To the Editor:

Last Friday my wife and I had the pleasure of attending our first high school football game in John Day, against Umatilla. It was a fantastic experience! The community pride, unity, and enthusiasm displayed at that game helped to remind me what true community spirit is all about. If that weren’t enough, the cheerleaders’ energy and ability to do a lot of push-ups made the evening even more memorable.

One thing that stood out however was when a Umatilla player was injured the entire football team and the cheer squad all went to one knee out of respect and concern for the injured player. Then as he was helped off the field, they and the fans in the stands stood, and applauded and cheered that he was OK.

The spirit of competition was alive and well at that game, but so too was the demonstration of the spirit this country was founded on. The spirit of coming together for a common cause, the spirit of challenge and achievement, and the spirit of community support.

In these tough times, one only has to go to John Day to see the values of this country demonstrated openly and proudly. The next time I get to feeling out-of-sorts due to the economy, the election, or just a plain ol’ bad day I’ll just aim the car toward John Day and get a good old dose of Americana to pick me up.

Gene and Linda Button

Baker City