Tuesday, 7/3

What does it say about me that I'm better informed about what's happening in a small Polish town than I am about some of the small towns here in the U.P.?

Nothing good, I'm guessing.

Here's the story—as some of you may know, TV Jim has a regular gig other than hosting “High School Bowl”(), and that's doing a pre-taped segment (next one taping in a few hours, in fact) called “On The Town” on Fox U.P.'s Thursday night newscast. It's me spending 90 seconds telling people about events that are coming up throughout the U.P. during the upcoming weekend. I usually learn about the events from press releases sent to us, and from a couple of Upper Michigan tourism websites. That usually gets me all the information I need; I say “usually” because it seems like every so often I'll just totally miss something big happening in the U.P.

It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. And after I find out, I'll feel a little shame.

And that's what made me think about the small Polish town of Krosno Odrzańskie, a town that sits about an hour from the German border. Every morning when I look at my Facebook () news feed I usually see a cheery “Dzień Dobry” (Polish for “Good Morning”) and a list of things going on in the town for that day. I don't speak Polish, so I have no idea what's going on in Krosno, but because of that daily Facebook post I know more about what's going on in a small Polish town than I do in some small towns a little bit closer to Marquette than central Europe.

Oops.

I follow Krosno because Loraine and I ate lunch there one afternoon in 2013. It was an interesting place with a pretty river running through it--

A river that often plays a central role in the pictures the town posts. The events the town lists are much like events that occur in small towns in the U.P.--school events, festivals, and community gatherings—and you'd think that if I was as well informed about U.P. events as I am about those in Krosno, that “On The Town” would be a spectacular 90 seconds of television. But because I either don't get the info that towns around here put out, or towns out here just don't put out info, it's not quite working that way.

I suppose I could do a better job in digging out the events that happen in the U.P. outside of Marquette, just as I'm sure towns outside of Marquette could do a better job in publicizing their events. After all, does it make a lot of sense that I know more about what's going on in a Polish town than I do a place like, say, Trenary?

Nope. But thanks to the power of the Internet, that's the way it is.

(jim@wmqt.com), who hopes you have a GREAT 4^th tomorrow. Back with something new Thursday!