HOW TO BUILD A BRIDGE WITH AN EAR OF CORN
What does it take to build a bridge? It begins with a unique plan, good materials to work with, lots of people working together and some serious commitment to seeing a good product from your labor and ingenuity.
Similar ideas went into the creation of the “Welcome To Wagner Supper”, that was held last week at the Brenda and Dana Sanderson home in Wagner. The supper is said to be unique because all of the guests help prepare the meal. To accomplish this they must problem solve and work together to take a variety of food items and turn them into a great supper. The commitment comes from the guests themselves because they have decided to get past the fear of meeting new people and step beyond their own comfort zone to accomplish this. Of course, every meal prepared at this supper has been different because those attending are often always different than the time before.
If a community hopes to flourish and grow, it must find ways to bring people together and encourage everyone to work with the same goal in mind, making the community better in some way. Over the years we have seen many people come and go from our community and some we can’t even remember who they even were. We just know something is missing, but can’t put our finger on what it is. What a shame that someone has come and gone and this is the case. Why did they come here in the first place? Why did they leave? What were they looking when they came and did not find. Most people are looking for more than to just a pay check. That can be found just about anywhere. Most people want a place to belong and to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Positive interaction with others, feeling good about where you live and being a part of things can be the difference between staying and calling the community home or just moving on? The “Supper” was designed to bring different kinds of people, who have continually shown they care about others and have those people meet the new people who have chose to try and make Wagner their home. Meeting positive, caring people who are open to meeting others is a key ingredient to the sucess of the event. The process involves personally inviting people who are then also asked to personally invite a person who is important to them in some way. They are asked to share “why” they thought of that person. We also look for anyone who has moved to Wagner within the last couple of years and invite them to the supper so everyone can meet, greet and eat together. The “Supper” is not a pot luck supper, but rather a meal with items brought that can be turned into a meal and not prepared in advance. By working together to prepare the meal yougetthe chance totalkwith someone new without the fear of what to talk about as we are all in a hurry to solve our hunger.
It is an opportunity to join with others in problem solving and working together to prepare the meal, using all of the items brought by the guests regardless of what it was.
The point of the event is not to eat, but to help bring strangers together, to meet new and different people,toseethatweneed each other if we are going to be successful. It is hoped that when guests leave they will no longer be strangers. Now together you can shuck some corn, decide how to make whats on the table into a salad, add a little music and you have a new friend.