Chamber’s newest Viewbook will make you stop and think

Here we are at the worldwide headquarters of Cobb Publishing, located at the corner of Main and Jenkins streets in good ol’ Maryville, Missouri, and the crew is gearing up to publish the 2016-17 version of the Greater Maryville Chamber of Commerce Viewbook.

This will be the third consecutive edition of this biennial magazine that our staff has published, with a great amount of assistance from the Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors and staff.

It is an honor for us to be chosen to complete this important task, as the Viewbook very often generates the initial impression that many people from outside this community have of our beloved Maryville.

This publication is used by the Chamber and Nodaway County Economic Development, among other governmental agencies, and local business and industry to recruit talented personnel and potential new businesses to the community.

When people and businesses from outside Maryville, Nodaway County and/or Missouri request information from the Chamber, the Viewbook is the primary piece of literature they receive.

And, as is the case for most publications of the sort, the Viewbook’s existence would not be possible without the multitude of Chamber member businesses which support the endeavor.

Not coincidentally, this is also often the first impression potential residents have of many of these local businesses.

That means we want to get it right.

We have to get it right.

The completion of such a task requires a great amount of time and energy, especially when its production takes place alongside our five-days-a-week daily newspaper, weekly shopper and other special projects already on the calendar.

We are fortunate to have the people on staff who know what to do — and how to do it — in order to create a publication we can all be proud of.

So thank you in advance to each and everyone involved in the production of this important publication.

When preparing a piece such as the Viewbook, we tend — and rightly so — to gear it’s contents toward those who know nothing about Maryville.

They have no preconceived opinions — positive or negative — about our community.

Maybe they have never even heard of Maryville, Missouri, let alone visited here.

But what we find is that we, those of us who live right here, can often learn a lot about the people, places and things around us by delving into the contents of a publication like the Viewbook.

Community, Education, Recreation, Tourism, Demographics, Location, Commerce and History are just some of the specific topics addressed in quite a bit of detail throughout the magazine-format edition.

Preparing all of this material makes us sit back and think, “We’ve got it pretty good here in The ’Ville.”

I’ll readily admit that, along about February, I’ll start fantasizing about living in a place with year-round temperatures more in line with what we’ve experienced here lately.

And I have no problem admitting that every once in a while, I just need to get away.

But I just can’t imagine we’d come out on top in any other place when all things are considered.

Most people consider Maryville to be a small town — and it certainly is, without any doubt — but I prefer a small town.

I grew up in King City, Missouri, population 1,063, when I graduated from high school, and I wouldn’t do it over again any other way if I had the chance.

Yes, there are a number of conveniences and opportunities available in larger cities, but what is often overlooked are the advantages small towns do have over those much larger places.

We have the chance to grow up with a sense of community that does not exist in bigger towns.

If you grew up in Maryville, in one of the smaller Nodaway County communities, or even in a comparatively smaller town anywhere in northwestern Missouri, I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know.

But try explaining that same feeling to someone from St. Louis or Kansas City.

There are certain differences between the circumstances they are accustomed to and what we have become accustomed to in our familiar smaller locations.

You just don’t know what “small town Missouri” is if you didn’t grow up with it like I did, in rural Missouri.

And we have it pretty good right here in Maryville, Missouri.

The Greater Maryville Chamber of Commerce Viewbook is a great reminder of that.