Viewpoint: Get Off the Sidelines

??Mike Bowler, President of the Greenhorn Valley Chamber of Commerce, shared by telephone Monday morning, that he and fellow board members have decided it’s time to open up the Chamber meetings to the public and get back involved with more people.

?One of the things that seems more and more obvious is that people can actually have an impact on events in their lives at a local level.?The District 70 Board of Education election was ample testimony to the power of the average voter in electing people that will represent their interests, as well as, make an impact on procedure and policy.

?“We need more people involved and more voices heard,” shared Bowler.?“Over the pandemic time we came up with a lot of good ideas we want to try to implement.?We have big plans for the next year, and need people to make them happen.”

?Bowler said that he and the current board have been operating on what he described as a skeleton crew. They have done their best to keep events going that were done more easily in the COVID climate, like the Chamber golf tournament.?But, admittedly, postponed events like the annual Business EXPO.

?The first open general Chamber meeting of the new year will take place on January 6, at the Greenhorn Valley Library from 7:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.?The library requires masks so the Chamber will comply with that stipulation.

?The following Thursday, the Chamber will hold their annual banquet on the 13th of January, at 6:00 p.m.?The location for this event has not been decided.?The current board asks?anyone interested in serving on the board to reach out to any of the current board to get information and explore the possibility of serving.?Bowler suggested anyone with questions could call him at (719) 243-2211.

?Memberships will again be collected in 2022.

?The point is this.?Get involved at the local level.

?Run for the Chamber of Commerce board.?Run in the next election for the Colorado City Metro District, the Town of Rye Board, the Rye Fire Protection District, the next District 70 Board of Directors election.?In the meantime, whichever area is an area you are concerned with attend the meetings.?Two of the five still offer ZOOM.

?Visit with members of those boards.?They spend lots of your tax dollars.?Write letters to the bodies, write Letters to the Editor, volunteer, and be a part of the community.?Your voice has a greater chance of being heard and taken seriously, locally, than in any other place.

?The next level of involvement is things like the Pueblo County Commissioners, along with county organizations of any kind.?For those of you who major in persistence take on state level boards, and positions, and organizations.

?Of course, when you begin this journey remember that those that have power don’t always want to give it up or share it.?Remember that no matter what your opinion, someone isn’t going to like it.?I am reminded of a famous quote by President Teddy Roosevelt.?It is appropriate and timeless.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

– Theodore Roosevelt