Bremonton

Bremonton

Bremonton was a small town in the south of Washington state, possessing a population of 4,056 people. Nestled between the lush, rolling hills of the area, it offered little entertainment, in fact the only activity was a single school that facilitated every age of student, a service station, general store, community church, Sherrif's office / courthouse, a very small medical clinic, a bank, and Jenny's diner.

Jenny, who ran the town diner, decided to paint her house a brilliant yellow with pink trim, a stark difference from the other homes which were typically white, grey or brown. Well everyone in town became enamored with the brightly colored home, so much so that the other home owners began painting their homes as well. The Sheriff's wife wanted their home to be painted blue and gold, the pastors wife requested purple and fuchsia. All of the buildings in town were brightly colored as well, all within the stretch of a year. Before long, the entire town looked like the happiest Easter basket a kid could ever hope for.

Dick White, a reporter from Canbon, the nearest real city to Bremonton, heard tell of the brightly colored town and thought it would make for a good story, so he left his office one Friday morning and took the 30 mile drive to see for himself.

Dick, questioned everyone he met in town about the brilliantly colored homes and buildings and found out that it all started with Jenny's home so he made his way to her diner around one PM.

"Hello, is Jenny here?" He asked.

"I'm Jenny, what can I help you with?"

"I'm Dick White, a reporter from WPOE TV in Canbon, and I'm doing a story about your brightly colored town. I understand that you started the whole thing rolling and wanted to ask you a couple of questions if you don't mind?"

"Sure Mr. White ... ask away."

"Why did you paint your house with those bright colors?"

"Well, everyone in town was always so bored, especially the kids, so I thought some bright colors might cheer them up. All I can say is that because of my act, most of the kids are now happy, laughing, amateur artists themselves and the now colorful town has increased the tourism here, so my diner is making a decent profit now, better than ever!"

"Thank you for your time Jenny, I'm going to bring a camera crew back to film the town next week, will you be available for an interview?"

"Oh yes Mr. White, I'll be here!"

So Dick brought the crew back as promised to cover the story, which was televised the following week. His report brought folks from all over the western states and business was so good that Jenny convinced the citizens to pitch in and fund the construction of a motel, which was constructed behind her diner. The town became a host for arts, crafts, music festivals, and celebrations galore. Within five years the population had grown by more than 2,000 people. They even had to install a third stop light.

Because of Jenny's bold idea, three of the town's high school students went on to become well known artists, a small hospital was erected, as well as a bowling alley / activity center and the town also had enough funds to build an elementary school partially funded due to Sheriff McDermits speed trap business.

The moral of this story is not to be complacent with your reality. Step out of your comfort zone and do something different. You never know how your bold choices will improve the world around you like Jenny did!