Opinion : Journal Entry: Vinton Sesquicentennial

Well now, you can't say that Vinton doesn't know how to throw a party!

The exhaustion I feel tonight, er, this morning lays at the feet of one Ms. Melissa Schwan. That gal sure knows how to make this Ms. Reporter Person exhausted! It is now 1:30 on Sunday morning and the party has been over, officially, for an hour and a half. But do you think I can relax, noooooo. Dear Melissa, you outdid yourself, and all of us say a heartfelt, "Thank you!" Thanks for all of the hours and planning, and organizing and dreaming and fundraising and losing sleep and everything else that I can't think of in my bleary-eyed exhaustion.

I DON'T want to pop open the camera and see all of the pictures that I took or even attempt to start writing anything that requires facts, details and photoshop, no way. 

What I will do is write a note about my feelings following an event like we just shared. 

From the first events a week ago, parades, sweetcorn until tonight's boomtown event the town gathered to just have fun. 

Celebration Park was beautiful and even as I sat working in my car with my laptop out waiting for the events to begin there on Thursday night for the farmers market,  our outstanding Parks and Rec guy, Matt Boggess noticed some last-minute details that needed to be taken care of before the vendors arrived. He quickly had one of his guys out there taking care of it. I remember grinning and thinking, "Really Matt, no one would notice that..." but he did, and he took care of it. 

All week long it was the multitude of people that stepped up to make sure these events went off smoothly. 

There is something about this town that I've never felt in any other town and it's hard to explain. But in Vinton, it doesn't matter if we have a crisis or a celebration, everyone pitches in, smiles, and has a good time whether we're working or playing.

I've thought long and hard about the word that best describes Vinton, and the only one that comes remotely close to describing the feel is, "Family."

Whether you were downtown checking out the vendors, checking out the Murals, or in the grandstands at Boomtown, you soon realized that if you didn't know the person next to you, you two probably know a shared acquaintance making you cousins on your "Vinton" side. 

As I dragged myself, and all my equipment back to the car following Boomtown, I had to say, it was a crazy busy week, so busy that I couldn't tell you where I had been or what I had done on Wednesday. If you asked I'd point to my camera and say, "Let me check my camera disk." There were so many activities this week inside the Sesquicentennial celebration but a few more were happening outside of the party that I managed to squeeze in. 

But when it wrapped up I left the party with the warm fuzzies concerning Vinton. Everyone had a part to play, and everyone stepped up. I felt almost like I didn't do anything to help, but my job was to keep directing traffic. 

Thank you to the wonderful people that worked with Melissa at VU, thanks for the creative ideas and projects and for just pulling out all the stops for this week. 

Thanks to the Vinton Police Department (who I see also squeezed in almost 120 calls this week) and the Benton County Sheriff's Department. These are the people that you don't notice until you need them, but they are also the people that make sure we can relax and just have fun, so hats off to all of you. 

Thanks also to all of you in Vinton, around Vinton, connected to Vinton that made this week special. I've heard a lot about "Iowa nice" lately, but I have to say the Vinton has to be the nicest!

Now as I sort through all of the pictures and put words to them, I'm sure I'll be doing a lot of smiling.