happen.