Community events are not an entitlement.

Community events are not an entitlement.

Editorial by Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief.

I love summer and I love the many events that take place in our community. I have participated in many of these events in various functions: as an attendee, as a journalist and as a volunteer. Most of these events are funded through donations. They are planned by volunteers who begin planning the events months in advance. These volunteers organize these events because they love our community.

Naturally, when we read about the cancellation of one of these great events, due to a pandemic, we get upset. And, it’s OK to be upset. But, let’s keep some things in perspective:

• A pandemic is defined as a disease prevalent over a whole country or the world. It is not isolated to Mason County.
• Community events are not an entitlement.
• Making the decisions to cancel these events are not easy decisions.
• The people who organize these events care very deeply for our communities. I would dare say they care much more about our communities more than those of you who sit behind your computers and spew out negative comments on social media about “how dare ‘they’ cancel this event or that event.”

Speaking about that previous sentence, when our society returns back to “normal” I would like to challenge more people to step up and volunteer around our communities. At the minimum, take a moment to thank the many people who bring you those annual community events.

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