All-America City Table
of Contents
All-America City
Announcement Article
All-America City -
The Process
All-America City -
The Competition
All-America City -
Editorial "It Really IS a Big Deal"
All-America City -
Presentation Script
All-America City - photos and video index
All-America City - SCLT article by Jan
Reed
All-America City - Congratulatory Messages
from the Community
The Winning Application |
All-America City - It Really
IS a Big Deal!!
Editorial by Bill Coburn
I admit it. I didn’t
get it. Just like some of you that I’ve talked with over the last few days,
I didn’t see what the big deal was. What’s the big deal about being an
All-America City? I wanted somebody to tell me that it meant that we’d see
an increase in revenue for the City, maybe get the boys in blue the pay
raise they’ve deserved for too long. Or maybe that there would be an
attendant rise in property values, because after all, “WE’RE AN ALL-AMERICA
CITY.”
When we were named an
All-America finalist last year, I thought, okay great. We didn’t even get
named something that I don’t really get the big deal about anyway, we came
in second. I was not the least bit excited.
But I tend to keep my
mind open till I close it, and I knew that many of the people associated
with last year’s campaign were people I respect, and people who had/have
what I consider to be the best interests of this City at heart, so when this
year’s campaign was getting underway, I decided to be a part of it. For the
first several months, I didn’t do much, just published reports about
upcoming rallies, etc. Didn’t get into the nuts and bolts, didn’t work with
any of the committees, just showed up at the rallies, wrote my delegate
check, now and then put a few words in the paper.
As the competition
approached, I got a little more involved. Decided I’d be a part of the crew
that went on stage, help with the presentation to the judges. Showed up for
rehearsals, tried not to get in the way. Memorized my lines, then had them
given to others, so I stopped memorizing them, figuring I’d wait till we
were closer to the final rehearsal, and memorize them then. Helped with a
re-write of one section of the script, only to be warned “if you do good at
this, next time you’ll be one of the first ones we come to for help with the
script.” Oh great.
I guess because I’ve
taken a picture or two of town activities over the years, I was asked if I
could help with a video/slideshow that was to be shown at a booth at the
competition. I said sure, and threw together something that I hoped
wouldn’t be an embarrassment to the City. But I still didn’t get it. As
much fun as it was to spend that time re-experiencing these town events
through the photos and videos, and being reminded of all the things that
make this town so special, I still didn’t get it. In fact, the last night
before the conference began, when I saw the final script, and saw that I now
had just one sentence to say, I couldn’t believe I had disrupted my life so
drastically, three days worth, for just one line. And one of those days was
a deadline day, which meant trying to get things done from Anaheim on a
laptop, instead of at home where everything I need can be accessed with a
click of the mouse.
As I say, I didn’t get
it. Now I do, and couldn’t be happier that I did disrupt my life for those
three, very important days. And I would do it again, without a single
line. Because it’s not about lines, or being the one to express the right
words to the judges that makes them decide to vote for your town. It’s
about community, and working together for the benefit of the town we all
live in.
I’ve heard it’s been
said recently that some of the people who volunteer in this town do it
because they like to see their name in the paper. I can’t help but wonder
if maybe the people who say things like that are judging others by their own
standards and sentiments. The people who were a part of this delegation
worked so hard, did so much, and not once was there any intimation that any
of the people involved were working for their own glory, or to get
recognition, in the paper or otherwise. Not even just to be recognized by
their peers. No one I spoke with who was thanked by anyone in my presence
for their efforts wanted to hear a word of it. They basically deflected
everything to the other members of the team. “Oh, I didn’t do anything, did
you see (fill in the name), and how well he/she did what he/she did?”
This event wasn’t about
personal glory or recognition. This event was about everybody pulling
together to do something positive for our hometown. I can’t emphasize
enough that word, positive. Positive. Everything about this event was
positive. Yes, we were competing. But we wanted everyone to win, as long
as we did, too. The National Civic League created a forum to build
community, and it worked. As Mayor Joffe said in her acceptance speech, “I
feel like we all have sixty new friends in this delegation, and hundreds of
you out there who are now our friends, too.” There were people in this
delegation that I knew, but now I know them better. There were people I
didn’t know, but now I know them. We have a shared experience, working
together, as a team, to bring recognition to our City, and will always have
that memory and that collective affection and appreciation for the work that
we did together. A sense of community.
But we also became a
larger community, getting to know the delegates and delegations from other
cities. Learning that all of our small town communities (and larger ones,
too) face problems, and that in each of these towns, there are people who,
just like in Sierra Madre, pull together for the good of the town. As
delegate Cathy Ryne said “Isn’t it nice that the people of the cities we
“hung out” with also won? Yea- Clinton, Dubuque…Polk County with the great
black hats, Hickory and Hollywood Florida with the medical van. They were so
nice and fun to be with. It’s fun to be winners with them!!”
