L&T Publisher Earl Watt
There are just some people who will never experience joy. Or they find joy in misery. Some people just aren’t happy unless they are offering a critique of someone else’s work. There are those who just want to tear something down and never have any interest in building anything up.
This was the case after the Ruby Red Slipper Slide was open to the public last week.
Thanks to a grant through Kansas and a small local match with the Tourism Department funding, a larger-than-life ruby red slipper was transformed into a slipper slide.
The addition continues the theme of Liberal being the home of Dorothy Gale, perhaps the most recognizable name across the globe as someone from Kansas.
Thanks to the vision of Max Zimmerman and the generosity of the Jim Rice family, Dorothy’s House opened in Liberal in the 1980s, and the girl from Kansas finally had a home.
Is that gimmicky? Maybe to some. But to others it is a deep point of pride, and on an annual basis people from every state in the country as well as visitors from abroad find their way to Liberal to take a tour of Dorothy’s House and the Land of Oz exhibit.
I have personally met guests from Russia, Israel and many other places who drove across the continent to see the home of Dorothy. I’ve also been witness to several proposals that have taken place along the Yellow Brick Road.
For something to be successful, it doesn’t take support from everyone.
I doubt everyone enjoys everything on a menu at a restaurant, but there’s usually an item or two that keeps us coming back over and over.
“The Wizard of Oz” has been a literary classic as well as a beloved movie, and the recent resurgence with “Wicked” hasn’t hurt the interest, either.
It might not be your thing. But it is for millions of others.
Dorothy, like so many politicians, has fallen victim to the crowd that hates everything. And so when her ruby red slipper was transformed into a slide, the boo birds came out swinging.
“The slide is metal,” some said. “Children will get burned.”
I guess there’s always that chance for the same reason companies had to put the word “hot” on the side of coffee cups.
But a closer look at the slide shows just how little direct sunlight ever makes it to the slide. Both sides are protected with the ruby red slipper, and so the metal slide is well protected by the shade of its shell.
I’m sure those who made the observation from afar are the same people who believe they discover the risk of virtually everything. “That bike is dangerous, you might fall off.”
“Swings are dangerous. “
Tell me anything we do that doesn’t come with risk. I’ve survived to the age of 54 driving down Highway 54. That is true danger, but it has never stopped me from traveling where I needed to go.
As if the naysayers couldn’t wait to pass judgement on the metal slide, some local critics took to social media to compare the addition of a children’s slide to the expansion of business, claiming that while another regional community added a business, all we added was a slide.
Apples and oranges.
These same people, when Seven Brews announced it was coming to Liberal, grumbled that Liberal didn’t need another coffee shop.
And look how successful Seven Brews is doing. Apparently, these doomsday predictors were wrong, again.
But they never miss a chance to take a swipe. I found it interesting a while back that one of these curmudgeons tried to say my column would chase prospective businesses away, but their constant belly aching about Liberal would somehow have no effect.
Liberal’s biggest challenge isn’t what happens in Garden City or Dodge City or anywhere else.
Our biggest drawback is the community self esteem people have.
It’s low.
It shouldn’t be.
Liberal has a lot going for it, and we’ve seen great steps forward.
We are exploring a second overpass, something that the complainers only talked about before, and now that we are talking about building one, those same people will now become obstacles with their “It will never work,” or “It’s in the wrong location” complaints.
They are never happy unless they are against something.
Liberal has had a housing boom that is still under way, and the parks look great all over town.
The city just completed a comprehensive plan after the previous plan ran out of providing guidance almost 20 years ago.
We had a mural placed in Light Park recently, and while murals aren’t necessarily my thing, I feel better about Liberal every time I drive by it. Because it says something about us.
Colorful banners are lining the walk around Light Park, and more are being planned.
Downtown revitalization seems to be closer to reality than ever before, and the expansion adjacent to Kansas Ave. and the new facades along Second Street are just another way people are making Liberal a better place to live, work and play.
Sometimes it seems like we require 10,000 yeses to make something happen but only one or two nos to kill something.
There are those of us who believe in Liberal, in its past, its present and its future, and we support those who are willing to take risks and overcome the critics to make Liberal a better place for all of us.
Don’t let the negative voices set the agenda for the future. Have a vision and work on a brighter tomorrow.
It’s not good enough to simply criticize someone else’s idea or vision. You actually have to provide an option, a better way forward, and maybe your idea will win the day. But if we are all sharing ways to make Liberal better by actually comparing different ideas on how we get there, we will be focused on improving our community rather than trying to prevent anything from happening.
We are in the middle of a renaissance and many of us are missing it or actively fighting against it.
Businesses, public art, and yes, even a new Ruby Red Slipper Slide are joining in on the growth.
It’s there, and you can see it all around — if you want to see it.
Don’t let the voices who only complain decide where we go. Their destination is always the same — nowhere.
