Small communities means losses are felt harder

Living in a small community like the Platte Valley, every loss seems to be felt far more acutely than in more urban areas. Running a newspaper in a small community, one of the hardest parts of the job is receiving the obituaries.

It's even hard when it's someone who is not only close to your age, but who you knew.

I didn't know Jacob Fluty as well as his friends and family, but you can't grow up in a small town with someone and not have some knowledge of who they are. When I first heard about the avalanche which took his life, I was stunned.

Jacob was a freshman in high school when I was a senior. He was in the same grade as my brother, Garry Wood. That, to be honest, is about the extent of my familiarity with him in high school. We never ran in the same circles, even as adults. When he ran for Saratoga Town Council in 2022, however, I was curious.

It doesn't seem like many of our generation-the Millennials-get involved in local politics around here. Volunteering on boards and spending time coaching youth sports, yes, but local politics not so much. The optimist in me likes to believe that everyone running for political office, at least locally, has the best interests of their community in mind. The journalist in me is skeptical of anyone who runs for political office, local or otherwise.

Once Jacob got on the council alongside his father, Jerry, I was impressed. I've seen my contentious councils and council members in my time with the Saratoga Sun. Despite being the youngest person on this council, I felt he was clearly meant to be in one of those seats. It can be a folly of youth-if you consider 30s to be youth-to assume we know the answers to everything and act as such.

Not Jacob Fluty.

As I returned to covering Saratoga Town Council, I saw a council member who only spoke when he felt it was needed. When he did speak, Jacob was calm and courteous but quick to the point. With only a year on the council, I can honestly say I had hopes he would consider running for re-election. Further, I hoped his involvement on the town council would spur others of our generation to want to have a say in the future of Saratoga.

I hope it still does.

While I didn't know Jacob that well, I think a good sign of his character can be seen in the response to his passing. On Saturday morning, a moment of silence was held at the Carbon County Wrestling Invite at Saratoga Middle High School. Larry Cloyd, a longtime educator, described Jacob as a friend who would drop whatever he was doing to help someone else. The same day, a moment of silence was also held prior to the start of the 307 GoFast Races at Saratoga Lake.

Additionally, in the days since Jacob's passing, a GoFundMe set up for his wife and three children has already surpassed its initial goal with donations still arriving. This likely does little to ease the emotional pain of his passing, but my hope is that it is of some comfort to his family. Some silver lining to this dark cloud to see the community rise up to support them in their time of need.

A service for Jacob Fluty will be held at noon on February 18th at the Platte Valley Community Center. I plan to attend and I hope many others do as well to show his family what he meant to his community.