Participating in this
competition placed Sierra Madre on a national stage, and by winning, we
showed that Sierra Madre, small as it is, deserves to be recognized as a
community of worth, the equal of any other community in this country. Some
towns flew fifty delegates coast to coast to participate. I’m told some
towns spent $100,000 dollars on their participation. As I understand it,
Sierra Madre spent about $13,000, reportedly all but about $1,000 of which
was from donations.
Former City Manager John
Gillison sent a congratulatory message to members of the delegation, saying
“You all deserve to be very proud of what you worked so hard for. In true
Sierra Madre fashion you pulled together and proved again that what you have
in common is stronger than what divides you, and the whole truly is so much
more than the sum of the parts. You should rightfully be very proud and do
not let anyone who was not there or does not appreciate the magnitude of
what you accomplished take this away from you. It truly is the first of
many great stories that will mark the next 100 years. Happy Birthday to all
my friends in the wonderful City of Sierra of Madre.
Now, Sierra Madre has
been through some divisive times lately. Some of us haven’t been getting
along. Gillison’s heartfelt congratulation message alludes to the
possibility that there may be some who don’t want to acknowledge what the
group that brought this national recognition to Sierra Madre has actually
done for our small town. The fact of the matter is, Gillison actually
addresses one of the reasons why people might feel that way, to my mind.
Never having been there, I didn’t get it. And I don’t think that anyone who
hasn’t been there really can properly appreciate its magnitude. They
probably CAN’T get it. But this is a big deal. It’s a very big deal. I
know. I was there. I saw. And if you weren’t there, and you didn’t see, I
don’t expect you to get it. But please recognize that there is a
possibility that even if you don’t get it, now, you might, if you get
involved next time, and you go, and you see. That’s what happened to me.
It could happen to you. So get it or not, try to help to mend the fences,
try to help re-build the community. Congratulate your neighbors,
congratulate the delegates, feel good about yourself and your town. This
award was given to the entire community, because it was the entire community
that created the YAC, the Senior Housing, and addressed the open space
issue. Even if you voted against these ideas, you were still a vital part
of the process of determining what the community wanted. And the community,
working together, even with some disagreement, completed these projects that
won us this award. Let’s use winning this award as a rallying point for
healing our community. Because community is what this award is all about.
We are coming up on one
of Sierra Madre’s favorite traditions, 4th of July. Let’s enjoy
the festivities without the animosity. We are celebrating our Centennial.
That’s one hundred years of community. Let’s enjoy the Centennial
festivities without the animosity. Let’s work together to find a solution
to the fiscal problems we face, and address the issues that confront us,
such as finding more money for the police. Let’s work together, as a
community to address these issues, and enjoy the process, without
animosity. We used to be able to disagree with one another, and still
respect each other enough to work together to find common ground. That’s
how we’ve survived 100 years. And that’s how we became an All-America
City. Let’s work to find that ability again. Let’s prove again that, as
Gillison stated, what we have in common is stronger than what divides us,
and that the whole truly is so much more than the sum of the parts. Let’s
celebrate who we are and what we do, even if one of the things we do is to
sometimes disagree. Because, as Dereck Okuba of the National Civic League
said about communities, “it’s like families, there’s no such thing as
perfect families, every family has its issues….a lot of it is that level of
belief that is there, that mindset of what is possible, that mindset of
spending the energy, not on who’s to blame, and who can I point that finger
on, but what can we do together to address that issue.”
SO CONGRATULATIONS TO
SIERRA MADRE.
WE ARE AN ALL-AMERICA
CITY!!
AND IT’S A VERY BIG
DEAL! |
Community and Personnel Services Director
Michelle Keith addresses delegation just before they appear before the
judges
Delegation tips their hats to Sierra
Madre
The delegation after they've learned SM
has been named an All-America city
More video
The following (more to be added soon) are
videos/audio files of the AAC2k7 presentation. If it's audio, it's
because someone stepped between my unmanned camera (I was on stage) and
the stage, so the screen is pretty much black. Not much I can do
about that. Sorry it's not all video.
Sierra Madre Delegation
enters judging area singing Happy Birthday to Sierra Madre
Sierra Madre Delegation
enters judging area singing Happy Birthday to Sierra Madre
Sierra Madre Delegation
enters judging area singing Happy Birthday to Sierra Madre
Final entry, beginning
of greeting from the Judges
Greeting from the
Judges, Good Morning Anaheim
Lisa Spigai-Perez begins
presentations |
