The 3/50 Project…….
The 3/50 project…………
Hey Discover Phillips County, for this week my intentions were to blog on the Kansas Biggest Rodeo, then I received a newsletter from another Main Street community. Included in it was a concept that immediately excited me! It is called the 3/50 project…saving the brick and mortars our Nation was built on.
You see having a heart for brick and mortar small businesses are not only a part of the legacy left to me by my father (who was employed by and then owned a small family owned furniture store), but are currently close to my heart as I work in community and economic development for our small rural Kansas County.
Between one of our communities losing 180 jobs and the state of the nation’s economy, days can seem pretty gloomy around here. Local coffee shop talk can focus on the next casualty to our business community. So, the 3/50 concept seems to me as a small positive step in the right direction.
I immediately went to the 3/50 website and then on over to the Always Upward blog, my intentions were to find out all I could to promote this concept in Phillips County.
Here is an excerpt from the Always Upward blog,
written by Cinda Baxter, founder of the 3/50 Project.
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A friend turned me onto a great piece about strengthening the local economy by patronizing local brick and mortars. Written by Rieva Lesonsky (Consulting Editor at BizWomen.com), the post “Support your small local businesses” – touched my retail-lovin’ heart in a big way.
(Her article sprang from a customer service-related experiment last summer. In that case, a guy decided to purchase goods and services only from businesses whose owners he’d met. Before long, he was frequenting the same three restaurants repeatedly, which inspired Lesonsky to twist the concept slightly, then consider the implications of her own shopping habits)
With more and more small businesses on the edge of survival, I’ve been thinking about which three stores I would most hate to see go out of business, and how
I can support them with my dollars.
Puts things in pretty clear terms, pretty quickly.
And this got my wheels spinning.
“Why not build a campaign tying this three door concept to the $50 challenge?
Call it the 3/50 concept
supporting local business in small, easily consumable bites.
The goal is simple: Ask consumers to frequent three local brick and mortar businesses they don’t want to see disappear, and to spend a very affordable $50 per month doing it.
Could be those three. Another three. Doesn’t matter. It’s about funneling revenue back into local business. You know-—the folks that pour money back into the community via commercial property taxes, payroll taxes, sales tax, and salaries (not to mention all that good will by way of volunteer time, silent auctions, sponsored softball teams, workshops, book signings, etc. )
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Here is the link to the 3/50 website.
I encourage you to check this out, then
Come Discover Phillips County and begin to embrace this initiative. Not only to help revitalize our local economy but to encourage our local business owners as well. Help spread this word, go support our local Phillips County businesses, and the individuals who have dedicated their lives and careers to the brick and mortars that Phillips County was built on!
“This Place Matters!”
For 2009, National Trust for Historic Preservation is taking “This Place Matters!” to a whole new level to start a national conversation about places that matter all across the country. This grassroots campaign is to help people protect, enhance and enjoy the places that matter to them. This campaign provides residents of Phillips County an opportunity to celebrate the diverse and unique heritage of our county and towns, and enables all of us to become involved in the growing preservation movement.
I venture to say that most of us living here would coin the saying, “This Place Matters” in talking about our small rural community and county. Let’s take it one step farther and think about individual sites, buildings, structures and homes, then ask yourself, “Does this Place Matter?”
As work is being done on the list of historic sites in Phillips County for this website, I am learning about places in our county that matter!
Take for instance the Battle of Prairie Dog Creek! Although the physical remnants of this battle have long been removed, the piece of land it took place on still remains. This area is located in the northwest corner of Phillips County, near the town of Long Island. The battle took place in 1867, between the 18th Kansas Cavalry and hundreds of Cheyenne, Kiowa and Sioux Indians. “This Place Matters,” it is a piece of Phillips County, Kansas and Kansas Calvary history.
On the opposite side of our county another unique piece of history is located by Kirwin, near the junction of Deer creek and the Solomon. The Stage Coach Station number 13 was one of 27 Stations on the route for the Leavenworth and Pike Peak’s Express. This route was established in 1859 and operated between Fort Leavenworth and Denver to serve the newly discovered gold fields around Denver. Although there is no building remaining, there is a dugout believed to be where this station was located. This is another example of Phillips County history that matters!
A quick glance at the Historic Resources Inventory list for Phillips County shows eleven bridges in our county as historic structures. This list includes both old truss bridges as well as limestone bridges built by the Work Projects Administration (WPA) in 1937. These bridges have provided crossing for those traveling in our county for years. The bridges are a part of structures in our county that matter.
A variety of buildings within our county fall under the guidelines for having historic value. These range from schools, churches, gas stations, and commercial buildings to the Phillips County courthouse, Phillipsburg’s community owned Majestic Theatre, the Masonic building, and private homes. Churches include The Church of the Transfiguration and Asbury Methodist in Logan, as well as the United Presbyterian and Methodist Church in Phillipsburg. A quick Google searched revealed the Phillips County Courthouse is considered one of the Historic Courthouses in the state of Kansas. The narrative form this site describes Phillips County Courthouse in these terms, “Tons of marble are obvious in this construction both inside and out. There is a generous use of slab marble in the wall panels, stair wells, and stair steps. Stair well railings are made of rod iron and walnut. A stained glass sky light is centered between two large brass chandeliers on the second floor ceiling. Each of the four working clocks that architecturally face in each direction atop the building sides is operated by the 1921 Seth Thomas pendulum mechanics which can be viewed behind glass on the first floor entrance” How fortunate are we to have this historic building as well as the many other buildings in Phillips County. Buildings in which we can say – “This Place Matters.”
