Essays from West of 98: Vacant Buildings or Vacant People
If you would like to receive email delivery of my writings, please consider subscribing at westof98.substack.com. Currently, the weekly “Essays from West of 98” (focused on the big picture of rural revitalization and leadership) will publish on Mondays. “Good News Friday” (spotlighting specific positive revitalization activities in Stamford) will publish on Fridays. Other essays on culture and life West of the 98th Meridian will appear at least twice monthly. If you like what you read (or even if you don’t), please share with your friends.
The following is the very first of these essays, published on Facebook, as something of a spur-of-the-moment idea in November 2017. This project has since grown into something larger and more lasting. As the reading audience grows through the new West of 98 website. I thought it would be important to re-publish this essay. It was inspired by a national feature on native son James Washington, then an All-American wide receiver at Oklahoma State, now a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The author wrote of Stamford’s vacant buildings but also its wonderful people. Stamford still has vacant buildings. Some buildings are recently vacant. Some previously vacant buildings are now occupied. We have other new construction happening. But the community’s greatest asset remains its people. If you read this essay back in November 2017, I hope you re-read it and enjoy it again. If this essay is new to you, I hope it inspires and encourages you.
Recently, I read a wonderful and well-reported feature published at Bleacher Report on Stamford’s own national football star James Washington, and I was struck by several of the undertones. As a community leader and business owner, I cringed a bit reading of vacant buildings and closed businesses. But then, I took a step back and considered it some more.
This was not an author belittling a community or rural America at large. Nor was it a case of our own community members deriding our town. Rather, a reporter who had never been to Stamford, Texas wrote objectively about what he saw. He saw some vacant buildings and closed businesses, but he also saw something more. He saw something that captivated him—the people of Stamford.
The author saw “charm”…and a town that “celebrates its existence and its people.” He wrote of friends and family who look upon James Washington as a role model, but who are role models themselves—the good, honest, hard-working people who work hard, take care of their own business, and are the quiet cogs that make a community successful. He wrote of people who are proud of a favorite son, not merely because of fame and fortune, but because he has worked hard and earned his way into accomplishing his extraordinary dreams. He wrote of schoolchildren who see James as proof that they can be anything that they want to be. This is something that we must work hard to instill in all children. Where you come from does not limit the kind of person you can become or what you can accomplish.
The author juxtaposing vacant buildings against wonderful people reminded me of a story from my own family in 1986, when my father had a career opportunity that would bring him to Stamford. He asked his father, my grandfather, what he thought about the town. My grandfather said that, in all his years as a deliveryman and route salesman in the area, even when times were lean for him, he was always treated decently when he came to Stamford. That is something my family has confirmed in our experiences for the last 31 years here. This community’s greatest asset is its people. Seeing that quality observed and reported by national sports media is refreshing and exciting.
Vacant buildings can be changed. It is much harder to change a culture of vacant people. When I read over the words in that article, I am energized to ensure that the buildings and economy of Stamford match its people.
James Decker is the Mayor of Stamford, Texas and the creator of the “West of 98” website and forthcoming podcast. He may be contacted at westof98.substack.com.