Today, more than any other day, I truly appreciate being from a small town and living in a small town.

Despite all of the craziness in the past week with the coronavirus and COVID-19, The Tribune has shared the developments on the situation locally and beyond. More so, though, we have focused on the good that has come out of all of this uncertainty.

I saw a community come together to line up outside Crothersville Community Schools to cheer on the boys basketball team despite the Tigers just finding out their first regional game in school history was postponed. Some fans knew that at the time, while others didn’t. Still, the small town pride was evident.

Locally, the Brownstown Central boys basketball team also had its game postponed as the state tournament was put on hold. We hope that’s just for now and something will be figured out to resume play.

I saw some churches still decide to have services, while others chose to stop services for a while. First Baptist Church in Seymour is providing breakfast and lunch packs to those in the community who are in need, and Community Church of Brownstown is partnering with Double Down Outreach to provide free breakfast and lunches for children along with free Wi-Fi hotspots for local students to do homework for two weeks.

I saw so many posts about stores running out of food and toilet paper. On Tuesday night while visiting Walmart, I saw hardly any bread, lunchmeat, cheese and frozen foods. I totally forgot to look at the toilet paper aisle because I didn’t need it.

One thing that stood out to me, though, was there were many employees working hard to restock the shelves. As a former employee of Walmart, I can’t imagine the work those people and employees of other stores have put in during the last week. Kudos to you all, and keep up the good work.

I saw restaurants forced to close their dining areas and only be allowed to offer drive-thru, pickup or carryout. What a huge shock to all of those businesses. I began thinking about how much that would impact waiters and waitresses receiving tips, let alone a paycheck. Then I was encouraged when I have seen posts about supporting these businesses and leaving larger tips. Kudos to anyone who has done that.

I saw the Brownstown Central High School choral department run through Act 2 during a dress rehearsal for the musical “The Wizard of Oz” and then put on their opening-night show two days later before finding out they had to cancel their other two shows. What a disappointment for everyone involved who put in so much time and work.

I had bought a ticket to go to the March 13 show but never got to use it. On the post about the show being canceled, I commented encouraging people to not seek refunds and instead consider it a donation to the choral department. It’s not much, but if everyone does it, it could add up to a good chunk of money for the program. It’s the least I could do. I hope others consider the same. Considering the small town support, I could see others following suit.

I saw Brownstown school staff members helping load food into four mini buses and travel all around the western part of the county delivering to kids in need while school is closed. I rode along with Bridget Disque and Karyn Rumph and was honored to help deliver as I also took pictures and got comments about their experience. Each bus delivered to around 30 kids.

On Wednesday, I went to Medora, where staff members are doing the same thing. I saw Crothersville is doing that, too, while Seymour is in the works of offering food to kids. Kudos to all.

I saw Crothersville step up to support kids and senior citizens. Several people came together to offer the Kids Pantry, and Town Market Foodies is offering discounted hot meals from noon to 2 p.m. weekdays. Mary Jo Isenhower, who manages First Baptist Church of Crothersville’s food pantry, said seeing people support the effort is what she likes about small town living.

I fully agree with that. With all of the bad in this world, we need to spread the good as much as possible.

As John Mellencamp sings, “Well I was born in a small town, and I live in a small town. Probably die in a small town. Oh, those small communities,” I’m proud to be from a small town and live in a small town. I cannot forget where it is that I come from.

Zach Spicer is a reporter for The Tribune. Send comments to [email protected].