Are we defined by an NPR commentary?
No, we are Lincoln!

By Lincoln Mayor Keith Snyder

[November 16, 2013]  The first I heard about the contents of the recent National Public Radio commentary written by Kelly McEvers was when I received an email from my oldest daughter, Hannah, about 8 a.m. Tuesday. She provided me a link to the story, asked if I'd seen it, and shared: "I was going to post it on Facebook, and then I saw it made us look like a bunch of paranoid drug addicts."

When I read the story – a story I'd anticipated because it was going to be about the community I love and lead – not only was I concerned about the perception McEvers drew, but I was saddened for all of us who call Lincoln home, whether we live here now or once did.

Kelly returned to Lincoln in September for a week after having served several years as one of the Middle East correspondents for NPR. She interviewed a lot of people in Lincoln. She spent an hour with me and an hour with Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Andi Hake.

In her story, though, Kelly used two comments from her school friends and an incident that occurred when she was on a ride-along with the police chief to describe what she felt "had happened" to her hometown. The result was Lincoln came out looking like, well, "a bunch of paranoid drug addicts."

She got applause for her efforts from some, but to a lot of us the word that came to mind was unfair. Do we have problems? Yes. Are they serious? Yes. Are drugs on that list of problems? Yes. Are more and better job opportunities on that list? Yes. While I'm proudly protective of this place I and my children call home, I am fully aware Lincoln has struggles.

But we're so much more than a list of our problems. To ignore that is to ignore the true story of Lincoln and of small towns in the Midwest.

We're not defined by a commentary run on NPR, and we're not defined by what is in the news. Lincoln is us. We are 14,500 stories. We're people living and working, businesses producing, organizations serving, and all us trying to get along and improve. We are Lincoln.

We are the people who go to church on Sunday morning. We are the kids who go to school on Monday. We are the single moms who work hard but still make it to school activities on Tuesday evening. We are the senior citizens who go to IGA for discounts on Wednesday. We are the exhausted home health care providers who take care of clients on Thursday. We are the workers who enjoy a beer after making it to another Friday evening. We are the neighbors who go to a benefit pancake breakfast Saturday morning, visit family in the nursing home that afternoon and enjoy a meal at Bonanza at the close of another week. We are Lincoln.

We're the classmates of Kelly McEvers who are still in Lincoln and who work every single day to make a difference. Classmates like Dolan Dalpoas, the CEO of one of the top 100 critical-access hospitals in the United States, Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital, and city Aldermen Tom O'Donohue and David Wilmert.

We're Lincoln natives who went away for a time, but who came back to make opportunities, not only for ourselves but for others. Lincoln natives like Patrick Doolin, founder and CEO of Integrity Data, a top-tier partner of Microsoft, and David Lanterman, owner of Beans & Such and Lincoln Theater 4 and renovator of the "twin sisters" houses and the former Oasis building

We are doctors and educators who grew up in Lincoln, but who came back because their passion is to serve here. People like Dr. Paul Kasa, Dr. Don Sielaff, Dr. Todd Nobbe, Paul Beaver, Laura Schonauer, Andy McDonald and Amy Neece.

We are Lincoln.

We're the people who moved to Lincoln, who adopted it as their own hometown, and whose passion is to help. People like Ellen Burbage, who was a native of West Virginia, but who now proudly calls Lincoln her home, works at Community Action and is recognized as a community leader volunteering with the Humane Society, Crime Stoppers and the Oasis.

We are the organizations and events that raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to help other people. To only name a fraction, we're Germanfest, the Harvest of Talents, the Kiwanis spaghetti dinner, the Zonta turkey dinner, the Methodist Men's pancake breakfast, the Rotary citrus sale, the Logan County Food Pantry, the Marine Corps League Toys for Tots, and the Carroll Catholic Christmas bazaar.

We are Lincoln.

We are people who care and who show it. We are Together for Lincoln and the hundreds of projects that have been completed over six years. We are the Guzzardos who give away 400 meals every Thanksgiving. We are the friends who organize prayer vigils in parks. We are the poker runs and the benefits. We are the food drives and the Logan County Food Pantry. We are the Girl Scouts, the Boy Scouts and the Cub Scouts. We are friends and family members who walk alongside those entangled in addiction. We are neighbors who cut grass and rake leaves for widows.

We are Lincoln Railer basketball games in the winter. We are red tulips in the spring. We are garage sales in the summer. We are races on Friday night and concerts in the park on Sunday night. We are the 4th of July water fight between the kids and the fire department. We are the Art & Balloon Festival. We are the Route 66 Shootout soccer tournament.

And I've only scratched the surface. Have you got something you're passionate or proud about in Lincoln? Share your "We are Lincoln" story with me, so we can continue to define our community: proactively, positively and accurately.

We are Lincoln.

[By KEITH SNYDER, Lincoln mayor]