What a town creates
Cheryl Unruh
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
WHEN TRAVELING THE state, I like to look for something original in each town, something residents have created, restored, or put on display.
Unique projects help reflect a town’s personality – they show how the locals have invested their time and money; you see what they value.
Argonia in Sumner County has built a half-mile walking and bike trail to the Chikaskia River. Shaded by trees with an occasional bench for resting, the sidewalk leads to a campground and picnic area, and then into the woods alongside the river.
In Harper County, Anthony residents have constructed a Sept. 11 memorial with pieces of steel from the World Trade Center, honoring the heroic firefighters.
Up north in Waterville (Marshall County), the community spent years raising funds and restoring the 1905 Weaver Hotel which reopened this year.
The Community Connection Trail gives walkers and bicyclists a safe path between Strong City and Cottonwood Falls. A restored foot bridge across the Cottonwood River is part of that trail.
And Council Grove comes to mind with its gorgeous walkway along the Neosho River from downtown to the Kaw Mission Historic Site.
Last month, when Emporia Arts Council Director Melissa Windsor announced that the building fund goal had been met, I happily added that to Emporia’s list. The new arts center will be a dynamic resource for us all, and something that visitors to town will envy.
In the 28 years I’ve lived in Emporia, time after time money has been raised for community projects that enhance our lives.
I remember when a traveling exhibit of J. Seward Johnson Jr. statues came to town in the late ’80s. Residents were so captivated with the bronze pieces that money was raised and one was purchased.
“Just a Taste” is the name of the statue chosen, featuring a boy, a girl and an ice cream cone. It stands in front of the Emporia Public Library. A plaque nearby reads: “A gift to Emporia from the people of Emporia, December 1988.”
If you want to see what Emporia can accomplish, just step inside the Granada Theatre. That’s one big wow, especially if you remember it as the shabby Fox Theater in the ’80s or if you saw it during its gutted restoration phase.
Now, the Granada is Emporia’s shining star, thanks to folks like John Mallon who had long-range vision and put heart and money into the massive undertaking. This was a community-supported project; we all made it happen.
Community donations also made possible the “Spring in the Flint Hills” mural on the side of the Java Cat-5 building near Sixth Avenue and Merchant Street. During the spring of 2003, Louis Copt and Stan Herd climbed a scaffold and painted that picture for us.
The project of one Leadership Emporia class was the “Our flag was still there” mural at 11th Avenue and Commercial Street. Emporia has also created an impressive Veterans Memorial Park and holds a celebration every November in honor of veterans.
The playground at Peter Pan Park was initiated by another Leadership Emporia class. Hundreds of volunteers built that playground during a week in May 2008.
For years, the Emporia Eastside Community Group plotted and planned, along with the city, the development of the Eastside Memorial Park at Ninth and East Streets.
In 2006, the park had a solitary swing set. That was it. Now there’s a magnificent new playground area, several swing sets, and up the hill is a large shelter house. The newest addition to the park is an obelisk sculpted by Alan Tollakson and Fletcher Russell.
These projects are joint efforts. We rely on each other, the city and county, businesses, schools, the university, churches and service organizations, because it’s by working together that we accomplish great things.
These are just some of the gifts we’ve given ourselves, things that improve our quality of life and make Emporia unique.
Now with the construction of the new arts center underway, we can watch another project in progress in the 800 block of Commercial Street.
Visitors to town should be impressed. Heck, we should be impressed. Emporians can take pride in what our generation has created.
“Flyover People” is online at www.flyoverpeople.net. Cheryl Unruh can be reached at cheryl@flyoverpeople.net.
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