We have a new restaurant in Wells. It is called the Wildcat Bar & Grill. Our school sports teams used to be the Wells Wildcats and the bar and grill paid tribute to that name.

We eat at the Wildcat Bar & Grill several times a week. This is not something we were accustomed to doing. The food at the bar and grill is wonderful. They have daily specials and publish them in the paper so we know what tasty morsels are available.

I like to go to the Wildcat Bar & Grill. I do not think it is all about the food but more about the atmosphere. It is a small and unique place. Everyone is friendly, and you always meet up and talk with many people that you know. It has a relaxed atmosphere and people sometimes wander from table to table talking. If we had a Cheers it would be the Wildcat.

Remember &8220;Cheers,&8221; where everybody knows your name? The television show was popular because of the characters and possibly what it represented. Cheers was a place where you could feel comfortable and meet your friends and you felt welcome. Maybe we all wanted a Cheers in our life. We want a place we can go if we are feeling lonely or bored and someone will talk to us. We want a place we can go that is lively and friendly. We want a place we can go to where we feel we are part of the action.

Many times small communities get a bad rap. They are boring, nothing to do and not too much happens. If you look around there is a lot of interaction happening. One of the best social places is the grocery store. Everytime I try a quick trip to the grocery store it never happens. An hour later, with my husband wondering what happened to me I walk in the door and explain that I ran into many people and we had some good chats. He didn&8217;t understand this until he tried the grocery shopping and the same thing happened to him. It makes grocery shopping a fun experience. For some people that is the only interaction in their day. Look in the aisles and watch the conversations taking place.

When I lived in an even smaller community the highlight of the day was the post office. We had to get our mail at the post office because we did not have delivery in our part of town. If the post office boxes could talk they could tell you some pretty hot stuff.

I challenge you to think about where you get that Cheers feeling. Where do you go when you are feeling lonely or bored? Where do you go to have the interaction that makes you feel part of the group or comfortable in that group?

If you are a business ask yourself if your customers get the Cheers feeling when they walk in the door? If you are a church leader, does your church make people feel that way? Can someone walk the door of your church or your business and feel like they want to come back because it is comfortable and they feel welcome?

Everyone has times in their life when they need to get out and they need to connect and forget about whatever is bothering them. Many of us have friends who will help us do that but there are also many people that do not have that network so they look for Cheers.

A business or a church that can make us feel like we are instantly welcomed and part of the group will keep us coming back time after time.

Almost every episode of &8220;Cheers&8221; ended with someone smiling or laughing. So I leave you with this:

I&8217;ve figured out why people get gray hair. It&8217;s from worrying about their teeth falling out.

Barbara Johnson

Inside every older person there&8217;s a younger person, wondering what happened.

Ashleigh Brilliant

Priceless gifts to give for free: The gift of laughter.

Keep smiling! The luscious plum forgot to-and became a wrinkled prune.

Barbara Johnson

Cheers!

Wells resident Julie Seedorf appears every Monday. E-mail her at somethingaboutnothing @mchsi.com.