Let's put our best foot forward, and not on the gas pedal

It’s one of those weekends when people who are involved in community activities won’t know whether they’re coming or going.

For a couple of events, at least, it will be important for everyone to slow down and drive carefully as well as enjoy the activities.

NET Nebraska will be in McCook for a Town Talk at 8 a.m. Friday at Sehnert’s Bakery and Bieroc Cafe, 312 Norris Ave., seeking input on how to serve our community better. Friday Live follows at 9 a.m., with a live broadcast of NET’s arts and entertainment radio show, with a chance to let statewide listeners in on the Buffalo Commons storytelling festival and other local arts and entertainment. A PBS Kids family event featuring Peg and Cat is set for 2-4 p.m. at the McCook Public Library, 802 Norris Ave.

McCook’s Heritage Hills golf course will be a beehive of activity starting Friday at 4 p.m. with the Ron Coleman Memorial Horse Race for professional golfers, the kickoff for the 30th Annual John Mullen Pro-Am, sponsored by Community Hospital Health Foundation.

The prestigious event will continue Saturday and Sunday, with shotgun starts at 9 a.m. each day. Proceeds will go toward the purchase of an infant warmer for Community Hospital — in fiscal 2017, nearly 150 babies were welcomed to the world at Community Hospital.

Car fans will have a chance to drool at 400 classic, antique and special interest vehicles as the 26th annual Nebraska Rod and Custom Association 600-mile Tour Nebraska driving event rolls through Southwest Nebraska.

Grab your lawn chair and expect to spend 30 minutes enjoying a 30-minute parade stretching 15 miles or more.

The cars are tentatively scheduled to arrive in Imperial at 9 a.m. Sunday for a breakfast break, rolling through Enders at 10:30 a.m., Wauneta 10:40 a.m., Palisade 10:55 a.m., Culbertson at 11:15 a.m. and McCook for lunch at 11:30 a.m.

The convoy is scheduled to leave McCook at 1 p.m. arrive in Lebanon at 1:40 p.m., Wilsonville at 1:50 p.m., Hendley at 2, Beaver City at 2:10 p.m., Oxford at 2:30 and Orleans at 2:45 p.m.

We hope local motorists will drive cautiously while the parade passes, and consider parking to enjoy the sights safely.

The same holds for the next big event, the 38th annual Bicycle Ride Across Nebraska, which will start in Ogallala on Sunday and arrive Imperial Sunday and McCook Monday.

Some 600 long-distance riders and many more support staff will rest here before heading off early Tuesday for the next stop in Alma.

The event raises approximately $30,000 in scholarships for students in host communities, with the only provision that the students attend a Nebraska college.

We hope drivers will slow down and give the riders extra room as they roll their way through Southwest Nebraska.

And if those aren’t enough, Haigler plants its twice-postponed Tractor Show and Garage Sales Saturday. A parade is set for 11 a.m., tractor rodeo at 1 and garage sales all day.

Safety is also the goal of another long-term project underway for Southwest Nebraska, upgrading U.S. 83 from McCook to North Platte to “Super 2” status, improving flow by creating more wide spots in the highway for faster traffic to pass slower vehicles along the route.

A local meeting will be 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, June 5, in the McCook Municipal Building, 505 West C in McCook. A second will be 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, June 6 at the North Platte Holiday Inn Express, 300 Holiday Frontage Road in North Platte.

And that’s only this week. Next week is the Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival, and there will be no problem finding something fun to do every week throughout the summer.