CMSU Homecoming weekend is always a great time to show off Warrensburg to our once-a-year alumni visitors. The weather was perfect all weekend, with sunburn rather than frostbite the danger for the people who lined the parade route. Fall sunlight angles and leaves starting to change show the town at its best, with the view marred only by the piles of trash set out for the semi-annual trash pickup.

Warrensburg's spring & fall cleanups are a great service. They allow people to get rid of what they don't want and to acquire the cast-offs of others. It's just the scheduling that's unfortunate. The fall cleanup has coincided with CMSU Homecoming, so returning alumni see Warrensburg as a trashy rather than a pretty town. The spring cleanup comes when flowering trees are in full bloom and before departing students clean out their rental houses. A slight adjustment in dates could be of real benefit, and wouldn't cost a bit more.

Warrensburg has made great strides over recent years, but the improvements most Homecoming guests will see are limited to those downtown. They're certainly not getting any information about other new or improved area attractions, such as Blind Boone Park, the upgraded wineries at Montserrat, the CMSU shooting range, the fairgrounds, art shows, etc. Surely, some of the $100,000 in room tax money given to the Chamber of Commerce annually could be used to attract return visits by people who already have a connection to Warrensburg. It wasn't; the Chamber’s Visitor Center wasn't even open on Saturday.

Since Warrensburg doesn't have any community festivals to attract outside visitors (as do Warsaw, Concordia, Clinton, etc.), perhaps we could combine trash and tourism, promoting a "Warrensburg 'Curbside Recycling' Festival" to bring in folks from Kansas City to visit us and triumphantly carry off our trash to their homes. It would certainly be a unique promotion and wouldn't cost the Chamber any of their precious subsidy.