I love being in small-town America, and nothing reminded me of that more than seeing a quick impromptu parade Friday afternoon to celebrate the Union 9U All-Stars winning the Dizzy Dean World Series.
So early that morning, the team won their final game to clinch the title. After they won, league organizer Roderick Hawkins put out a social media post asking residents to show up around 5 p.m. to welcome the team back home as they were planning a parade.
Well, at 5 p.m., Mother Nature wanted to delay it just a bit. A heavy thunderstorm opened up, but it didn’t damper the spirit of the parade one bit.
9U head coach Aaron Morris put it this way, “Our coaches, parents, fans and community are so proud of these boys! And it was evident based on the outpouring of support that was shown during the victory parade Friday evening! These guys battled the heat all week long, so for them, a parade during a thunderstorm was “refreshing” to say the least!”
Union definitely showed out, and a little rain can’t even stop the party. And that’s what I love about our community. We will throw a celebration whenever we want to. It doesn’t have to be something planned for very long. If there’s something that deserves a parade like a Dizzy Dean World Series championship, the town shows up.
And it’s not just what’s happened in Union. When Newton County’s cheerleaders won the national championship, they were given a police escort and they had a little celebration in the late hours of the night when they arrived at the Peavey building.
East Central also got a champion’s welcome after their baseball team won the Regional Championship in May, clinching their first berth to the NJCAA national tournament.
That’s what’s great about community. We support our schools, our children and each other. We want to see our folks succeed. And when they do, we love to celebrate with them.
That’s what our communities need more of. We need to look to celebrate the wins with each other. Don’t get jealous when others succeed. Be happy for them, and they should return the favor when you succeed.
While we don’t want to ignore the issues that need to be dealt with, we also need to make sure we have time to celebrate the good things in our county.
Brent can be reached at bmaze@newtoncountyappeal.com.
