My better half and I attended the concert at Florence Sunday evening as part of the town’s annual Labor Day celebration.

It was a great evening of food, music, fellowship, and relaxation.

The only way the evening would have been better was if we also could have attended the meal, concert, and festivities at Marion County Lake as part of the Marion County Fire Chiefs Association fund-raiser.

I was excited when I was covering the events Sunday afternoon at Marion County Lake and saw the large stage and seating in preparation of the concert that evening.

I would have liked to have been at that show and fireworks display but like many other people, I had to make a choice.

Both events are important for our county — one supporting a community, the other volunteer fire departments.

It just seems a shame that I had to choose. I wonder how many people were in the same boat as me and instead of supporting one event, decided not to support either. We all lose when one event loses.

My better half and I were enjoying some shade prior to the concert Sunday evening, and visited with two couples from Wichita. I asked them why they were in Florence and they said the concert sounded like fun, so here they were. Wichita people look forward to coming to smaller venues in Marion County because they are more personable and easier to maneuver.

I hope both entities did well but a word of advice would be not to schedule two similar events (such as concerts) at the same time. This county cannot always support two big shows at the same time.

And I hate to have to make the choice of which one to attend and which one to miss.

— Susan Berg