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Nose for News by Sarah Stultz

I’ve heard it before from city leaders, but for some reason the point drove home Monday night at the close of the Albert Lea City Council meeting.

New Mayor Rich Murray, before adjourning the meeting, spoke briefly about how excited he and the other councilors were to be in their positions this year and how they look forward to the year ahead. As they look forward, however, he said he needs the help of everyone to help the community grow.

He asked people to give them their ideas and be a part of the effort to bring exciting things to Albert Lea. He also said everyone needs to help to serve others in the community.

In my head I was applauding. His enthusiasm was inspiring to me, and I hope it continues to be inspirational to others in the coming months.

So often we hear people speaking negatively about the community, and it is frustrating that instead of whining about things people don’t decide to use that desire for change and get out there and make a difference.

Like the mayor said, it doesn’t have to be huge — it could be as simple as offering ideas.

It could be promoting things happening in the community on social media or even biting your tongue rather than joining in on rants about one thing or another online.

I have no doubt that companies considering coming to the community look at social media sites related to Albert Lea.

What will they find? Will they find a bunch of people complaining about their community or will they find people who are proud to live here and who are striving to better it?

If you want to take it up a notch, find a community effort to get behind. Help better that effort because as the old saying goes, “Many hands make light work.” And when the burden is lighter for the people who have already been a part of that effort, they might even have more time to grow other opportunities to better the community.

We’ve made great strides in recent years in growing our community, and I think once everyone jumps on board and commits to being a part of the solution, that growth will continue even faster.

After all, we each choose to live here for one reason or another, so why not hop on board to do what you can?

Find something that you’re interested in, and you’ll find it will be even more rewarding than you might realize.

“There is immense power when a group of people with similar interests gets together to work toward the same goals.” — Idowu Koyenikan

Sarah Stultz is the managing editor of the Tribune. Her column appears every Wednesday.