The City of Bremerton shined last weekend. Yes, the sun had much to do with it, but more so the people working behind the scenes in a few key parts of the community made Saturday the kind of bright that will continue to shine for weeks.

The countywide veterans’ Stand Down and the Charleston Business Association’s Cinco De Mayo celebration represent grass roots efforts put forth by caring people seeking to serve their own community. In doing so, groups such as the Kitsap Area Veterans Alliance and the Charleston Business Association make the entire city a better place to live for everyone else, including the tens of thousands of residents that did not directly benefit or attend the Saturday events.

The more often that the residents and smaller organized groups with legitimate connections to the reality of life in Bremerton and Central Kitsap (as opposed to those looking down from the 6th floor of the Norm Dicks Government Center or the hill-top perch of county government) celebrate all groups living in the community, with the art and culture of themselves in the case of Callow Avenue’s Hispanic population and businesses and basic services and dignity provided in the veteran’s community, the more the community betters itself.

Though the events were different in size and focus they served two growing segments of the population. The stand down served about 170 veterans in need with the help of about two dozen volunteers, but the event lifts all 38,000 veterans living in the county. The Cinco De Mayo street celebration drew more than 1,000 people from many backgrounds, but drew attention to some of the life and culture that has come with the growing Hispanic and Latino population – the second largest racial demographic in the city.

Both events changed the way the city can be viewed by itself as much as the outside world.