Jonathan Knutson
The Forum - 11/25/2006
There’s no simple or one-size-fits-all solution to revitalizing small farm towns, Nancy Straw said.
“Every community is different,” said Straw, president of Fergus Falls, Minn.-based West Central Initiative, which provides programs and funding to bolster the economy and families of nine Minnesota counties.
But she has some general suggestions for small-town residents interested in bettering their community’s future:
- Accept that things won’t go back to the way they used to be.
- Avoid getting caught up in negativism.
- Have local leaders with a vision of what their community can become.
- See opportunities instead of problems – for instance, find new uses for a school that closes.
- Identify possibilities or strengths to build on.
9 comments:
Now can someone please show this to our "Concerned Tax Payer Group"!! If we do not invest in this community we will lose it! Quit complaining about the school, the fire department, and think about the future of this town!!
I can't agree more!!! In a recent letter to the local paper, a claim was made about the taxpayer group saving the taxpayers money. The group is going to cost us ALL more in the not too distant future, including the cost of losing our community--and to me, the community includes the areas outside of the city limits of Pelican Rapids. Ignorance, just plain ignorance.
I'm afraid too many people are CAVE men:
C - continually
A - against
V - virtually
E - everything
Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute. ~Gil Stern
"Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain - and most fools do." -- Dale Carnegie
This could not be more true. Last weeks letter to the Editor in the Press was not only ignorant, but it was also a personal attack on someone. Everyone has a right to his or her own opinion, but when it starts getting personal, there needs to be a line drawn. All I have to say to these "tax payers," is that they need to open their eyes and stop living in the past!
Hat's off to Kelley Gorman! In the November 29th issue of The Press, Kelley Gorman wrote an excellent editorial about this very same subject and the "Concerned Tax Payer Group". I couldn't agree more with Kelley! I, for one, misjudged him. Finally, someone who exposes this group for who they REALLY are.
Could you post Kelleys editoral? I missed it! Thanks
If you are a citizen that lives-and-dies by the conviction to vote "NO" for whatever might infringe on your wallet... you might want to ponder how little that offers to long-range civic undertakings. Don't let your disguised sense of "concern" be something that history will write as nothing more than a contribution to the demise of "small town America". We DO need concerned citizens - citizens concerned enough to look outside themselves and invest in the future of Pelican Rapids.
Post a Comment