IMAGINE ?

By Deb Zeiner
Director, Chase County Chamber of Commerce

I don¹t know quite what I imagined when my husband, Jim, and I headed to Hutchinson in November for the 2006 Kansas Communities Conference. A complaint session? Undoubtedly. A boring weekend? Likely. An opportunity to listen to the same old rhetoric that rumbles around Kansas whenever two or three residents of rural communities swap notes about their home towns? Certainly.

But what I found that weekend, and what I came home with, was a renewed inspiration to make a difference and a realization that my community and the accompanying good, bad and indifferent attitudes that so fascinate me are not unique. And that there are others like me who are imagining making a difference.

As Terry Woodbury led us through the weekend, I began to jot down notes, which was the last thing in the world I wanted to do since I’d spent years working as a reporter. I’m tired of taking notes. But I began to hear some ideas that were too good not to remember, too good not to imagine.

For example - at Chanute, senior citizens work as greeters at the high school - greeting and hugging the kids as they arrive at school in the morning. What a great idea.

And in Hodgeman County, they have held leadership training and an annual Thanksgiving meal for the entire community. Wouldn¹t it be a great idea to begin having regular community conversation meals at our community building, as part of our community-building?

And in Girard, their Chamber of Commerce has asked/forced the community to produce activities, rather than the Chamber doing it all, to get new blood involved and to lessen the STP (Same Ten People) factor. Amen.

And in Wallace County, their group has produced a dvd called Return to Wallace
County to present to alumni. And they’ve held a second Community Conversation. They also have had steering committee meetings at various locations, including a rooftop and a museum. If we produced a dvd, we could use it to promote returning to Chase County at Alumni Weekend, or rodeo weekend. And we need to have regular Community Conversations. It was a big success. Let¹s not let that feeling slip away.

By the end of the weekend, I had several pages of notes.

1. Imagine what would happen if we had a core value of engagement in our community? What if people knew that was who we are - deeply engaged in our community?

2. What issues do we face because of outside ownership in our community? Can we use outside owners to assist our agenda?

3. Imagine what we could do together, both within Imagine Chase County and within
   Kansas Communities, that we cannot do ourselves? Could we form a community foundation? What about providing mentors to work with each community, lobby on a state level, provide workshops and training programs for each other, begin a newsletter or publication to share ideas or develop the website so we can communicate with each other?

4. Imagine how can we keep Imagine Chase County in front of our friends and neighbors? Bumper stickers, signs, banners (all over the county including back roads), invite city council, county commissioners, Chamber members, school administrators, nursing home administrators and pastors to regular meetings to get to know each other better.

5. Cancer in the coffee shop. Nuff said.

6. Imagine what would happen if we became more proactive about community development funding? Hundreds of thousands of dollars travel out of our county every year, bequeathed to other entities. Perhaps more projects could be completed if the money stayed here.

Imagine?