To help raise awareness in Phillips County about the power of historic preservation, I encourage you to take a drive or walk by the historic sites, buildings, structures and homes and celebrate the unique heritage of our Kansas county. David C. McCullough stated that “History is a guide to navigate in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.” So, take the opportunity to stop, reflect and realize that in our county there are buildings, sites and structures in which – “This Place Matters.” Those buildings, sites and structures which have help make Phillips County Prosperous~Safe~Friendly~United! Welcome Home!
To learn more about the National Trust for Historic Preservation, as well as their “This Place Matters” campaign visit the website at: http://www.preservationnation.org/take-action/this-place-matters/Spend Your Money at Home Encouraged in 1879…….
Article from The Madisonian newspaper, Virginia City, Montana, January 11, 1879. Reprinted as it appeared in the Madisonian.
Spend Your Money at Home
The following is given by an exchange as among the most forcible reasons why you should spend your money at home, and we commend them to our readers as good ones:
It is your home; you cannot improve it much by taking away your money to spend or invest. There is no way of improving a place so much as by encouraging good merchants, good schools, and good people to settle among you, and this cannot be done unless you spend your money at home. Spend your money at home, for there is the place where you get it. It is your duty.
Spend your money at home, because when it is necessary for you to get credit, it is of your own town merchants you have to get it, and they must wait for the money. Therefore, when you have the money, spend it at home.
Spend your money at home. It will make better business for our merchants; they can and will keep better assortments and sell at lower rates than if the only business they can do is to be charged on the books, while the money goes other places.
Spend your money at home. Set the example now. Buy your dry-goods, groceries, meats, and everything at home, and you will see a wonderful change in a short time in the business outlook of the places; therefore, deal with your merchants at home.
And, not least, take your home paper, and pay for it.
I was reading the newspaper on microfilm to acquaint myself with the town in that time period as I’m working on a book set in that locale and was astonished to find the above article. In those days, one traveled by horse, buggy, stage… Well you know that as well as I do. So I’m wondering if the mail order catalogs had come into being. A search of good old Google and I learn that Sears and Roebuck wasn’t in business until around 1893, but Montgomery Ward published their first catalog in August of 1872. This catalog consisted of a single sheet with 163 articles for sale and ordering instructions. In 1883, the catalog, popularly known as The Wish Book, had grown to 240 pages and 10,000 items, satisfaction guaranteed. So maybe that’s where folks were spending their money.
Anyone have any other ideas? Eunice Boeve
Under The Leadership of Jim……..
The Chairman of our Phillips County Economic Development Board Jim, was a transplant to Phillips County. He was not born and raised in this community like many of us were. However, that didn’t stop him from not only loving our rural county but also being passionate about seeing our communities and businesses thrive. I learned some valuable lessons sitting under the leadership of Jim. He believed there was a certain order to things and to life in general, which was evident in the decisions he made as leadership on our economic development committee. While some may have misunderstood and thought it was because it was “his way or no way.” That is not the case. It wasn’t his way as much as it was the way in which he saw the order of events that needed to transpire. Many projects he strongly supported, but because of his age and life experiences knew that certain things needed to be done first before other steps could be taken. I believe because of some behind the scene decisions and actions on Jim’s part, we will see benefits in our county for years to come.
On a more personal level, I learned from working with Jim that it truly is ok to “agree to disagree.” I certainly don’t have the education and leadership experience which Jim did and for the most part I am new to the politics of public service. However, Jim would always take the time to listen to my opinion and suggestions. More times than not we had to come to an agreement in which we agreed to disagree. Through that I gained respect and understanding for him and realized that even when individuals don’t always see things the same, we can still work together for the betterment of our county.
I am thankful for individuals like Jim, who love Phillipsburg and Phillips County. Folks who chose after retirement to continue in a volunteer capacity and willingly bring their life experiences into this type of setting in order to help make Phillips County more Prosperous~Safe~Friendly~United! Welcome Home!
Jim passed away on June 5, 2009 at the age of 70. His eulogy read, “Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, “WOW !!!! What a ride!” That you Jim for your service to our county, you will be sorely missed.
Phillipsburg’s Trademark Festival
This past weekend, Phillipsburg came alive with people who have come to love the Riverless Festival. From the younger ones who participated in the Mr. and Miss River less Pageant to the older gentlemen who finished the weekend with a seniors golf tournament; people enjoy the activities surrounding our unique festival.
With this past weekend being the 25th anniversary, I couldn’t help but think of the volunteers who started this festival. Twenty five years ago when they were brainstorming for an event to bring people to our community, what was the discussion like? One would suspect that when the idea of a riverless festival was thrown out, the room was divided. Some who thought, “What a novel idea,” while others may have contemplated it as an idea that would for sure fail. Regardless of the initial discussion, the committee obviously came together and started this tradition. A tradition whose outcome has proven the Riverless is a success and has become a trademark for our rural Kansas Community.
As I strolled through the event site with my camera in tow, I got a warm fuzzy feeling you get when all is well in the world. It could have been because of the five little girls and their mommies who were setting on the curb enjoying time with each other and some lunch, or was it from watching the grandparents with the grandkids over on the inflatable games. Perhaps it was because of the youth who were using this opportunity to raise money for their causes, and didn’t mind working in a food booth to do so. What ever the reason for the contentment I felt on Saturday, the Riverless Festival is another example of the spirit of Discover Phillips County. It is a conglomeration of volunteers coming together to once again make the festival a success and to show not only residents but also visitors that Phillips County is Prosperous~Safe~Friendly~United. Welcome Home!