This Town is Beautiful!
Tax Partner Greg Miner’s experience with Leadership Spearfish
As a recent graduate of the Spearfish Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Spearfish (LS) program, I have taken time to reflect on my experiences and lessons learned over the past nine months. This program has been an eye-opening experience for me, learning about the community I live in and serve alongside my LS class. From learning about the literal birds and bees at Jensen’s ranch to the finer points of firehose bowling, or where those with less means can receive free medical care, we received an experience that many in our community do not.
Fun Fact
The City of Spearfish operates a hydroelectric plant. Without this plant, Spearfish Creek would be dry nine months of the year. It is perhaps little things like this that are magic to the public. But it is not enough to just experience our city, we must give back to it, too.
“Why didn’t they teach us X in school?”
We have all said this before. Thankfully, my LS class had the opportunity to teach some things in our schools that had not been taught before, reality. At some point reality hits us. Needing to choose between paying rent and fixing your car or having the sweetest ride on the block but having rice and beans for dinner. Once we venture out on our own, these are the choices that we make daily.
We had the opportunity to hold a Reality Fair for 50 high school seniors. Each student would pick a career and receive the associated salary, credit score, consumer debt, and everything else life throws at us. From here students had to make hard choices about all of life’s things like housing, transportation, and even simple items like cell phones. Towards the end of the fair, we started to see the lightbulbs come on as the choices became more and more challenging with the limited resources provided. I cannot wait to come back next year and work with the next group of seniors.
During LS I met over 100 community leaders and experienced the community at all levels. We all know that Spearfish is beautiful on the outside, but at the conclusion of LS, I can attest that Spearfish is quite beautiful on the inside, too!
