Five Year Plan

I want to give credit to the county and Joe Wallace for presenting a five year plan and making it public.

This gives the community an opportunity to debate its merits and decide the direction of our county.

This is not to say that one has to agree with everything in the plan.

However, now is the time to act on the things which will keep our community moving forward.

From past experience we know that if we let our infrastructure run down, it is very expensive to put it back in shape.

Mr. Wallace makes the point that when times are good, we should look ahead and prepare for the down times.

One immediate need for Snyder is a public swimming pool. The only one we currently have is at WTC and it is not really set up to handle large numbers of the public.

I remember the many pleasurable hours I spent at our swimming pools as a youth.

A swimming pool provides healthy entertainment and helps keep our community kids out of trouble.

Does anyone have any ideas on the community plan?

Update on WTC Presidential Search

The search for the new college president at WTC is in a new stage.

The board has selected five candidates to interview.

Evaluating resumes is a very inexact science because almost anyone can make a resume look good.

Checking references can help but the references a candidate lists are going to say good things about him/her.

There is no substitute for actually looking someone in the eye and asking hard questions.

Even then, one never knows how a person will turn out until they have been on the job for awhile.

That is why selecting a person to replace Dr. Williams as president of WTC is a scary process.

Wish the board members luck and hold them in your prayers.

2nd Annual Chocolate Fest and the Square

The 2nd Annual Chocolate Fest held on February 10th was a great success. There were many delicious chocolates and interesting wines as well as some great entertainment.

The event had a party atmosphere with a lot of socializing.

A good time was had by all.

The Ritz Theatre is, of course, a wonderful facility and has been for many years.

Now we have another great building on the square: the Manhattan Hotel.

It is in the process of renovation but already is a delightful building.

Just in time for the Chocolate Fest, a large metal horseshoe bar was inserted in its main room.

This bar is unique, tasteful and great as a serving area for food and refreshments.

Our square is coming alive.

In addition to the Manhattan Hotel and Ritz Theatre, their is now the Hard Hat Café on the west side of the square.

With its unique foods, bookstore and adult beverages, it is already doing a booming business.

Plans are also stirring for doing something with the “burned out place” with the intent of scaling down the original design and making it a gathering place for square dwellers.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to revitalize our square and make it a live and active town center like it was in the good old, very old, days?