Celebrating Ourselves More (and More Often)

Judging from reports in Sunday's Bulletin, friends and neighbors in Greeneville had themselves a time Saturday enjoying both some gorgeous summer weather and one another's company at their Annual Spirit of Greeneville Day. 

Good on 'em. 
We have a lot to celebrate, not just in Greeneville, but throughout Norwich and, quite frankly, in light of how much time we seem to spend being unhappy about what we have (or more precisely what we feel we don't have), let me offer that we don't spend nearly enough time in positive self-talk about who we are and what we do well. 

Far too often I believe it's easy to find someone (and usually more than just one someone) who has a problem for every solution and who sees happiness as a rationed commodity so don't you (whoever you are) take too much joy in something going on around here, or else (I'm never really sure what is supposed to happen with the 'or else' part). 

I think when looking at news in and around Norwich and the people with whom we share our city too many of us wait for the other shoe to drop when we could dance barefoot if we so chose. We keep checking to see what the reaction is over at the cool kids' lunch table forgetting there are no cool kids (or lunch or tables, come to think of it). 

It takes every kind of people, sang Robert Palmer, to make what life is all about and we have the singular good fortune in The Rose City to have just about every kind of people there are. So we should be as filled with life as the days are long (and maybe more so). 

Norwich native son and nationally known author, John Andriote, referred to Norwich as 'an American melting pot in a saucepan size.' And I have to believe the more open-hearted and open-minded we are in our interactions with one another, the better off as a city we all grow to be. 

So I'm happy we have the Taste of Italy, Juneteenth Day, the Saint Patrick's Day Parade, and the Greek Festival, among other celebrations but there's room for so much more to reflect the contributions of so many others.

This Friday morning at ten is the dedication of the Ellis Ruley Memorial Park on the ruins of the Ruley homestead over on Hammond Avenue (just beyond Fitzgerald Field) on the East Side. 

Recognition of Ruley's life and art, as well as his place in Norwich's history, was very long in coming and I hope when/if you have the chance to visit the park at the crest of a winding and steep (but paved and handicap-accessible) path in the woods, you'll savor the solitude, find some inspiration of your own, and offer some thanks for the efforts of the too-many-to-name volunteers who made its creation one of the ways they make Norwich better for all of us.

And speaking of better for all of us, put Sunday afternoon (from two to six) on your calendar as Franklin Square (between Bath andWillow Streets) hosts Peruvian Fest 2018, a collaboration between the Global City Norwich initiative and Peruvians United of Connecticut. 

There promises to be enough food, music, fun, and more for all of us (they had me at bouncy water slide), so make sure to wear pants with pockets so you'll have someplace to put all the fun. We already have a name for it, Norwich.
-bill kenny