Ole Pappy
In a "Mailbag" letter by Leonard Coequyt, a Minneota native, ends with a profound statement. “I hope you realize how lucky you are to have such a great community,” he said.
Often I’ve heard people try to lump all small communities together by saying, “Oh, they’re all pretty much the same — got good guys and bad guys!” That’s true, somewhat.
But each community is unique, and Minneota is special. Often folks link the tremendous athletic success of the Vikings when they rate Minneota.
And it’s true. There’s something special about a tradition of winning. But it goes much deeper than that. I’ve been here over 11 years now and I’ve been watching, and studying this community.
Let’s start with athletics. I’ve been in good “sports” towns before. But never one like Minneota.
People ask why Minneota excels in so many sports. My answer is “tradition.” Oh, there’s hard work, coupled with desire and God-given ability — but behind every successful individual and every successful team, it’s that Minneota
Tradition that seems to push them on. A shirt worn by many simply says, “Tradition Never Graduates.”
Second, it’s the people. There are hard-working people here who are first in line when someone needs help, or when someone gets caught in tough times. In one little community I was part of, the town was very neat and clean and the people had a lot of pride.
But when they wanted to accomplish something they got caught by the, “How do we afford it?” syndrome. Nothing was ever accomplished, no new business came to town and the town is the same today as it was then. In Minneota, folks don’t let the financial needs stand in the way.
They figure out a way to get the project accomplished. Third, there’s an honest pride in the community. People support the school system, their kids, the businesses that are still operating and they make an effort to go out of their way to help others be successful.
They also have a pride in the past and honor those who built the town. Leonard Coequyt is right. We need to realize what we’ve got — and we need to appreciate we live in a pretty good place — no matter how little it is.
LAUGH A LITTLE: No kidding! Man to his wife: Where would you find a cow with no legs? Wife: I don’t know, where? Man: Right where you left it.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: As my Ole Pappy used to say, “You only live once. If you do it right, once is all you need!” Ole Pappy was a master of positivity. Once, after I’d made a big mistake, he took me aside, diagrammed the problem on paper, showed me how to do it right the next time, then sent me to bed ... no yelling or negative thoughts. He made me understand my mistake, but did it in a loving way. Thanks Ole Pappy!