I had a strong dose of a sense of ‘community’ recently.

You know, that feeling of people taking pride in the place where they live. It often happens in small towns, but not every small town has it. Trust me, I know this.

I grew up in suburbs of San Diego and Denver and even a bit of time in suburbs of the Twin Cities. Eventually I went off to college in Mankato, and I thought that was a small town. It was while I was in college that I discovered true small towns, and at the same time, small town newspapers.

I was hooked by both.

Last week at the Minnesota Newspaper Association convention, I helped out at one session that had to do with operating a newspaper in a small town, where sometimes the publisher, editor, reporter and ad salesperson are all the same person, or maybe the same husband/wife combo.

How is that possible? Run a newspaper with just two people? Well, we determined at the session that it can be done with support of the community. Like many small-town businesses, community support is key, much more so than in a larger city.

After I came back from the convention I went to a couple of events in Blue Earth and witnessed some folks talking about this sense of community. It was all on Monday, Feb. 3.

It started at the Blue Earth City Council meeting, the very first one in the brand-new Blue Earth City Hall. Former KBEW radio station manager Kevin Benson went to the podium to address the council during the public comment portion of the meeting. I, like everyone else there, wondered what Kevin wanted to say to the council.

He talked about people having pride in their community, and he listed a lot of things about Blue Earth, which make it a wonderful place to live. He didn’t complain about anything. It was a pretty great way to start off the first meeting in the new City Hall.

After the meeting was over, I made it out to the annual Blue Earth Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting, Banquet and Awards Program held that same evening. The underlying theme there was a sense of community. It wasn’t the official theme; it just was what every person’s speech was about.

Rising Star recipient Mike Lahti said he chose Blue Earth to start his Lost Saint Brewery because he wanted it (and himself) to become a part of the community. He could have started it anywhere.

The Community Service Award recipient, Bill Rosenau, also spoke about a sense of community. He too, was working elsewhere, but chose this area to come and live and he and his wife, Susie, both have a very strong sense of community.

Dr. Aaron Johnson spoke about community when he introduced his wife, Jenna, the owner of 10 Talents Center for the Arts, the Business of the Year award recipient.

They, too, chose to come to Blue Earth to live, and they, too, both spoke about their strong sense of community.

Aaron Johnson said when he was just going to start looking for a place to start practicing medicine and raise his family, he came to Blue Earth just to practice doing an interview, not to seriously consider living here. But, then, he saw the sense of community in this small town, took the position in Blue Earth and never did another job interview.

Both he and Jenna said it was the right decision, and they, like the other award recipients, wanted to be part of the community and give back to the community.

Community pride, community involvement, a sense of community. Call it what you want, but you need a heavy dose of it for a town to survive.

What does it mean exactly?

Well, you support your local businesses, schools, hospital and organizations. You care about your neighbors. You volunteer and help out where help is needed, whether that is at your church, the food shelf, the school, clubs and committees or just mowing your neighbor’s yard. There are so many things you can do to get involved.

And it is not just true for Blue Earth. It is wherever you have chosen to live. It is just that it is especially true in small towns. And in Faribault County, that is what we have here – small towns.

Some folks were born and raised in small towns. Others, like me and many others, chose to live in a small town.

Either way, we all need that dose of a sense of community to hit us once in a while.

Many of us don’t want to live anywhere else.