Thank you chamber, city and volunteers

The gauntlet has been run once more.
We refer to the gauntlet as from around July 2 through Gold Discovery Days, when the City of Custer, the Custer Area Chamber of Commerce and a whole host of volunteers (although not nearly many as there needs to be) come together to pull off all of the July 4 and Gold Discovery Days activities in Custer. The events take a year of planning and have to be pulled off in a matter of days. Somehow, it always goes off well. But that doesn’t mean it’s not hard work. That doesn’t mean it’s not stressful. And that doesn’t mean a few more helping hands couldn’t be used.
With the city and county still not agreeing on a law enforcement contract, city staff have gotten a crash course on conducting parades, using city staff to block off roads and make the parades go. Both parades seemed to go off without any major complications. As for the chamber, keep in mind that it is dealing with a dwindling budget and an even-more dwindling pool of volunteers, but the chamber staff and chamber board still pulled off both the July 4 and the Gold Discovery Days events.
We have to say, it was disheartening to see and hear the negative comments being bandied about, particularly on Facebook, regarding Gold Discovery Days. There were people upset there wasn’t a carnival this year, claiming there was “nothing to do” or that it wasn’t as good as in years past, etc. 
Yes, there was no carnival this year. That wasn’t the fault of the chamber staff or board. The contractor that came to Custer since the carnival was reinstated told the chamber it wasn’t coming back to Custer, and the chamber did its level best to try to find a carnival in time for this year’s celebration. It just didn’t happen. The chamber did the best it could to fill in the gap by bringing in inflatables for the kiddos. No, it wasn’t the same, but they did the best they could with the hand they were dealt.
The chamber is going to continue to receive less and less money from the city, so it will continue to be challenged to do more with less. We hope those who were critical of Gold Discovery Days this year will get involved and share their time and talents to make the event better. The chamber has been absolutely begging for volunteers for both July 4 and Gold Discovery Days, and not many have answered the call. We are so grateful for those who have done so, but more are needed. We get people want to spend these events with friends and family, but please consider donating at least a few hours of your time when these events roll around. Especially if you’re going to be critical of the event as it unfolds. These events cannot happen without volunteers.
So, instead of being critical, we want to thank and acknowledge city staff, chamber staff, the chamber board, and anyone and everyone who volunteered some time to make these events happen. Without you, they will fall by the wayside. None of us want that to happen.
If you weren’t involved, get involved. Help your community, and have some fun in the process. We think you’ll find it a worthy endeavor.