Tomah Chamber & Visitors Center Newsletter July Newsletter_LR | Page 14

I Grew Up On These Streets
To be fair, I feel like I grew up in a lot of places in and around Tomah, but
I often think back to my high school years and the many fond memories
at Tomah High School. At 14, my preferred modes of transportation were
bikes and roller blades. My 5 closest girlfriends and I went all over this
town powered by our own legs and a wild sense of freedom. At 14, we were
old enough that our parents allowed us to spend the days together without
us needing to check in frequently and young enough that we couldn’t drive,
so our radius of travel was within a few miles. At that time, I could tell you
where every pothole was and which routes had the “best” streets. I can still
show you the scar on my knee from where I thought I could ride without
hands on my new 10-speed, not knowing pea gravel had been freshly laid
on the corner of Cady and Packard.
In just a few days, we will be having our first Downtown Thursday Nights street concert event. I’m not going to lie… I am
nervous. Our dream for this is so big. I want people to spend time in our downtown. I want people to fall in love with
Tomah. I want people to spend their money here. I want so badly to prove to everyone that Tomah is the place to live, work,
shop and eat. So many of you out there are selling your goods, be it lawn tractors, hamburgers, letter jackets, groceries, an-
tiques, clothing, craft beer, wine or home decor. Each of you believe your product is the best and feel strongly that everyone
should be buying from you…I feel the same way, but I feel it about this entire town and each of you. I want so desperately for
each of you to benefit from our scope of work….which is why I agreed to put on this concert series.
While this, on the surface, is a series of street concerts, it is really about economic development. It is about making Tomah
appealing to your workforce, potential residents, current residents and all of our customers. It is about highlighting many of
the amazing elements of Tomah, and as I consider all of our sponsors, volunteers and businesses in our membership, I realize
that the amazing elements are our businesses and the spirit of collaboration that live in this town.
I told you to give me your big dreams. I told you that sleep was overrated. Now, with less than a week to go until our first
event…I’m getting my Karma…no sleep! I’m thinking and rethinking every single detail. I’m putting my trust in people
-good people- that simply say “It’s taken care of ”. I’m thinking of every failure I’ve ever had and wondering if they’ve all been
leading up to this point.
And then, I look to you.
I see all of your faith, sponsorship, success and desire to see Tomah win….and I know, this cannot fail. It has to work. It has
to. And because of you, it will.
As I know it will work, I look back to all the memories I had on these streets: all the laughter, girlfriends, best friends for life,
walks, runs, bike rides, first kisses, Suzuki Samurai rides, meeting the cool boys, meeting the wrong boys, playing ghosts in
the graveyard and dancing to our car stereos. (And so many other stories that we can share over a beer sometime, maybe at
Downtown Thursday Nights)
I’m hoping you join me this Thursday to make more memories. I hope we eat some fun food, drink a couple of beers, maybe
bounce in the bounce houses and dance. I hope we dance until our legs turn to Jello! But most of all, I hope we create mem-
ories, I hope we celebrate Tomah and I hope everyone realizes that Tomah is worth investing in. Dream big, Tomah. Share
the dream with me! They belong on the streets!