State track meet is a masterpiece
I recently had the opportunity to attend the Saturday session at the Iowa high school state boys and girls track and field meet in Des Moines. It was an outstanding experience. The weather was excellent and the attendance was outstanding (10,000-plus), and they were friendly and engaged.
The athletes put on a show, girls and boys in all classes. Numerous performance records were broken. and some were all-time bests. Some outcomes were even competitive on a national level. Very impressive when you consider our state’s population and how our spring weather was collectively not very accommodating leading up to these types of performances. It is very apparent to me that not only do we have many talented athletes who are willing to put in the work, but we have excellent coaches providing the guidance.
When you combine those factors with such great fan support it creates an atmosphere through belief, motivation and good competition where personal bests can be achieved and quite possibly a record.
The meet was very well organized despite many events to oversee, and the officials and support staff were excellent. Drake University was an outstanding host. I am very appreciative that the Iowa High School Athletic Association and the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union provide these opportunities for our youth to be able to compete in front of a stadium full of fans. These are forever lasting memories.
For the participants, regardless of placement, all are winners in my mind. The environment was truly inspiring and will help motivate younger children who were in attendance in wanting to participate when their opportunity comes. I encourage those who still have high school eligibility remaining and have never participated in track and field to give it a try in hopes that with hard work and dedication you may experience the “wow” factor. In my opinion, this event and atmosphere illustrated what the state of Iowa is all about. We have a wonderful product and can’t imagine any other state in exceeding in what we have.
Thank you to all of those who contributed to my memorable experience.
Steve Welding, Mount Pleasant
Cooperation is hard but necessary work
We are all different, so isn’t it natural to get polarized about values and government? Polarization, where we quit talking to each other, is not fun and is not effective in problem solving, so why don’t we give it up? I might say we’re lazy, but actually we are afraid to take on the task of working things out.
We don’t like conflict and compromise. When our egos are arguing, we hammer away with false pride and stop listening to other points of view. We can blame others so that we feel superior to them. We can drum up hate and plan our revenge rather than do real problem solving. We can retire to our TV or phone and gather more polarizing blame from those who agree with us.
We may refuse to look at or do our own part of problem=solving. As we refuse to look at the log in our own eye, we become experts at criticizing others. It takes faith in ourselves and others and willingness to listen carefully to work toward win/win solutions. Not solving problems creates fear and paranoia and sometimes civil war. We know how to do this, we know it is hard work, and we know the satisfaction of cooperative problem-solving. Our government and our church leaders can’t do this for us; if we the people don’t do this, our democracy will fail. Argue with that!
Donald E. Fish, Decorah
Letter about Christianity sounded like a Pharisee’s
I’m a Christian. I am not Jesus. Jesus was perfect I am very flawed. I need Jesus.
A May 24 letter printed in the Register disparages Christians. Maybe this author is a much better Christian than I. Maybe this person doesn’t need Jesus as much as me.
Maybe this person belongs to a different Christian denomination than I do.
But then maybe this person is like the phone call I got. I’m a veterinarian. I got a call about a colleague across town who had spayed this man’s dog. Unfortunately the dog showed signs of going into heat after her surgery. I explained that if a part of the ovary was left this could happen. A second surgery could easily fix the problem. “He made a mistake. It can happen. It’s just like if you made a mistake in your job.”
He replied “I don’t work.”
I guess he will never make a mistake in his job.
Is this what has happened in America today? In the process of giving a voice to the downtrodden, have we created a new group of people who berate those who actually try?
“I’ve never tried so I’ve never made a mistake.”
“Since you are trying you are not allowed to make a mistake.”
I consider myself a Christian. I think that even a bad Christian is better than a perfect nothing.
Donald C Parsons, Sioux City
Zach Lahn does not deliver inspiration
That Zach Lahn’s message of selfishness, exclusion and greed sold well in the Republican primary for governor is hardly a surprise.
The real question will be answered in November: Is that what Iowa has become?
Robert Runge, Des Moines
Summertime, few places to swim
At last, the official start of summer in Iowa! The Department of Natural Resources says swim at your own risk at Backbone State Park beach. Nothing says fun summer day at the beach like getting some disease from the water. Maybe Gov. Kim Reynolds can find another $25 million somewhere to fix this mess. Iowa, we deserve better.
Mark Mahoney, Urbandale
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa state track and field meet is just a masterpiece | Opinion
Reporting by The Register’s readers, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By The Register's readers, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
