A man stood before the Lycoming County commissioners on Thursday, February 6, voicing concerns about tax dollars, the landfill, and White Deer Golf Course near Montgomery, and it became clear within moments that he had been asleep to information that had long since been settled.
Lycoming County sprawls across 1,244 square miles of Pennsylvania wilderness, making it the largest county by land area in the Commonwealth. Information travels differently across such a distance. A resolution passed in Williamsport might take months or years to reach someone living in the county’s far corners, tucked into valleys or perched on ridges where the nearest neighbor is measured in miles rather than houses. Even in 2026, with all our digital connectivity and instant communication, the sheer geography of a place this vast means that news doesn’t always reach everyone at the same speed. The man’s concerns were genuine, rooted in a desire to see tax dollars spent wisely, but they addressed problems that had already been solved, questions that had already been answered.
The landfill issue, for instance, gets discussed at nearly every commissioner’s meeting at this point. The board has been transparent about operations, finances, and long-term planning. Anyone following the weekly Thursday meetings at 10 am would know this. But not everyone can follow weekly meetings. Not everyone has the time or access. And in a county this size, with communities separated by forests and mountains, the echo of information fades before it reaches every ear.
White Deer Golf Course near Montgomery was another concern raised, specifically regarding its financial viability. This was addressed long before this meeting. The golf course is not only solvent but thriving. The commissioners deserve credit for this turnaround. What could have become a drain on county resources has instead become a success story, a public amenity that serves the community while maintaining fiscal responsibility. The work required to achieve this was significant, involving careful management and strategic planning. That work happened, and it worked.
The Rip Van Winkle effect is real in a place this large. Washington Irving’s character slept for twenty years and woke to find the world had moved on without him. In Lycoming County, you don’t need to rest for two decades. You need to live far enough from the courthouse, work long enough hours, or miss enough meetings for the information gap to widen. The vastness that makes this county beautiful also makes communication challenging. A message sent from Williamsport might travel instantly through fiber optic cables. However, it still has to find its way to someone checking their phone between shifts, or someone without reliable internet in a hollow where cell service is spotty at best.
The commissioners handled the public comment with patience, explaining what had been done and when. There was no frustration in their response, only clarity. They understand that governing a county this size means repeating information, answering the same questions multiple times, and recognizing that not everyone starts from the same baseline of knowledge.
The meeting also took time to acknowledge the 116-year birthday of the Boy Scouts, an organization that has shaped generations of young people in Lycoming County and across the nation. For more than a century, the Boy Scouts have taught outdoor skills, leadership, and community service. In a county defined by its wilderness, the organization’s emphasis on nature and self-reliance resonates deeply. The acknowledgment was brief but meaningful, a recognition that some institutions endure because they serve something larger than themselves.
The commissioners meet every Thursday at 10 am, conducting the work of governing Pennsylvania’s largest county by land area. The agendas are public. The meetings are open. But openness only matters if people can access it, and access is complicated by distance, by work schedules, by the simple fact that most people are too busy living their lives to track every county decision.
Moments like the one on February 6 reveal the challenge of governing a place this big. A man showed up with concerns. Those concerns were outdated, but they were real to him. And the commissioners took the time to address them, to explain, to reassure. That is how government is supposed to work, with the understanding that information is not evenly distributed and that showing up to ask questions, even questions that have already been answered, is still an act of civic engagement worth respecting.
The landfill will be discussed again next week. White Deer Golf Course will continue operating successfully. The Boy Scouts will turn 117. And somewhere in Lycoming County’s 1,244 square miles, someone else will wake up to information the rest of us have known for months.
As former Penn State linebacker and New York Giant great LaVar Arrington once said, “You can’t worry about what people say about you. You have to go out and do your job.”
