Years ago, in a promotional kit for the National Drovers Hall of Fame and its effort to restore downtown Ellsworth’s signature Insurance Building, we wrote — History is Our Future.

That was true then; it’s still true today.

Ellsworth has much to offer; however, our cattletown past is the major draw if we’re interested in bringing tourist dollars to town. To paraphrase historian Jim Gray, cattle and cowboys are the heart and soul of Ellsworth’s more than century-old story.

That is the reason it was so distressing when we learned both the Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Ellsworth had stepped away from the annual Cowtown celebration.

There’s no question the August festival takes enormous amounts of time and effort. Of course, just like the Czech Festival at Wilson and Fort Harker Days at Kanopolis, that means volunteers — many, many volunteers.

This past week, a handful of Ellsworth supporters met unofficially at the chamber office to talk about the future of Ellsworth’s signature event. The good news — everyone seemed to agree the celebration needs to continue and a way will be found to make it happen.

“I think it’s wonderful. I think we’ve really come up with something,” Ellsworth Mayor Dan Finnegan said near the end of the meeting.

Stay tuned.