Several area residents met last Tuesday at the Barefoot Event Center to discuss the development of a Linn Community Betterment Association.

Stephanie Lewis, who works at American Family Insurance in Linn, said she would like to see an association similar to that being operated in Belle.

“This is something that I have been rolling around in my head for about two years,” said Lewis. “I live in Belle, and I see what Belle’s association has done for the area, what it’s brought in, how it’s run, and how it’s supported. I feel like with Linn and what we have here, what we could do with a Betterment Association could be amazing.”

She spoke with several business and community leaders in Linn and developed ideas for last week’s discussion.

MU Extension Specialist Elizabeth Anderson, who focuses on community economic development, explained why betterment or development is important.

“A lot of people know the term capital when it comes to financial means, or labor (human capital) or financial capital, but there are several things in a community that if they’re all there, and they’re all working together, make a community healthy, vibrant, and a good place to live,” said Anderson. “There are lots of different parts, including infrastructure, the buildings that exist in a place already, financial capital, local businesses, and the local workforce. Natural capital is one of my favorite capitals. In Osage County, I tell everybody I have the prettiest drive to work because we have a lot of really nice natural capital, the environment, the geography, human capital, our people, not just in terms of workers, but their expertise.”

She added that the relationships between people, the shared history and culture, local flavor, political capital, power, accountability, civic engagement, and things like that are equally important. 

“I’m going to talk a little bit more about social capital because to me, that’s a big part of community development,” Anderson said. “So, social capital is made up of trust, reciprocity, and durability. You build social capital through a sense of belonging, authenticity, and reliability. And I think that’s really the key to community betterment, as you create a sense of place, belonging, and being a part of your community. There are two different kinds of social capital: bonding and bridging. Bonding is a social capital you have with people who are already just like you, the people you go to church with, or the people in your family; you have things in common. Bridging is social capital that develops between people who are different. I think that that’s one of the important things about this meeting. We want to get people from all over the community who are in different types of businesses, backgrounds, or different types of socioeconomic circumstances. We want to build those relationships to make things more vibrant. Community development and community betterment are important because it’s about strengthening numbers. You can do more with more people, and a rising tide raises all boats. So, if we’re all working together, we can have more happen. You have heightened effectiveness when you have more people working on a project than just trying to do it alone. Or, if only a very small group of people are continually trying to do something, they get burned out quickly. You have access to wider resource possibilities, and you have enhanced legitimacy and community footprint. So it’s easier to potentially put on a big project when you say this is something that the Linn Community Betterment Association is doing rather than this is an idea that I as one person have, and improve working relationships and cohesion between different people. Many academic articles that I find interesting in a kind of post-COVID research are finding that communities with higher degrees of social capital and stronger relationships have fared better when faced with a pandemic or a natural disaster or things like that. So, we want to make the community not just look nicer, not just a fun place but stronger.”

Shelley Klebba of Legends Bank presented three pillars of betterment: community events, business development, and beautification.

“The mission that we had stated is to bring individuals together from the Linn community who have a similar passion for creating and sustaining growth in the community,” said Klebba, noting that down the road, the group may become a 501(c)3. “Maybe that’s a dream. I mean, that’s what we would like to do, ultimately, but we need to get formed and filed with the Secretary of State; there are just steps that we have to go through. So we’re in this forming stage right now. Ultimately, it would be nice if there were grants out there for the renovation of vacated properties or other projects. So that’s an example of beautification on a bigger scale.”

In terms of community events, Klebba said the Christmas on Main Street Committee, which is slated for its fourth year, started as a dream. “One day, we decided we’re going to do this, and we just kind of pulled resources from different areas, but that’s an example of a community event that has been very successful,” she said. “We would like to continue to do something maybe in the summer, fall, or spring. Ultimately, Christmas on Main Street will naturally fall under this umbrella because it’s a community event.”

Klebba added that business development is important, suggesting that an orthodontist could visit Linn a couple of times per month to make it more available to residents. 

Beautification could include simple things like flower planters in the downtown district.

Promotion is key to the success of the association. “Whether it’s recruiting or expanding businesses, or doing ribbon-cuttings for new businesses and helping out with PR and publicity, ultimately, we’d like to do a Facebook page or a website, but that’s all part of this formation,” Klebba said.

Main Street Pizza owner Kelly Frank said the plan is to elect board members, a president, treasurer, and secretary, and then each one of these pillars will have a chairperson.

