Branson, Missouri is a small town that goes out of its way to entertain America. It has on display everything that makes this country great – charm, independence, initiative, creativity, humor, family values and faith. And now you can add to that list: resilience.

In 1894 William Henry Lynch bought Marble Cave on the outskirts of the town of Branson, renamed it Marvel Cave, and began charging visitors to see it. Hugo and Mary Herschend signed a 99-year lease to the cave and began hosting square dances there, capitalizing on the natural acoustics of its huge cathedral-sized cavern. Their two sons, Peter and Jack modernized the cave with electricity and cement staircases, and in 1960, the Herschends opened Silver Dollar City on the site, a recreated frontier town which has become one of the most successful theme parks in the country.

With a steady stream of visitors coming to town during the vacation season, it was only a matter of time that music would follow. The Presley family became the first to move their show to Branson in 1967 followed a year later by the Baldknobbers. Soon Highway 76 that runs through the center of town would become known as the “strip” containing more than 50 theaters boasting live, value-oriented music and comedy entertainment.

Tuesday night, an EF-2 tornado rolled across Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri, leaving devastation in its path, and in the first hour of leap year, it leaped upon the city of Branson doing significant damage to 5 or 6 six of more than 100 local attractions, along with 12-15 of the city’s more than 200 hotels. Not to belittle the devastating personal losses to homes and businesses, still, in the grand scheme of things, this will probably turn out to be no more than a hiccup in this year’s tourist season.

“We were blessed with several things,” said Mayor Raeanne Presley, “the time of year and certainly the time of day, when people were not in their vehicles or outdoors,” She noted that during Branson’s peak season, which is only days away from launching, up to 60,000 visitors would have been in the city on any given day and staying in many of the hotels that were damaged. Her comments are typical of the spirit of this place: a tornado smashes through the heart of things and the mayor is talking about being blessed.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because the Herschends have become dear friends of ours and friends of the Catch. They have also come to exemplify, in the way they run their entertainment businesses and treat their employees, everything that we trumpet here about taking Christ to the marketplace including a Christ-like compassion that was recently captured on an episode of the popular CBS reality show, “Undercover Boss” featuring Joel Manby, CEO of Herschend Family Entertainment.

Here’s what we propose you can do for the people of Branson who have sustained this natural disaster: plan to go there this spring or summer for your vacation, take your family and loved ones with you, and enjoy yourself. Turn it into their best season ever. We guarantee you will discover what indeed is the mission of Herschend Family Entertainment: “Creating Memories Worth Repeating.”