Rossville PRIDE
Notes
Reported
by Christi McKenzie
The
window display at Dr. Kratina’s building on Main Street was very well received
by the community. Tracy Taylor reported that she heard many positive comments
at City Hall. Lisa Thornburg plans to change the display for Valentines Day and
see what comes next. Next year for Christmas, it would be great to expand the
tree displays in other windows on Main Street.
Shelly
Buhler and Lisa made the flower pots on Main Street look festive for the winter
season. Discussed ideas to improve the display next year.
The
Veteran’s Day celebration with the American Legion was well received. Tracey
made a delicious cake for the reception.
The veterans liked the engraved bricks and many were surprised by the
bricks that were bought for them. City Hall has received several more orders
since November. The bricks were picked up and will be installed during Spring
Break. Thank you to Alan McKenzie,
Nicholas McKenzie, Lisa T, Shelly, Ann Foster and Christi for laying down the
bricks. People can still continue to to order bricks. The form is online.
Andrick
Park is a great addition to Main Street. A big thank you to the City Utility
Department, Alan Zlatnik and Brad Kirk for the Christmas light and decorations.
Christi reports that the City Council is working to get wifi at the Gazebo,
hopefully by early summer. The PIP grant for the landscaping in Andrick Park is
completed. The volunteers completed the project in one evening. The City has
done a great job watering during the summer to keep all of the plants alive and
growing. The last part of the plan from Laci Foster is to add peonies. Christi
will contact Brenda Brown to see if the Andrick family wants to donate some
peonies from their yards this spring. Peonies could be ordered in fall to bloom
next year.
Lisa
Stum has been working with the California Oregon Trail Association and National
Parks Service for a sign that tells Rossville’s story on the trail. An
anonymous donation had been made to help fund the sign. (Update: At the
February Council Meeting Lisa received information from the NPS to begin
designing the sign and the Council approved to move forward with the project)
Lisa
Thornburg presented an idea for a PRIDE project grant. The border between
Andrick Park and the neighboring houses looks unfinished. After doing some
research, she presented the idea of a series of privacy screens that would
coordinate with the Gazebo. Japanese Lilac trees could be planted between each
screen. Barn Quilts could be hung on each screen. Local artist could paint the
quilts to be displayed on the fence or at their homes. Lisa will look for an
artist who could give classes and helpful hints. The barn quilts would be added
to the Flint Hills Barn Quilt trail. The quilts could tie in historically with
the Oregon Trail. Christi will apply for a PRIDE grant for the projects and ask
for approval from the City Council. (Update the City Council gave approval for
the fence, if funded)
The
Kindness Project was presented by Lisa. Small stones are painted with designs
or words and then left on public property for someone to find. The stones would
say Rossville Rocks and Kansas Rocks with hashtags. TASMAD students will help
to paint rocks. People will be invited
to participate in the kindness project utilizing the PRIDE facebook page. We
hope to have the project ready for the Regional Conference. It will be fun to
see where the rocks go.
Rossvile
PRIDE has been asked to host the Kansas PRIDE regional conference on April 24.
The conference is in the evening and feature talks about small community
improvements and involvement and ideas about fundraising. Kansas PRIDE will
give an update on programs and the partnership with the Kansas Masonic Lodge.
Other locations hosting are Haysville, Kinsley, Iola and Grainfield.
It
was decided to contact Todd Brown to use his building at 419 Main Street.
(Update he said sure and welcomed the use of the building) April 23 is National
Picnic Day, so we are going to celebrate a day later. We will serve a fried
chicken meal with possible sides of baked beans, cole slaw, potato salad,
macaroni salad, jello salad, and of course homemade pie. Kansas PRIDE will make
a flier and collect registrations. We are hoping for 30 to 40 people to attend
in Rossville.
The
Rossville Community Foundation Celebration dinner is Sat. April 7. Lisa will again
design and decorate a table for the dinner. She will also create a display
highlighting the projects that the Foundation and PRIDE have partnered,
including Andrick Park, Pancake Breakfast, POP Art auction and Main Street.
Jerry
Schwilling is curious about creating a dog park. There are a few location that
may work. We will continue to research the idea.
The
next meeting has not been scheduled yet.
