What can one person do?

By Tara Bitzan, Executive Director, Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce

You’ve likely heard many well-known statements about how one person can make a difference in their community, but it’s easy to think, “I’m only one person – how can I make something happen?”

First, let’s put it in perspective. No one actually makes things happen by themselves! What they do is believe in the possibilities, and then instead of dismissing every thought and idea that comes along, they turn them into action.

Sometimes the action is as simple as a conversation with another person or doing some research that gets the ball rolling.

Every business or organization, event or activity, building or park started with one person’s idea. But because the idea was studied, talked about, researched… the ball started rolling forward.

Here are a few great things in our community that started with a simple idea:

• Someone envisioned an outdoor summer art market. She kept sharing the idea with others until she connected with the right people who could help make the idea a reality. In just a couple of years the Saturday Art Market has grown into a major weekly summer gathering at Big Ole Park. The same thing happened with a community mural.
• Someone had an idea to do a concert series at Lake Brophy County Park. The ball started rolling forward with conversations and picked up momentum through the Alexandria Rotary Club and community support and the result was a 2023 concert series that drew crowds that far exceeded expectations. Plans are to do it again in 2024.
• In the early 1990s, a group of residents shared a conversation about the value of lake traditions and legacies and the need to preserve them for future generations. The idea could have died at the coffee table, but because someone in the conversation kept the ball rolling, action was taken and in 2004 what is now known as the Legacy of the Lakes Museum opened to the public.
• Someone had the idea of a memorial in Alexandria to honor veterans. They took action by sharing the idea. The ball started rolling – a committee was formed, a plan was created, countless action steps were taken moving the project forward until one day the idea turned into a completed project that is now a community treasure.
• Someone had a vision for “more Christmas” in Alexandria. The vision was shared with a lot of different people and organizations for several years. Nothing happened until one day in 2022 when the right people connected and within months the first lighted Christmas parade took place, with a walk-through light display opening the following year.

All these examples started with a simple idea in one person’s head which could have easily been dismissed. We fail when we don’t put those thoughts and ideas out there and start taking steps to grow them.

Each of these examples also proves that nothing is ever accomplished by one person. When you share an idea that is good for the community, there are countless hands there to help.

But… they did all start with one person and one thought. So yes, one person can make a difference for this community!
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What are YOUR thoughts and ideas for our community? Start talking about them today!