And, for the most part, they had to. I grew up in Cerulean, There was literally nothing else to do there.
Kids who grew up in Cadiz always complained of the same thing. They didn’t have it as bad as those of us in The Land of the Sky Blue Water, but I’ll allow that activities were scarce here.
Sporadically since then, people have made attempts to fill that void, but none have stuck.
I think The Way will.
The Way, an interdenominational activities center for Trigg County youth, will open later this month. (For the story on its ribbon-cutting ceremony, see page A1.) The name of the center is taken from the Bible, John 14:6, in which Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Leaders from multiple county churches have joined together to get this enterprise started, and I suspect the vast majority of them are in it for the long haul. If that’s the case, the Cadiz/Trigg County community will greatly benefit from their children having a place not only to enjoy spending their time with friends, but doing so in a loving environment.
The folks at The Way have taken a Main Street building that has been vacant for several years and turned it into a haven, and that’s the most important thing for us adults.
For the kids, it gives them something fun to do. Here’s hoping they enjoy and appreciate it.
***
At the start of this column, I claimed that physical activity accounted for a good deal of my free time when I was younger.
It’s true. But, to be honest, Nintendo did, too. And, to be completely honest, I haven’t stopped gaming.
Depending on whom you ask, I was born toward the end of what is commonly known as Generation X or toward the beginning of what is commonly known as Generation Y. Neither of these monikers means much to me, other than the fact that I can use them to compare myself to others in my generation and those who came before and after.
It would appear that those in my generation are the first to hold a love of video games well past childhood. I am not ashamed of this. In fact, an argument I used as a child still applies today – I could be doing far worse things with my time.
It may not be the best argument. Perhaps the best argument is that I find entertainment value in action/adventure games (many of them are as detailed or more so than TV shows and movies) and I enjoy the challenge of a well-crafted sports game (been playing NHL 11 online a lot lately).
The generation older than mine tends to either have a problem with this mindset, or perhaps just doesn’t understand it. I get the latter. The former seems like a waste of time.
Here’s the way I look at it, and I imagine active gamers around my age will agree – If my gaming lifestyle, at any time, infringes on my ability to perform my job to the satisfaction of my employer, to be a good father to my son and good husband to my wife, to be the best Christian that I can be or just be a decent person in general, I hope someone will let me know.
In the meantime that coincides with my downtime, hand me that controller.
Justin McGill is general manager of The Cadiz Record and can be reached by email at jmcgill@cadizrecord.com.
