-Isms: Views on ife in rural America

Finally got around to eating the fortune cookie from my Saturday trip to Hastings.

This little gem was inside: You are admired as a leader in your community. Aww, thanks, Panda Express.

In reality, I’m just a small-town girl at heart, who grew up watching her parents volunteer for everything. Pitching in, helping out was, and is, expected. It’s part of who I am, like the other volunteers and leaders in our communities.

Drive through any small town on a Saturday morning and pay attention. Someone’s picking up trash along the highway. Someone’s setting up tables for a pancake breakfast. Someone’...