Lessons Learned
Celebrate Your Hometown
Forbes Magazine has more than once listed Rockford as
being among the most violent cities in America in addition to other equally
unflattering distinctions. But to us it’s home. It may not be perfect but there
is a tremendous lot of good here, and it is all of this good that we focused on
when we wrote a musical play about Rockford’s story. We engaged the support and
participation of more than 20 local organizations as we planned this project
known as “Hometown History.” It became a grand celebration of Rockford’s story,
our shared story, for which our Mayor issued a proclamation. We raised money so
that all District 205 3rd
graders could be transported to the stunning Coronado Theater to see and hear
our shared story free of charge. The entire event felt like a huge hug for our
city and certainly served as a step toward building bridges of hope and trust
between neighbors. This big, affirming collaborative event received a Mayor's
Arts Award for Cultural Event of the Year, and that is a credit to all of the
countless neighbors with willing hands who gathered their hearts and raised
their voices in a resounding “Yes” to our city. This event was not a one shot
deal, however; for there will be more and more until the bridges of
collaboration and hope and trust out-number the walls of fear and despair that
divide and isolate us and cause us to concede to Forbes. What do they know?
They see numbers, we see neighbors.
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