In this week’s Ellsworth County Independent-Reporter you’ll find our annual edition on the state of the Ellsworth County economy.

As always we’re impressed with the dedication and hard work generated by residents determined to make their communities better places to live and play.

• The Ellsworth Kiwanis Club dedicates its new splash pad at 11:30 a.m. Friday, July 5, in Preisker Park. And the National Drovers Hall of Fame recently received an award of $69,000 to move on to Phase II of the restoration of downtown Ellsworth’s Signature Insurance Building.

• Holyrood is close to the finish line on the restoration of its historic railroad depot, thus giving the town a wonderful venue for family reunions and other gatherings.

• About a year ago, Wilson decided to showcase its Czech heritage even more in an effort to bring tourists and other visitors to town and keep them there long enough to experience the community. Since then, a group of supporters has installed an interactive kiosk in the Midland Mercantile featuring up-to-date information on local history, tourism and events. The community also plans seven, four-foot Czech egg replicas placed at various locations throughout the downtown area. The latter idea builds on the World’s Largest Handpainted Czech Egg that greets visitors as they enter Wilson from the east.

• At Kanopolis, residents have made an extra effort for the past two years to give their town a neater appearance. First impressions are important in any community. Starting Monday and continuing through July 1 is Kanopolis Community Clean Up. The tree dump is open from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

For us, the take away from this year’s State of Ellsworth County edition was the importance perspective employers place on a community’s quality of life. That didn’t used to be the case.

Earlier this year, a neighboring town placed a $5 charge on the town’s water bills to support the swimming pool. Ellsworth has had a $2 charge on its monthly water bills for a number of years and we still hear people complain about it.

“I don’t have children or grandchildren. Why should I have to pay for the pool?” Or the schools? Or anything else that doesn’t directly affect me?

We are sympathetic to the difficulty of living on a fixed income; however, the reality is that we must offer potential residents good reasons for moving to Ellsworth County. As the internet frees employees to work from their homes, those reasons increasingly involve a community’s quality of life, be that recreation, education, medical services or a general look.

And, while many of us do not have children in the school system or grandchildren to use the swimming pool, those things benefit us all by helping to bring new residents to the county.

Or put another way — those things help us bring more residents to the community to carry the property tax load that supports services for everyone.

Or put another way — those things help us bring more residents to the community to carry the property tax load that supports services for everyone.