“So, the plan is to have the chairpeople be accountable to the board and vice versa,” Klebba said. “Just to kind of keep things in line. And then any voting that needs to happen on how the money is spent would be voted on by all of the members, but if you’re interested in being president, we’d like to see someone who’s focused and communicates while connected and able to positively handle conflict with the state of a brand-new association. We’re going to need a board that’s going to come in very motivated to move this along and keep it growing.”

The secretary should be detail-oriented, and the treasurer would ideally have someone with an accounting background.

Lewis explained that being a Linn Community Betterment Association member does not require dues; instead, it’s a volunteer position.

“So, if you feel that you really want to be a board member, we would love for you to look at that,” said Frank. “We’re just people that are passionate about it. What we’re looking for, though, is people that are doers who, when they see a need, want to see it all the way through. We also understand that people have other obligations they have. I  have kids, we all have kids, we have other schedules, and we have jobs. So we want to meet you where you are, and if you really just want to be focused on one thing, that’s amazing. But we ask that you’re upfront with that. If you really want to do the development, that’s awesome. If you want to do all of it, we’re just asking you that if you commit to something, you commit it all the way to the end on that part of it. If you don’t have any passion for being a board member, if you just want to be a member of it and want to come to meetings, but you can’t come to every meeting, that’s awesome. We’re fine with that. We’re just looking for people that have the same passion who want to see this grow, want to see it develop, and have ideas.”

Lewis said the big event each year for the Belle Betterment Association is a swap meet, which generates most of the group’s funding. 

“We’re thinking of things that could generate money,” said Lewis. “We could do things like planters or beautification or development, you know, it’s going to take money to get the big ribbon and the big scissors to do the ribbon-cutting, you know. All that stuff takes money. So those are things to kind of think of when you are brainstorming. The three pillars work in unison, but they all kind of run individually at the same time, if that makes sense.

“It would be nice to have, you know, whether it’s one project out of each column going at all times,” Lewis continued. “Whether one’s short-term and one’s more long-term. I mean, these are all things that we can categorize once we get a feel for what things are going to cost, but as Elizabeth said earlier, it’s just nice to have a group going in on a project versus one person saying, ‘hey, this is my idea.’ It’s just easier, and you hear about the grants, and I think it’d be beneficial.”

Assets already in place include the Osage County Library, master gardeners, a strong sense of community, State Tech, several restaurants, shops, and businesses, a strong faith community, service organizations such as the VFW, Knights of Columbus, and Lions Club, the Osage County Fairgrounds, the development of an inclusive playground, the city pool, Scouts, 4-H, the Osage Country Club, and a willingness to help and support one another.

Project ideas include a farmer’s market, a pet event, a dog park and doggy daycare, concerts, and movies at Maguire Park, a kids’ gym for dance, karate, etc., summer camps, a running club, an urgent care facility, an indoor/outdoor pool with swim meets, a community garden, a splash park, a seed library, a “Welcome to Linn” sign, an animal shelter, a fishing park, a running/hiking trail, mental health resources, a themed festival, a community 4th of July celebration, trail along Hwy. 50 to State Tech, and cleaning up around town.

Linn Parks Committee Chairman Neil Loethen said he’s received approval from the city to transform the skatepark into a full-size basketball court going sideways, so there won’t be a huge basketball court. He also plans to paint a design he came up with for that to paint on the pavement and then add pickle ball courts on the other side. “We’re going to move the skatepark and the skating equipment to an area, and I’m going to landscape around the outside of that area,” Loethen added, noting everyone plays at the current basketball court. “I’m going to make it into like a nature playground because I feel like a lot of people want to have their kids playing. The all-inclusive playground is going to be amazing. People want to be able to see their kids from the stands, so I’ve got a plan for a nature playground where it’s rock slugs, things of that; nature for kids to just go over and be creative and play on, but give them something to do while their brothers or sisters are playing softball or baseball over on the fields.”

Loethen also has plans to expand the walking trail at Maguire Park and repair some of the ruts because it does go back into the woods a little bit and gets washed out with rain. “That’s something that’s kind of an ongoing thing,” he added. “I don’t necessarily manage that walking trail. The city workers do that. I have some other ideas about what I think would be neat. I always thought we need to have a fishing lake somewhere. But my idea where to put it, I don’t I mean, there’s only one place I know where to put it, and I don’t know if that’s feasible. It’s kind of where the soccer field is right now at Maguire, but to make that into like a lake area with the walking trail … I’m not an engineer. I don’t really fish, but I just think it’s neat to have, and I think it just makes your parks more beautiful honestly, to have like a water feature.”

The group plans to meet on the second Thursday of the month, with the next meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. on June 9.