At this week’s St. John the Baptist Parish School Board meeting, something strange and unusual happened.

When Mike Tregre, president of St. John Parish Recreation, approached the board about helping his group to make Leon Godchaux Stadium usable again, a motion to do so was passed without question.

No one asked what was in it for them or even what, specifically, would be required of them. They simply agreed to help take on the project for the good of the parish’s youth.

Perhaps that is because Tregre has eschewed any grandiose plans, aiming only for what he sees as doable in the near future. He knows that having a field to play on, even if the bathrooms are portable and parents must bring folding chairs to watch their children play, is better than no place at all. Perhaps by keeping his dreams small for the time being and involving as few government agencies as possible, he hopes to slip under the red tape that snares other like-minded projects.

The old Second Ward School in Edgard has languished for years, and although a west bank civic group hopes to take over and repurpose the property, coordinating all the government agencies to get the job done has thus far been an insurmountable task.

Maybe there is a lesson to be learned here. Maybe dreams should be kept within the realm of possibility. Maybe we should look at ways to get rid of all the bureaucracy that keeps things from getting done. And maybe, just maybe, once in a while we should set aside our petty differences and personal desires and just do what’s right.