That Voodoo That You Do So Well?

The village board approved the $6000 for their contribution to the Good Old Days festival on Thursday at the village board meeting.

Good Old Days has been in trouble for several years now as evidenced by the state of the declining revenues generated by event. I have already opined about how I believe the village board should take some degree of ownership of the event. Festivals are a data-point on a time-line in a community’s collective consciousness. The shared experience creates both a venue and the glue which binds the citizens of a town into a community. Winfield has very little community spirit compared to Naperville, St. Charles or even Wheaton. I lay the blame for this at the feet of the village board that does not recognize that they have a responsibility to encourage these events. If the charities can’t deliver these events then the village should step in and fill the gap in the name of creating community spirit and lifting morale. It is generally preferred charities and civic organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce, Knights of Columbus, Lions and Winfield Juniors organize these events themselves but the village should provide technical support, logistical support, labor, equipment, moral support and, if necessary, a shoulder to cry on if the need presents itself. The trustee’s should have a vested interest in these events being successful from the standpoint of how they reflect back on the administration and from the standpoint of how they reflect on the Village of Winfield.

Unfortunately the relationship between our current Village Administration and our community organizers is one of a low level general disdain. When Trustee Chuck Martschinke relates to the Winfield Chamber of Commerce’s executive board on the Tuesday before the Thursday village board vote that the straw poll of trustees is 60% against and 40% for, it shows the village has no personal stake in the event. It suggests the board feels that Good Old Days is an aggravation they tolerate like a parent who is annoyed by his own child. To take the Village-Board-As-Disinterested-Parent analogy further, I am looking at the declining revenues of the Winfield Chamber of Commerce and see a village board that is either so bored with their own child or so self consumed they can’t be bothered to step in and offer assistance, like a parent that is to consumed in watching “American Idol” to help out with their child’s science fair project for school. The message I get from our trustees is, “Let ‘em fail, the TV is not going to watch itself”.

I would be dishonest if I told you that I was not giving this a lot of thought.

… and then it came to me…

It came to me like a flash, like a vision!

If only we had the expertise available that could help restore Good Old Days to it’s formal glory. Expertise that only someone with the appropriate education could deliver. I’m thinking of someone who could act like a consultant and offer suggestion and guidance born from a wealth of business acumen. Maybe someone with an Masters in Business Administration that could show us scrubs down here in the gallery of the Chamber of Commerce how a real business is run. Maybe someone with an MBA from the prestigious Lake Erie College?

Wait, isn’t Village President Birutis an MBA? … and wasn’t her masters from Lake Erie College? Oh, Joy of Joys.

Village President Birutis an MBA from Lake Erie College?

Mrs. Birutis, meet your new baby. Among the many responsibilities of having your new baby you will need to feed it, clothe it, love it, nurture it and educate it. When your baby fails, you fail. When your baby wins, you win. It’s time to take an interest in your baby. This means when homework time comes around, you make sure it gets done and gets done correctly. This might require viewing a lot less “Oprah” but because your baby is a reflection of you and the quality of parenting you are doing, so it will be worth the sacrifice. The bar has been set at $3000 for last years Good Old Days. Clear that bar and show us your business Mojo, your Voodoo, so to speak. Because we have an objective starting point of $3K we will know how effective your input has been. I challenge you to take responsibility for the 2011 Good Old Days which gives you 13 months to plan and prepare.

The way I see it is, you are already asking the village to trust you that you know how to make a thriving town center, all I am asking you to do is make a thriving Good Old Days. I assure you, I will be the first to extrapolate out your success or failure in this venture as a foreshadowing of what will happen with our town center under your leadership.