The small yellow signs do exactly what any good piece of advertising ought to do – catch your attention and encourage you to learn the rest of the story.
Found at many intersections, the signs state, “We love Our City.”
Maybe young eyes can read the fine print. From the driver’s seat, the small print at the base of the sign is illegible. At first, one might assume they were created and placed by a business, perhaps the New Prague Chamber of Commerce. Might one of the community’s outstanding service clubs be behind them?
Nope. A church, Word of Life, is behind the signs.
Pastor Nick Olson describes the congregation as a group of people committed to seeing the good in people and loving their neighbors and demonstrating that love through actions. He cites a Bible passage, “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
“We love our city,” he said.
Pastor Nick is aware the world feels pretty wrong these days. In this modern, social media world, there’s a lot to make you wonder if anyone loves New Prague. A small yet vocal group of keyboard warriors complain about plenty – the city’s plans for a new police facility, parking regulations, issues with the postal service and our local post office, the school district’s request for additional tax revenue to fund operations, the price of gasoline here opposed to Lonsdale, the rent on a townhouse and the overall cost of housing – in many cases without letting facts or a bit of consideration get in the way.
An even smaller group of people, it seems, try and point out facts and are sometimes ridiculed for interjecting reason and verifiable truth into what could and should be a civil conversation.
A New Prague resident since 2019, Pastor Nick sees many good things to love about this community. There are people trying to make New Prague better than it already is. There’s a group of folks working to bring a performing arts facility to the community. They’ve been at it diligently for three-plus years. Businesses and people have contributed financially to help make it happen. Many of these same folks are also committed to enhancing enjoyment and appreciation of the performing arts in New Prague all to make the community more attractive, wellrounded and inviting.
There are many, many positive activities in the community for children as well. This is also a community that is both financially generous and giving of its time.
Each spring, the Roman Barten family holds a wonderful memorial breakfast to benefit a selected area family with a child facing a serious medical condition. Hundreds and hundreds of people attend, donating to a family many don’t even know. In the summer, Home Town Bats conducts a home run derby to help a family in a similar fashion. NP’s churches also conduct benefits events to help them conduct programming for their members. There are many other benefits and causes, like Dollars for Scholars raising money to assist students’ post secondary ambitions and the post-prom party each spring, where businesses and people donate their resources, time and talents in the name of making New Prague a better, safer community supportive of its children.
Anecdotally, we’ve heard of neighbors helping neighbors in times of challenge. Children may have cut the grass for an elderly neighbor or raked leaves without the expectation of compensation. It’s the kind of thing providing not only hope for the future but also confidence somebody is doing the right thing to help out a neighbor in need.
Each September, we see members of the community come together to celebrate the community’s heritage and all that makes New Prague a friendly, welcoming community. We see the school district permit field-level seating at football games for seniors to see their grandchildren compete. It’s a wonderful and gratifying sight to see people who know what it’s like to raise youngsters take the time to come and celebrate the efforts of the next generation and also show students they know school is important. It’s a community where school alums plan reunions to remember their glory days growing up in New Prague.
So rather than sitting back and issuing complaints, Pastor Nick encourages people to enjoy the many benefits of life in New Prague, an easy community to fall in love with.