Music or duty, that is question for Thursday

We have a dilemma. We would like to urge you to attend the performance of the U.S. Air Force Heartland of America Concert Band, and we do.

It's set for 7 p.m. Thursday at Memorial Auditorium in McCook. The Gazette is local sponsor for the event.

We also urge you to attend a special meeting of the McCook Public Schools board of education, where W Design Associates will make a presentation on its proposal for improvements to local elementary schools.

The problem? It's also 7 p.m. Thursday, at the Junior High cafeteria. We have a dilemma because both events are important to McCook.

Any appearance of a musical group of the Heartland of America Concert Band's calibre is too important to miss. And now, especially in time of war, it's important that we turn out to support the men and women risking their lives to maintain our freedom.

Aside from that, the music will be too good to miss.

But many of the same types of arguments can be made for the special meeting of the school board. If things go as planned, this will be the third time in as many years that McCook voters have been asked to commit substantial funding to our educational needs of the future.

The latest plan would cost an estimated $5.3 million, and would concentrate the lower grades at the North Ward site.

We should to our best to be at this meeting as well.

The McCook school board hasn't made it easy to attend its meetings, shuffling times and dates from Monday at 7:30 p.m. to Monday at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday at 6 p.m., Thursday at 8 p.m. and, this Thursday, at 7 p.m.

Although Thursday's meeting wasn't moved to avoid a conflict with the Air Force Band, Monday's regular meeting was delayed a week because of a conflict with a sporting event.

What to do? If you're from out of town and can't vote, don't plan to vote or pay property taxes, the answer is easy. Go to Memorial Auditorium for the Air Force concert. But make up your mind, as tickets -- they're free, but you have to have one -- are going fast. Stop in to the office of the McCook Daily Gazette for yours.

If you don't care about music, by all means, go to the school board meeting. It's too important to ignore. Or, perhaps you can do both; take in part of one event, then slip over to the other.

Of all the choices, this may be the best and the worst. Best, because it won't leave you completely in the dark. Worst, because it would probably be the least satisfying.