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Edited on Tue Apr-05-11 01:35 PM by Skidmore
We live in a small village of 200 people. Our village is unincorporated so we have what is known as a "Welfare Club" to which people pay $5/yr for membership. The purpose of the group is to coordinate village-wide social activities several time a year and to conduct fundraisers to maintain the organization and the building which is used for a variety of activities. We are a nonprofit group. We meet once a month to discuss issues affecting the organization and the larger community (e.g., sewer, maintenance of common land, annual picnic, etc.).
For the past 3 years we have undertaken a community garden and it has been a great success. First, we allocate roughly $25 from our funds for the purchase of seeds and plant sets. Someone steps forward and volunteers to till or plow the plot, which is donated for use by the village church. We set a day, usually on a Saturday, for people to meet and plant the garden. Throughout the growing season, people volunteer time to weed or till. No set schedule. People just show up and work. One of the men in town made wooden signs painted with crop names. If you are over at the garden and note that a crop is ready, you drop by and hang up the appropriate sign to let people know what is ready. These are hung out in front of the club building. All produce is available to the elderly free of charge or labor. Younger folks may take produce provided they volunteer time working in the garden. We had a bumper crop of pumpkins a couple of years ago and sold them at the farmer's market and put the money back in the till to support the purchase of seed in the following year.
Other things we have done for the community is pay for the gas and volunteer to mow along the road sides and other common grounds at the town entrance. We maintain an apple orchard on a bit of the common land and people get together every Feb-Mar to prune the trees. Anyone can pick apples from the orchard. We collected heritage recipes from the older people in town and had them printed in a book which we sell. This is another source of funds. We have most recently used some these funds to repair a section of the sewer and to purchase a new mower.
There is a strong community participation ethic in this village. People help one another. Our garage door finally gave out last year and we purchased another. A couple of guys down the road came over to help put it up. This past year we had problems with one of our windows, a brand that is no longer manufactured. A wood worker down the road milled a replacement section for the lower sash and spared us the expense of replacing windows. My husband quite often repairs small appliances for people and doesn't charge them. In the winter, those who have snow blades on their pickups will plow out the driveways of the elderly or will shovel walkways for them.
About 3 years ago, a young couple moved to town and started an organic grocery. It's not a large one, but townspeople make it a point to give them business so that we can have access to staples. Comes in handy when the weather is bad and travel into the nearest large towns becomes difficult.
These are not huge tasks to do, most just take time. People are willing to step forward and provide service in the absence of a formal government structure. We do this because we take pride in our town and care for one another. That is where it needs to start. Stop fearing one another and start finding common needs and work together to meet them.
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