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Marion PRIDE: Thinking big and small

Staff writer

Diana Costello of Marion knows that a collection of small improvements — planters on Main Street, changing street lamps in town to be the more antique three-bulb variety, and even removing a few fallen trees near the Cottonwood River — can make the essential impact on a person who is deciding to move to a new town.

She witnesses it all the time working as a clerk for the city of Marion. Weekly, she has people come into the office searching to find out more about the town, if there are houses for sale. Several Sheehan Pipeline workers visited with Costello, one bought a house in Marion.

Costello also knows about the pride a community can feel when it knows it is doing the work to keep itself viable.

“I just remember, probably about the time I was moving away that it was just a special feeling when you saw that sign that said this is a PRIDE community,” she said.

Marion had a PRIDE group that disbanded 20 years ago. Heeding the requests of residents Sally Hannaford, Margaret Wilson, and Karen Regnier, Costello became the chairperson of a new PRIDE group this past October.

“All it needed was a leader,” Costello said. “All my life, I’ve done Girl Scouts and Sunday school; it’s time to do grown-up things.”

Although it has been formed since this past fall, the Marion PRIDE group has used the past few months to establish the foundation of the organization. Costello, treasurer Hannaford, and secretary Wilson, communicated with established groups in Florence and Tampa before writing Marion’s bylaws.

Now that the necessary first steps have been taken in the group’s infancy, the group of women is ready to start organizing events and work to procure grants for community improvements.

PRIDE’s first act is recognizing Marion residents whose yards display community pride.

Next, they will write a survey to send to Marion residents asking how they would like to see the city improve.

“I hope the community takes this survey very seriously,” Costello said. “I hope people give their suggestions freely.”

Larger projects are looming in the future for PRIDE. When researching the former PRIDE group in Marion, Costello found plans for revitalizing Main Street that were never enacted. Among the plans were sketches of Main Street buildings with suggestions of how to make their exteriors more historically accurate.

While Costello is looking to glean information from surveys about what steps to take in the revitalization project, she has started conversations with Marion engineer Darin Neufeld.

“We help them define what they want to do,” Neufeld said.

Neufeld’s role in the project will be to write grant applications with the proper language to qualify for state funds. They have already talked about a grant that would provide funds for improving curbs and sidewalks on Main Street, and possibly provide a brick ribbon in the sidewalk.

Neufeld and Costello both said the entire project could be completed using grants. Costello gave the example of Solomon as a town that improved its Main Street using Kansas Department of Transportation grants.

“Main Street is a state highway,” Costello said. “It used to be 56.”

Along with Main Street, Costello is also interested in the Ecosystems Healthy Communities program conducted by Kansas State University. PRIDE would use the program to clean up the Cottonwood Valley River, clogged with fallen trees since an ice storm four years ago. Costello has a connection to the river having formerly lived on Elm Street.

“My kids grew up on that river,” she said.

However, she did say the project might require years of research before debris could be removed.

Although Costello has the ambition to think big for Marion, she is hoping to put together enough small projects to keep PRIDE members engaged in the community and the organization.

“With each goal we establish we will find people to commit,” Costello said. “For any given thing people will say, ‘I’ve signed on for this, I committed to it, but I’m done.’ You won’t get burned out.”

PRIDE has started to expand from its simple beginnings. Pam Bowers and Jeanice Thomas recently joined the group.

“I think Marion already looks like a city with pride,” Costello said. “I’m hoping to build on that.”

Last modified April 7, 2011

 

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