Regarding Fiddler on the Roof, a clarification of a few things.

While this fictional story takes place in Russia during a time when Jews were being persecuted, this is merely the backdrop for a story telling us about ourselves and our relationships. It does this through the eyes of its lead character Tevye, (a role I think was superbly played.) 

In particular, the focus is on Tevye’s relationships with his daughters and with his wife Golde. (Who all did a wonderful job acting and singing.) 

In Tevye we see what happens inside of us when tradition, love, duty, and our biases collide with one another. Within this talented ensemble we hear our hearts responding to things when they are not as we would like them to be, and we rejoice when things are good. As the show concludes, we see a man and a people who have learned that love of family, and of others within their community, are their most valuable assets.

I am proud of all the students who brought these people to life. The acting and singing, combined with great interactions and a few wonderful monologs, were truly effective in revealing to us the hearts of these characters. You all deserve your names in print. And to Mr. Brendan Potter/Lazar Wolf, I just want to say, “To life, to life, l'chaim!”

 

Success always boils down to how well expectations are being met. That applies to both private and public expectations. 

Services offered (private or public) can be either an attraction or distraction for potential customers, any success will hinge on how well each customer is served. Private enterprises quickly determine what pleases their customers, and they will focus their efforts on meeting what the public demands. Ironically serving in a public capacity is exactly the same principal, except that public expectations are not as effectively or objectively measured and/or executed. It’s usually because distractions get in the way.

Replacing one exhaustible resource with another, is only a temporary solution. What happens a decade or two from now, will we be looking at replacing our power supply with another exhaustible resource or with newly discovered technology? Can we afford to bear another conversion cost? There are numerous challenges to overcome for Becker to be competitive in the business world and topping that list would be avoiding competition with private businesses. Inappropriate business competition, impacts potential residential and commercial taxpayers, that may move to our city. I’m asking our elected officials to wake up and smell the roses and stop wasting our tax dollars on temporary fixes and chasing businesses out of town.