Star comment: Do not give in to darkness
The Bank Holiday weekend has brought colour, spectacle, entertainment and fun to Shropshire with a fantastic range of premier events.
Were you there? If not, you missed out – unless of course you attended one of the many other smaller events happening over the weekend up and down the county, all playing their part in the tapestry of life and making this a vibrant place.
Some of the most high profile have been in Shrewsbury, with the 1980s weekend, the County Show and a cycling grand prix.
They are different and appeal to different audiences and difference ages, while having in common that they attract in thousands of people.
They had all been arranged for a long time, but as things turned out were held in the aftermath of those terrible events of Manchester, and in an atmosphere in which there has been a critical security threat.
Manchester cast a dark shadow, but as Ariana Grande’s manager said in his tribute to the victims: “We will honour you by not giving in to the darkness.”
Ensuring life goes on as normally as possible is the best answer to those who seek terror to cow us. Shropshire’s vibrant weekend brought a ray of light and joy, contributing to the vitality of the county.
Look at the Shropshire calendar for the unfolding summer and you will see there is much more to come. Sir Rod, for a start. You will have a chance to see if he is sexy at the Greenhous Meadow in just a few days – so long as you have got a ticket.
Hard on his heels in coming to Shropshire will be Sir Cliff. You will have to Move It if you want to get a ticket for that.
The benefits to Shropshire go beyond entertainment. Bringing in lots of people contributes to the economy, directly, and indirectly. Ideally, they will splash out at local shops, stay in local hotels, eat in local restaurants, and so on. More indirectly, if they are newcomers they will see what sort of place Shropshire is, like what they see, and vow to return in the future.
A wonderful county like Shropshire will never be a place with no profile, but even so, there is a lot to be said for working to raise the profile.
The Manchester bomber took the lives of young people who were out to have fun. Whatever it was meant to “achieve,” it has been a pointless failure.
In Shropshire, and the rest of Britain, life goes on.
