The good in Gillette wins out

Of all the concerns people had going into Gillette’s first time hosting the International Pathfinder Camporee, it turns out that the community handled well what it could plan for.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing to stop the skies from opening up and raining down on the 60,000 campers spread across Cam-plex, causing an anti-climactic end to what was otherwise a successful event.

The magnitude felt when 60,000 visitors enter your community proved real, but apart from weather, it did not come with nearly the number of issues many anticipated.

You knew things would probably be OK once the internet rumors came full circle and reached the point of intentional parody. No, there were no rolling blackouts or traffic jams clogging city traffic. Yes, Walmart was very busy — yet surprisingly well stocked.

The biggest obstacle came early in the week, when a Tuesday night thunderstorm threatened to bring what looked much like a potential hail storm that first responders had prepared for. Rain wiped out campsites, winds blew over tents and hundreds of people were displaced for the night.

Even then, local churches and others in the community offered a hand, providing a place to stay for hundreds of strangers. It was a night full of ugly weather and beautiful moments.

More rain on the forecast for Saturday caused the event to call off its final show and encourage some campers to head home early.

There was a lot to digest from the week. If nothing else, take this as a reminder of the good this community can achieve when it pulls together.

A walk through Cam-plex this week showed the value of bringing an event like this to town.

You couldn’t count the number of jackets and pieces of clothing promoting the Camporee, with “Gillette” named boldly on it. As you know, the event had been hosted in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for a long time before coming to Gillette. In that time, “Oshkosh” became synonymous with Camporee.

What that means is that for millions of Adventists — and more — across the country and world, the name of a small Wisconsin town imprinted in their minds, with an overwhelmingly positive connotation.

The event’s larger now than it was then, and you can expect a similar branding to occur with Gillette. The value of that kind of recognition is not easily quantifiable, but is surely worth more than the $0 it will appear as once the economic impact of this event is measured.

With all that said, hopefully you all took the time to talk to some strangers this week. From the anecdotes we’ve heard from locals and Camporee attendees alike, it appears many of you have. It’s hard to recall a time when the word “nice” was used so often, with such sincerity and accuracy.

But overall, it seems that’s how many in Gillette found their guests, and vice versa.

Change on this scale, even for a week, can bring the worst out of the best people. At this point, most of us can agree it instead brought out the best.

For however the cold-hard numbers and clean-up costs shake out, proving that Gillette can still punch above its weight and take on challenges of this scale that test the fabric of our community is well worth the effort.

If you haven’t chatted up a stranger, there’s time still yet. When it’s time for goodbye, say “see you later” instead, with an eye toward 2029.