Speaking Personally: The Bear at your back

“Hometown” is a weighty word in Willow Springs. I’ve never been anywhere with such well-developed sense of identity. Hometown pride, school pride, and family pride exist in this town with a fierceness that is cushioned by hospitality and goodwill. 

 

That pride shoots through everything in town like shafts of light – from the festivals and parades to the full churches to the screaming basketball fans, people who visit always seem to want more. Look at all the new families in the area. There’s something here that a lot of people want – something special. 

 

The school mascot of a Bear is well chosen. Like a territorial mother bear, Willow Springs will roar and defend itself against any perceived threat. Threats of any real significance are rare, but this academic year, the school and the town by extension, did take a black eye.

 

Graduates, you had a front-row seat as the town roared and factions formed. 

 

What your experiences have been on campus and around town are not my story to tell. But if you’ll indulge the opinion of an outsider like me, I think there’s an important lesson to take from being the graduating class of 2026. 

 

When you look back on this year, I hope you remember the Bear at your back. Every bit of that defensive roaring was on your, the students’, behalf. In every tense conversation, your education was the bottom line. No matter how the adults disagreed on details, students were the big picture. Always. 

 

As you start your journey into adulthood, you have something precious: Willow Springs is your hometown. You have a Bear at your back for life. 

 

Many of you are leaving Willow Springs after graduation, and anyone who has ever been young can’t blame you for that. As you make your way in the world, go forth in the confidence that almost nobody has a hometown like yours. The confidence of having a town like this behind you is like a secret weapon.

 

God willing, Willow Springs is going to have a chance this week to show every home in America what we can do. Organizing a (hopefully) nationally televised concert with less than two weeks of prep time is nothing short of an impossible task without every single business and organization in this town pulling more than its own weight. A broken town couldn’t pull it off. 

 

But Willow Springs isn’t broken. 

 

Congratulations, Class of 2026! Graduates, as you come home for visits or for good, you’ll find that the business community, the school, and the city have continued working hard in your absence on a bright future for Willow Springs. 

 

And sometimes, hard work requires a little roaring. 

 

 

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We're proud of you, Class of 2026!