Where are all the big men and women?

The Will Rogers Follies closes its run on The Round Barn Theatre at Amish Acres stage tomorrow. The most dramatic scene in the musical ends as Rogers says at the conclusion of the radio address he gave at the request of Herbert Hoover following the president's speech concerning the stock market crash of 1929, “Where are all the big men? We sure could use one now.”

Well we sure had a lot of big men and women around here last week. Most of them live here; many came to our aid. Following the Nappanee Tornado those who lost their homes and businesses shed few tears but rushed to help each other out of harm’s way, then rushed to assist those most in need, then rushed to begin the cleanup and rebuilding.

You couldn’t list them all. Literally hundreds of firefighters, emergency medical teams and police officers from neighboring cities, counties, and the State of Indiana, descended upon Nappanee to assist our own to protect us from harm. Then 5,000 people showed up Sunday morning to begin the cleanup.

But even leaders need a leader. Mayor Larry Thompson is our leader. He has spent a lifetime of service as a firefighter and twelve years as Nappanee’s mayor preparing for this role. It is he who made the big decisions, who anticipated what we needed next, from whom, and where. As all real leaders do he led us by example last week. He reflected the fearless determination of Nappanee to overcome this adversity and continue on our path of prosperity and turned it into action.

Now when we should be thanking him, he’s thanking us. That’s what big men do. America’s favorite son would be proud of all of us.