I can’t believe that summer is nearly over! It has been my honor to be CHF’s Executive Director for eight months now. Recently, I was able to spend time at the Douglas County Fair in our fair booth. We were there to talk to anyone and everyone that wanted to talk to us about forest management!
The fair is a true cross section of our community. I love the chance to go and see all of the animals. The community is at the fair in full force, and people are relaxed and happy. The kids are full of sugar and are running around like they will never get to come back.
We decided to try something a little different this year. We bought some big, soft dice, and we encouraged people to roll the dice and answer a question. If they got it right, they won a prize. If not, we let them roll again and they got a new question. Eventually, everyone was a winner, and they often learned something too. We asked questions such as “What is prescribed fire?” or “What was the largest fire in recent Douglas County history?” People were ready and willing to answer these questions, and the kids especially loved the dice.
People are constantly bombarded with information these days, often from social media. The fair is the original social media. We go there, and we are part of our community. We talk to each other about things, sometimes meaningless, and sometimes important. It is a chance to catch up and connect, and to see each other in a place where time has slowed down. As for Communities for Healthy Forests, it gave us a chance to see old friends and connect with new ones. We were able to talk about responsible forest management, but more importantly, we were able to engage in our community and talk our friends and neighbors about the things that matter.
Hope you had a great summer! Stay safe.