All Aboard The H-Train

Light The Sky Bummer

I hate when things don’t work out the way I want them to or I’ve planned them to. Who does, right? You come up with a good idea, work hard, get the support you need to make it happen, and then something happens that kills the idea faster than you came up with it. 

This happened last week with the Light The Sky event we were planning at NeighborLink. The local fire department decided a week before the event that it was too dangerous after giving us a prior approval. Their concerns were valid, but it was the way they went about it that really caused the disappointment. 

I felt really bad for the volunteer that came up with the idea and the other volunteer who was running point on the event planning. They did everything they could to make this a success and ultimately it tanked at the last minute. 

There was nothing worse than setting up the event as scheduled and telling hundreds of people that came buy to watch or buy a lantern that the event would not go on as planned due to uncontrollable circumstances. Not telling all the people what I really felt about the situation and the fire department was an exercise in being gracious, which doesn’t always come that easy. 

It wasn’t all a failure as we still sold about 150 lanterns the night of and made $500 in donations for projects. Many people still wanted their lanterns and wanted to create their own moments at home this holiday season. 

I can still see the picture in my mind of the downtown courthouse with hundreds of people huddled around the glowing lights of the sky lanterns with smiles on the kids faces as they prepare to launch the floating orb into the sky. I can still feel what the entire event was meant to symbolize as I think about all the volunteers who served at NeighborLink. 

But, I’m still bummed.