Acts of kindness enhance our lives

Thank you.

Daily we say thank you. Common courtesy is to appropriately thank someone for holding the door for us, for allowing us to go through the entry first or for giving us the right of way with our shopping cart. But sometimes we don’t even know about those random acts of kindness that benefit us every day.

When the community holiday decorations seem to appear around town overnight, did you ever think about what went into getting those garlands and candy canes hanging from a pole or draping across the street? Who is the person or team that cares enough to make sure each and everyone that passes by that pole feels a little cheerier this season?

With the help of the city Public Works electrical division, the chamber of commerce board of directors volunteer their time and supplies to rebulb and “fluff” up each garland and display in order to prepare them for the electrical department to hang them around town. City workers also prepare the community Christmas tree in advance of the big lighting before Santa’s Electric Night Parade the first Saturday of December.

I want to publicly thank all of the Public Works division. They go way above and beyond in their daily workload and still have the energy to help to make our city sparkle during the holidays. In fact, thank you to them for all the special events we have in Boulder City. Their efforts are certainly not lost on me as I see them hauling barricades, cones and bleachers all over town for events that contribute to the great quality of life we each have here in our amazing city.

I have a little selfish thank you I’d like to share. Many know that your Boulder City Chamber houses nearly 100 scrapbooks filled with memories of the business community and city in general. Our history books go back to 1932, the humble beginning of the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce, one of the longest running businesses in Boulder City.

These books have each been prepared with the loving hands of one volunteer: Dorothy Helm. She works diligently every Thursday and Friday in the office. When COVID hit, she collected her scrapping tools and set up a “home office” to keep up on all the fun tidbits that yearn to be glue-sticked to the pages.

Those pages have collectively been bound and titled and now made available for all of us to enjoy and reminisce. It is hard not to get lost in the memories and interesting factual details. They have been a resource to many and pure entertainment for years to come. Thank you Miss Dorothy for your many years of loving and caring for these treasures. Our history is in your remarkable hands.

Random acts of kindness are not meant to be broadcast for all to read, but as I was contemplating what to share in this article, I had so many friends tell me about experiences that had touched them and highlighted the good hearts so many Boulder City citizens have.

In order to protect the innocent, I’ll change the names in this story. The “receiver’s” initials are B.R.U.C.E. and the “doer’s” company was B.C. D.I.S.P.O.S.A.L. Bruce found himself not wanting to request further assistance from his beautiful wife to haul an inoperable refrigerator to the side of the house, and so struggled to manhandle it outside of his gate. As the recycling truck came down the street and the kind-hearted driver noticed the 75-year-old man wrestling with the ice box, the driver stopped and ran up to help Bruce complete the task. I suppose that is not a normal duty of our great disposal company, but it sure meant a lot to this gentleman hoping to avoid a hernia. I just want to say thank you for having such a big heart.

During this season, we find ourselves pondering things we are grateful for in our lives. I hope we can all continue to spot random acts of kindness and say thank you for adding to our gratitude bank. Kindness and service benefit the doers and the receivers. I’ve learned the observers tend to gain a whole lot too. So thank you today for those wonderful things you will do tomorrow and every day. We are all better for it. Thank you!

Jill Rowland-Lagan, CEO of the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce, is the third of four generations in Boulder City. She loves cooking, jet skiing and hanging out with her family. Her personal motto is “A diamond is merely a lump of coal that did well under pressure.”