Tough Enough

I have had numerous conversations over the last two weeks about Fairbury.Fairbury is a tough town. Take that as you will.Fairbury is a tough town, meaning every adversity that is thrown at the citizens, they pull themselves up by the bootstraps and persevere.Fairbury is a tough town. The people are gruff and it is hard to live there, like living in Hell’s Kitchen in New York in the 1970s.Which is it Fairbury? Is this community tough because the gumption, dedication and the will of the people is strong or this is just one big, bad neighborhood?To me, either way, own it. Yes, we are a town that has had adversity: the railroad left, Fairbury Hot Dogs are not made here anymore, Swingsters left, countless stores have closed over the years (there were three grocery stores when I first lived here in 1997), downtown had a multitude of retail outlets. Now, all gone. Yep, it is what it is, but the town is still here. New businesses come in, some close. It is what it is, folks.Yes, this town can be a tough place. To riff on the Nebraska tourism slogan, ‘Fairbury isn’t for Everyone.’ However, it is for the people that choose to live here. You make the community in the image you want it to be by actions and deeds.Do we have things going for us? That is up to the viewer. Some may say yes, some may say no. There has been controversy over the wind farm situation in the county and I remember when I lived here in the late 1990s, a wind turbine blade factory was worked on by Jim Frager, head of economic development. How would the county look today if we had been cranking out turbine blades for 20 years?I give Jim credit, he worked his rear-end off to get businesses here. He would come into my office weekly with some new prospect. Weekly. We had a plastics factory, briefly. Did Jim bring 1,000 jobs to Fairbury? No, but he tried harder than I have seen a lot of economic developers to get businesses to come to town.Today, there are still spots at the industrial park. Is there a big push to fill them? Not that I can see, but there are other items on the plate that need to be addressed and the city is currently addressing them.One thing the city did right was take away available housing for drug dealers. The low level drugs are eroding on the streets. The problem now is that the high level drugs need to be combatted here, and everywhere else in the world.I ask you, Fairbury, how will you define tough?Upon moving here I befriended Bruce Swartz. Like Fairbury, Bruce could be ‘not for everyone’ as he may have rubbed some people the wrong way. However, no one, I mean no one, would ever say Bruce Swartz did not love this community. He loved it with all of his heart and soul and gave everything he could to see the town he grew up in survive. Some people did not always enjoy his tactics on city council, but those tactics made you think and got a response.After a council meeting one night, I can’t remember the exact situation, but he said, “I know some people will be mad at what I said, but, Timmy, I can’t let this town continue to go through this.” He meant every word he said and did what he felt he needed to get the town that much further ahead.For me, all I can do is live by the mantra of Bruce: Keep ducking and swinging.Take that how you will.

5.17.23

5.17.23

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