Festival, concert work together for worthy local goals

Barnett Park was revived as a great events venue with Sunday night's Hear Nebraska/Good Living Tour/Prairie Roots Festival, when the stars aligned just right for what should be the first of a successful series of community gatherings.

This one differed from other traditional events in that it was initiated and carried out by young people who have the most to gain and the most responsibility for providing nourishment for community growth.

The park was far from crowded, but there was a good turnout for a Sunday evening on a busy early August weekend that was by all reports one of the best stops on the Good Living Tour.

The beer garden with local craft brews helped, as did other activities such as volleyball, human foosball, BB and archery target shooting and, across town, skatepark demonstrations and disc golf tournament in Kelley Park.

Kudos to the City of McCook for providing welcoming parks, with extra effort apparent in preparing Barnett Park's sand volleyball courts for Sunday's tournament.

R&B as performed by Josh Hoyer & Soul Colossal is an unusual offering in Southwest Nebraska, but that didn't prevent the faithful crowd from demanding an encore after the park's official closing time, and the Americana performed by Omaha's Matt Cox and indie pop by McCook's own Homemade Crazy were met with enthusiasm as well.

The McCook Area Chamber of Commerce recently adopted the motto of making our town "a great place to live, work and play," which meshes nicely with Hear Nebraska's goal of stemming out-migration of the state's youth, with Greater Nebraska seeing a 6.8 percent drop in the 18-34-year-old population in the last 30 years.

The Good Living Tour's stated goals are to:

* Celebrate the unique livelihood available in Greater Nebraska.

* Cultivate an increasingly vibrant, original, contemporary music culture and industry in Greater Nebraska -- connecting and growing the state's urban and rural communities.

* Expose a young audience to new, innovative music and performance through homegrown Nebraska musicians -- inspiring them to learn an instrument, host a concert or pursue a career in the arts.

* Educate Nebraskans -- and the world-- about Greater Nebraska music venues, music-related small businesses and passionate arts supporters.

Besides presenting the concerts, young journalists involved with the Good Living Tour create videos to tell stories of young people who have been attracted back to small-town Nebraska, and the local video closed out Sunday night's concert.

You can find out more about the Prairie Roots Festival at its Facebook page here: http://bit.ly/2aFlUlm

Find out more about Hear Nebraska's Good Living Tour here: http://bit.ly/2aFm6RP