#TheGoodStuff: Civic Pride
by Jim Cowan, CEDC Director
What is Civic Pride and why does it matter? What difference does it make is your neighbor takes care of their yard? Who cares if there is trash in the streets or in the parking lot of your favorite Chickasha business? The answer is simple, we must ALL care. We must be willing to not only take care of what is ours, but also help our neighbors. That’s what a strong community does!
Starting this coming Sunday and continuing through Thursday, September 30th well over 100 volunteers will be out all over Chickasha to pull weeds, pick up trash and clean up our town. The Chickasha City Council declared next week “Civic Pride Week”. Between the City, EDC, Chamber and OH18 homes, plans are being made to make an impact on the entry ways, downtown and the high profile areas of Chickasha. It’s the perfect time for action as we will expect over 20,000 visitors the first weekend of October as the High School has a Homecoming parade and football game, the Rock Island Arts Festival begins, The Rocket Island Ride happens and the Oklahoma Food Truck Championship is celebrated.
This should be one of the busiest weekends of the year outside the Festival of Light and it’s time for us to shine! We need to welcome visitors and all the class reunions that will be taking place. We are sure to have some people that have never been here before as well as many that come here frequently, but what’s important is what the see: A Clean City full of civic pride. Clean parking lots and store fronts that welcome people to town. With so many volunteers out next week, I’m sure our Community will look great that first weekend in October, but that’s not enough. We can’t just clean up our town occasionally when we are expecting visitors.
Starting next week, the Chickasha EDC and Chamber will be introducing the “Pledge” to Keep Chickasha Beautiful. We will have posters for businesses and yard signs for residents. Volunteers from OH18 homes will be taking the Pledge Posters around to local businesses, but you can also stop by the Chamber/EDC and pick them up. We must become a clean town by changing habits and living the pledge. As I have referenced many times, we did it 50 years ago when we were recognized as an All American City, we will do it again.
It’s time… It’s time to show visitors and more importantly ourselves that we have Civic Pride in Chickasha. It’s time we all celebrate our strengths and help each other enjoy our clean town and of course #TheGoodStuff!
#TheGoodStuff is a weekly column that appears in the Chickasha Express-Star.
