Spread the Word

 They used to call it a resume.  Today they call it a vitae.  The act of building a vitae is called credentialing.  We used to call it working for a living.

            My academic daughter is just back from Beirut.  She delivered a paper at the American University there.  She said it would look good on her vitae.  Bonnie Lee Smith told me Beirut is a dangerous place.  I didn’t even try to have that discussion.  A parent would never want to interfere with a child’s credentialing.

            Recently we have been trying to do some credentialing for DeRidder.  Last year we became a certified Tree City.  In January we became a certified Local Government.  This year we will become a certified Play City.  We have just joined the Keep America Beautiful program and we are trying to get back into the Main Street Program.  Each of these programs has a purpose, and they can all be lumped into one phrase: “quality of living.”

            In a democratic society, of course, trying to define quality can be a tussle.  It’s sort of like decorating a house.  One person likes a Spartan look and the next person likes knickknacks.  Put one of each type in the same house and divorce is a sure result.

            Almost two hundred years ago, John Stuart Mill wrote an essay titled “On Liberty”.  I don’t expect anyone to run out and buy it, but I mention it because I like to recommend books.  Did I tell you that the city is about to joint-venture a reading program with the Beauregard Parish Library?  Also, Mill pretty well tells us who should be defining the quality of our lives.  If you want the answer, it’s there in the book.

            The State of Louisiana has implemented a program to certify Retirement Cities.  If you subscribe to Louisiana Life, you have probably read that six cities – actually three cities and three parishes – were certified in 2007.  There will be five more certifications handed out this year.

            Now, everyone who lives in DeRidder knows that it is a good place to live.  Whether you are interested in the low crime rate, the abundance of churches, or the hunting and fishing – there is something for everyone.  We just need to get the message out.

            I recently attended a conference on how to attract new, small businesses to our community.  Obviously, we want to attract businesses of all sizes.  We work on this every day.  But a retiree will bring to our community as much income as most small businesses.  Best of all, the money has already been earned and is ready to spend.  We need to attract retirees.

            Almost twenty years ago a group came to DeRidder with a proposal to make DeRidder the Gateway to Toledo Bend.  They had a federal grant intended to help us attract retirees.  We identified several possible constituencies.  An obvious one was military personnel retiring from Ft. Polk.  A less obvious but interesting group was retiring Baptist missionaries.  The program did not work out.  Maybe the government cut the budget.  I don’t remember.  But it was a good idea.

            The key to being designated a Retirement City is, of course, our quality of life.  Our entertainment, our medical community, our housing availability – these things and many more will be considered.  But the payoff is worth any effort we make.  The state, through its web site and national advertising, will help us tell good people all across the country about what we have to offer.  If it’s good – and it is – we should share, don’tcha think?