Things to celebrate…
Since November 1, the Chamber here in Oakes has sold over $17,000 in Oakes bucks! That’s an absolutely incredible thing to celebrate because it shows us a couple of specific things: 1. People want to support our local businesses 2. We have businesses good enough that people feel compelled to gift the chance to shop with them! We say it all the time, but this clearly shows the value of our local Chamber and of course, our local businesses. Oakes continues to stand heads and shoulders above many other small communities because of the variety and uniqueness of our businesses. Merry Christmas, indeed!
News to know…
As the school board of the Oakes Public School District continues to share information about the long-term facilities plan, we simply encourage you, as citizens of Oakes, whether you have students in the school system or not, to become involved and educated on what they’re finding and how they're planning to address the needs. Our school is the bedrock of our community and even though the proposed numbers attributed to the solutions for our school do seem astronomical, cost is a relative term. We all need to try and imagine the impact of something happening that would force our school facility to close. Where would the 479 students currently enrolled go? What would life in Oakes without a school look like? What would happen to our workforce? How would our businesses be impacted? The school isn’t just providing a benefit directly for the families with loved ones enrolled; the school impacts every facet of life here in Oakes. The faculty and board have been working hard to educate the public; please visit the website https://www.
Ideas to spread
A young professional in Oakes said that one day recently, her spouse asked her the question, “Are you stressed or under pressure?” Stress. It’s something we all experience and yet, we may be using the word inappropriately sometimes to describe what we’re going through. As soon as we categorize our time under tension, or time under pressure as stress, we immediately feel compelled to reduce or minimize it. Acknowledging periods under immense pressure is a reframe that might help the overall experience feel less emotional. After all, many of us do our best work when we’re under a bit of pressure; and that kind of performance isn’t something we’d ever want to reduce by misrepresenting it as stress. So just know that in times of pressure, it’s OK to lean into it; just be sure that you don’t expect to maintain it long-term. Pressure is only effective because it’s short-lived.