Woodbine, IA

This past Monday night, June 23rd, Woodbine hosted a celebration of accomplishments night at our central park. We served over 200 sundaes to the residents of our town who came to be a part of this incredibly exciting moment for Woodbine. We created display boards that were all over our shelter house. A scavenger hunt of information from the displays was created and people spent a GREAT deal of time studying the pictures and explanations of things we had accomplished during our program through Horizons. Another element that was wonderful to see was the utilization of SIGN UP BOARDS for the work that continues as a result of our work with the Horizon’s program. We have plans and ideas to move forward with, committees that are yet forming, and new ideas to explore. People ate sundaes and brownies, socialized, signed up to help with projects, and played yard games. ONE STUDENT who was near as we were setting up was particularly interesting to watch. He did not know we were going to be at the park that night with free ice cream. He was just there playing. His eyes got bigger and bigger as the games started going up and the food came out. We shared that he should start playing the games if he wanted and when he learned that this was all FREE and totally open to him and his friends and his family he just stated so emphatically, “THIS PLACE IS AMAZING.” Our open house celebration meant more than ice cream to this young man. He was a part of the community that day. He was a welcome participant in a giant party that represented far more than he could probably appreciate at his age, but he had a great evening because we were there to share our successes with the community at large. We showed Woodbine what Woodbine has done.

Woodbine has opened up its application time for its annual Paint-a-thon that will happen in August.  New this year was a grant application written and received for $1400 from the Network Neighborhood Grants Program administered by the local Human Service Decat Board. Woodbine High School student council will be reviewing the applications and picking several houses to paint. Eligible entries include those who are in financial need and are not as able to afford paint/supplies to paint their houses, and eligible applicants include those who are physically unable to paint their own houses. Paint-a-thon addresses financial and emotional poverty, but it also incorporates a huge social element within it which helps eliminate the social poverty we face in our towns. This event is totally student driven. The leadership skill set and leadership opportunities for our high school youth are incredible. Students also solicit the help of the community and rely on a huge volunteer base to complete their painting tasks on the actual painting date.

The “Marketing Woodbine” committee formed from the Horizons discussion submitted a grant proposal to Iowa Living Roadways Community Visioning and was selected for the program.  We are now starting an eight month process with a Trees Forever facilitator. The facilitator will guide us (the steering committee) and the community at large as the project collects informational data concerning improving the appearance/architectural landscape/transportation routes of our town. The first meeting was well attended and there was much discussion and brainstorming about the above. At the end of the session, the group voted on their top three ideas to concentrate on…this method worked well in helping the steering committee to distill all the input and come to a consensus upon which ideas, in general, to concentrate. Due to the notice of our meeting in the local paper inviting any interested community member, there were several people in attendance new to the process with some different ideas and input . That was an extra positive…hopefully, these different people will spread the word concerning the intent of the Visioning project so the Woodbine community members will actively participate in contributing their ideas and reflections.

One of our Horizons Work Groups was on Quality Jobs–having current and future employers provide quality good paying jobs in Woodbine to boost the local economy. This work group had heard about the Main Street Iowa program and thought it might be a good program for Woodbine. A group of men and women used their leadership abilities and talents and applied to have Woodbine be a Main Street Iowa Community. They were awarded this distinction on March 4 in Des Moines, Iowa. Already on March 19 the Main Street officials visited Woodbine. They met with the Woodbine Main Street Board and about 100 community members. They presented and discussed the Four Point Design of the program. 1. Organization (political), 2. Business Improvement (economic), 3. Design (physical), and 4. Promotion (social). Woodbine Main Street Board has work ahead but are excited about finding ways to better the Woodbine Community in hopes of providing a place where quality jobs can be found, as well as a beautiful place to live.

One can wait for something to happen or one can jump in and do it! That is what the Caring, Sharing, Supporting Committee members decided to do in Woodbine. Woodbine has a nursing home, an assisted living residence, and a great number of elderly who live in their homes that are low income and and who do not get out very easily on their own. Days can be long and lonely for such people. Five members of the Caring, Sharing, Supporting committee decided to stop waiting and to get busy. In order to make this workable we had a member from five churches in Woodbine and 5 other volunteers split up the names of 37 people to visit during the month of March. We didn’t quite get everyone visited but the ball was starting to roll. The elderly, especially, enjoyed seeing a new face and to have someone to share with. It was difficult getting away even after an hour. It is time well spent. During May a greater effort will be made to find others to share their time and giftedness. Each member of the committee will ask at least one other person to visit 1 person on the list. Eventually, we are hopeful to have this coordinated so that the names of people will be rotated and the people will be seen monthly by a different person.