

Last week, Great Bend USD 428’s school board looked at updating its Strategic Plan by doing a SWOT analysis. That means board members took time to list some of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to Great Bend Public Schools. It seemed like a great way to approach achieving their objectives.
The first two items of a SWOT analysis, SW, are attributes of the organization, meaning their origin is internal. Strengths are helpful to achieving the objective; weaknesses are harmful to achieving the objective.
The OT items have an external origin. Opportunities and threats are attributes of the environment.
Cornerstone University’s Lifelong Learning Matters Blog from May 19, 2021, notes that conducting a SWOT analysis can be practiced at both an organizational and personal level and applied to just about any situation.
For USD 428, the list created by the school board was the first step in the strategic plan development process. Public Information Director Andrea Bauer said it’s being expounded upon and replicated with groups such as principals, the district site council and at other department meetings to come.
“We’ll involve the community as well, with opportunities for in-person feedback and a survey,” Bauer said.
Celebrating the Crest Theater’s 75th anniversary
I’m excited about the 75th Anniversary celebration for the Crest Theater on Nov. 9, with a Great Bend Chamber Ribbon Cutting on Nov. 6. There will be a Best 1950s Dress Contest. The $1 admission goes back to the original admission price in 1950, rounded up to $1 so it’s easier to make change. But they’ll throw in a bag of popcorn for free.
The Crest will show “Two Weeks With Love,” starring Jane Powell and Ricardo Montalban, just as it did when its doors opened in 1950.
Folks at this week's Chamber Coffee got to reminiscing. One member was brave enough to share that one of her favorite tricks in the 1970s was to save her paper movie stubs, then glue two stubs together and sneak into the next movie for free.
Mark Mingenback was a kid in the 1950s. “The Crest Theater was the place to be,” he said. “In summertime, you could buy a sheet of tickets. Every Wednesday afternoon, they had a matinee that kids could go to and it was just pure Bedlam in there.”
He also recalled the big banner that hung down from the marquee, boasting the theater was “Air Conditioned.”
Rocky Horror
I was thrilled to learn that Emporia State University’s Homecoming play will be “The Rocky Horror Show,” and that a couple of area students are in the cast. The musical became a motion picture, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” in 1975, which means it is now 50 years old. The movie became a cult classic when fans started showing up wearing costumes and bringing props, often for midnight showings.
6-7!
Earlier this year, I wrote about “skibidi toilet,” a nonsensical term made popular via a YouTube series. Calling something “skibidi” can mean good, cool, bad, or evil. One of the skibidi things about nonsensical phrases is that they’re flexible.
The next nonsensical thing to deal with is the phrase “six-seven!” It’s also an internet meme. This can be a lot of fun for adolescents. Imagine a teacher saying, “Turn to page 67” and having half the class shout “six-seven!” and maybe making a hand gesture and laughing hysterically.
A singer called Skrilla gets the credit for starting this craze by using it in the song “Doot Doot (6 7).” It can mean “so-so,” which kind of makes sense. On a scale of 1 to 10, if something is in the 6-7 range, that’s not bad but not great. The hand gesture also reflects that. Six, seven pops up more often than you might guess. Professional basketball player LaMelo Ball is 6 feet 7 inches tall, and this writer is 67 years old.
Wearing purple
The color purple did double duty this weekend for those who observed National Domestic Violence Awareness Month as well as the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Both campaigns had supporters wearing purple ribbons and attire.
Saturday was the Family Crisis Center’s Fall Festival with fun activities and entertainment in Jack Kilby Square. So many groups had information tables amid the lawn games, vendors and bounce house, It made me think about all of the “helpers” who love our community, including the people at the Center. By raising awareness of the issue of domestic violence, the campaign may reduce the isolation felt by survivors, letting them know they are not alone and resources are available to help them. By letting kids look inside a fire truck or have their faces painted, I hope we created some fond memories of healthy relationships in a caring community.
Then on Sunday, I joined the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Raising awareness in this area can also steer people to help, including caregivers. The Walk is also a fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association.
In both cases, Domestic Violence Awareness and the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, raising money is also useful. The Family Crisis Center and the Alzheimer’s Association both use funding to provide services. In the case of Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia, funding is also needed to find a cure.
This past weekend was definitely a celebration of community unity. The Kiwanis Club was at the library helping people who need Halloween costumes and Trinity United Methodist Church was open helping people who need coats. At the Fall Festival, I saw a booth for Dropping 22, a group that exists to show support for veterans and reduce the number of suicides in their ranks. Adopt A Pet was doing a fundraiser for the Golden Belt Humane Society. Maybe your favorite group was represented as well.
This weekend we’ll let the kids have some fun with the downtown Halloween activities. There’s a lot going on this time of year.