Kasson visits Kasson; time to celebrate July 4th

Last weekend a young boy and his mother visited Kasson. Usually, that doesn’t make headlines. However, this young boy’s name is (wait for it) Kasson. He came to Kasson, Minnesota to view our fair town for which he shares the name.

It’s not often that an individual has a name in common with a town. Think about it, I know of no one named Minneapolis, Owatonna, Waseca or Zimmerman, where Kasson lives with his family.

Kasson, we hope you enjoyed meeting our town with your mom. It’s an honor to know you and we hope you visit often.

As everyone knows by now, Saturday is the Fourth of July. Yes, Saturday is a holiday. Some businesses are closing on Friday, others are giving employees to take a day off at a later date. Is it just me, or is having a holiday on a Saturday (or Sunday which will occur in 2021) is just not right.

Yes, I realize it happens, but having fireworks (not having them this year due to COVID-19) on the weekend doesn’t have the same impact as having a day off from work to celebrate our nation’s independence.

What’s amazing is that there will be no parades, fireworks or large get-togethers to mark the 240^th year of our Independence.

Ironically, 2020 is similar in some ways to our nations early years. We have revolutionaries attacking the establishment in ways that remind us of our historical beginnings. In 1776 until we gained independence there were shootings, demonstrations and threats to the governing entities of Great Britain.

Some call these outbursts terrorism. Others call them anarchists. Still others refer to those who are pulling down statues, burning businesses and occupying areas of a city as revolutionaries.

My hope is that 2020 will, in its final six months, be recognized by peace among our citizens and freedom for all Americans.

We need to recognize our nation as an inheritance from generations past. Yes, we had a period of growth where we as a nation shrugged off the bonds of slavery and emancipated everyone from chains. Yes, we drove off the American Indians from their homelands and placed them on reservations.

But today we are on an equal footing. Only those who choose to live in the past will never realize the freedoms we have at our disposal.

As Americans we remain the shining light to the rest of the world that only wishes they had the freedoms we take for granted.

Are we a nation of perfection? No. We are made up of imperfect people. As soon as we recognize our own flaws, we will be less prone to lash out at others when we see their flaws.

I’m proud to be an American. Not because America is somehow superior to other people from other nations, but because this experiment in citizen rule has been more successful than in any other nation on Earth.

To all of the folks calling Dodge County, Minnesota home, relax and enjoy this Fourth of July realizing we are a strong nation because all of us (and our ancestors) moved to this great nation for individual freedoms not found elsewhere in the world.

God Bless the United States of America and thank you for this great gift!