Fair is Fair (09-15-08)

This week, I had the delightful opportunity to travel with our 7-12 band students to the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson.

I’m proud to report that our students performed well as they marched down Hutchinson’s main street, and they behaved even better as they marched up and down the fair grounds, in search of fun, food, and fantastic memories.

For my part, it was a homecoming of sorts. My family and I lived in Inman, a mere fifteen miles from downtown Hutch. I hadn’t been back to the downtown area since I moved here, and the sight of the familiar buildings and streets brought back a flood of memories.

Downtown Hutchinson, though, is about as different from downtown Hill City as it is from downtown Kansas City. Hutchinson Main Street stretches for over thirty blocks of businesses, restaurants, shops, and office space. The sheer number of businesses running block after block gives Main Street Hutchinson the look and feel of mid-town Kansas City. Conversely, downtown KC is dominated by enormous architecture that a town the size of Hutch will never know.

All this comparison of downtowns led me to think about the real meaning behind the phrase “small town values.” I have heard this phrase a lot in the media recently, with both political parties claiming that they still represent “small town values.”

So what exactly constitutes a small town? Compared to the KC metro area of almost two million people, Hutch would definitely qualify as a small town. Yet compared to Hill City, Hutch is a thriving metropolis. Furthermore, compared to New York, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and many other a megalopolis of over ten million, KC must seem like a quaint little cow town.

So where exactly do these “small town values” lie? Who exactly has the best values?

To be fair, I am asking an impossible question. I think that the smaller you go, the simpler things become. Our Graham County Fair is wonderful, and in many ways better than the State Fair, but only because it is simpler, quieter, and cheaper. The State Fair offers so much more than ours, but it also noisier, more expensive, and filled with thousands of strangers, including obnoxious carnival workers trying to separate you from your cash.

Living near Hutch was a wonderful experience, and my family and I met many good people with wonderful values. Kansas City is where I grew up and I knew many good people there with wonderful values. Hill City is where I want my children to grow up and we know many good people here with wonderful values. Good is good and fair is fair, regardless of the size of the place where you call home.

Having said that though, I was still happy when it was time to load the bus and leave the loud, chaotic atmosphere of the State Fair. I was even happier to return to our quiet home, on our quiet street, in quiet Hill City.

While I may not know much about small town values, I can say that I truly value our small town.