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 How on earth does Bob Nelson-a big-time comedian who has
appeared on the "Tonight Show," starred in his own HBO special, and performed
for President Ronald Reagan-end up coming to Little River to do a show on
Aprils Fools Day?
One thing is for certain. Nelson's
appearance is no joke, but the result of one person's dream and the wisdom of
an entire community.
"Back in
September of 2004, my wife and I went to a day-long conference in Wichita
called, ‘Come Thirsty,' hosted by well-known Christian author Max Lucado and
Grammy winning recording artist Michael W. Smith," recalls Pastor Ted Weis of
the Congregational Church.
"When lunch was over, everyone was
expecting to see Max and Michael. But instead, out comes this goofy guy-Bob
Nelson. He told the funniest jokes and made the whole auditorium roar in
laughter," said Pastor Weis. "Afterwards I thought, ‘Wow, wouldn't it be great
if we could bring that guy to Little River?'"
The idea fermented for a year and
then the Congregational Church submitted a grant proposal to the Little River
Community Fund. Because one of the goals of the Community Fund is to support
and enhance Little River's quality of life, they provided a generous grant to
get the event off the ground. With additional support from the town's three
churches-Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Little River United Methodist Church,
and the Little River Congregational Church-the comedy show is a reality.
The support from the Community Fund was
key. When Mutual Telephone sold its interest in Kansas Cellular to Alltel
several years ago, most Little River citizens got a large windfall share of the
profits. But instead of putting all the money in its pocket, the people agreed
to establish a foundation to benefit the community.
"If it wasn't for the
over-the-horizon thinking by the people of Little River," says Pastor Weis, "we
wouldn't have a Community Fund. And then, we wouldn't have a Habitat for
Humanity House in our town, we wouldn't have repaired headstones in our
cemetery, and we wouldn't have additional support for our schools. And last, we
wouldn't have a big time comedy show in Little River on April Fools Day!"
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