Barbara Patton: Busy weekend was productive weekend

Football games, ribbon cuttings, dedications, political fund-raisers, high school plays, Sunday school, church, and those in-between activities. It all adds up to one very busy weekend. Thank goodness, I was just in attendance and didn’t have to do any of the work. Many did and I know they slept soundly on Sunday night.

All the high school players, college football players, coaches, staff, officials, announcers, band members, majorettes, flag twirlers, and ancillary personnel have to be tired. Just think how many people are involved in just one event and multiply that many times over. The numbers are mind-boggling (is that a word?).

Kudos to the Opelika High School football team for winning in overtime against Enterprise!

It may be my imagination but it seems that in the past you only watched one or maybe two college football games on a weekend. Monday night football on television was for the pros. Now the college games begin airing on Thursday and the games seem to have proliferated. These past two weekends, it’s been like Thanksgiving weekend and New Years with game after game to watch. Maybe there are just more games of interest. Or is it a way to shut down the economy? Who will shop, eat at restaurants, go to movies, or spend money elsewhere with all that football? They are either at the game or watching on television. Let’s hope the grocery stores, caterers, and sports bars do a booming business for tailgating and football parties.

With two very exciting dedications and several ribbon cuttings this weekend, the Opelika Parks and Recreation staff, city employees and city administration have to be exhausted. A certain amount of mental and emotional stress goes along with the labor. Everyone did a tremendous job of orchestrating these two events and it does take a lot of coordination and manpower to make sure everything runs smoothly.

The W. J. Samford, Jr. Soccer Complex was dedicated on Saturday morning and the Opelika Sportsplex and Aquatic Center on Sunday afternoon with a ribbon cutting on the main facility and other ribbon cuttings at the Cal James, Sr., Weight Room, the East Alabama Medical Center Cardiovascular Area, and the Charter Bank Foundation Adult Activity Center. Thank-yous were given to all those that helped make this unbelievable complex a reality and to fulfill the dreams of the many citizens.

What a superb job the Opelika High School students did in the production of “The Man Who Came to Dinner.” It was worth seeing more than once. The sets were professionally done and I’m always amazed at the talent of the actors and actresses.

An inordinate amount of time is dedicated to putting on a production like this one. Everyone associated with this play has to be proud of the results. They deserve a rest. But they will probably just begin preparing for the next one.

Thank you to all who worked so hard on these events. I know they had to be “labors of love.”

Barbara Patton is executive director of Envision Opelika.