Now That's Rural - Barbara Lilyhorn - Fairfield Area Partners
Note to Editors: This column is adapted from the Kansas Profile radio series. Every Wednesday, a different Kansan, Kansas community or Kansas-based company is profiled as a regular feature of the K-State Research and Extension News lineup. A photo of Ron Wilson is available at http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/news/sty/RonWilson.htm.
By Ron Wilson, director, Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.
Grab your Kansas map. Let’s go to Fairfield today. Okay, but when you open the map, you can’t seem to find a Fairfield. There’s a Fairview and a Fairway, but no Fairfield. That’s because Fairfield isn’t a town, it’s more of a concept. Fairfield is the name of a region and a school district in western Reno County – and more than that, it’s home to a group of people who are working together to make their communities.
Barbara Lilyhorn is the director of the K-State Research and Extension Reno County office. Barbara explains that Fairfield area residents were concerned about their gradual but certain population loss which many rural areas face.
At a Community Development Academy in 2007, Ron Hirst of the Reno County Quest Center for Entrepreneurs heard people from Cowley County describe their regional ABCDE Coalition. He wondered if such a concept could be applied in western Reno County. Ron approached the Kansas PRIDE Program and K-State Research and Extension - Reno County, and both programs wanted to help.
Encouraged by their support, Hirst began visiting city council meetings to introduce the concept of developing a Fairfield Area Partnership. Each community could bring their expertise and knowledge and improve the entire area through pooled resources.
In November 2007, a community forum was held at Fairfield High School. More than 80 citizens attended from all over the district. At the beginning, participants were divided into their respective communities. Then each community was placed in charge of one item essential to dinner, such as bowls, spoons, soup, beverage, crackers, glasses, and coffee or tea. Each community could then decide to share, barter, or sell their item. Creative collaboration resulted and, importantly, everybody got fed. That’s a powerful demonstration of the benefits of collaboration right there.
Participants heard several speakers and then took a community survey. In February, a subsequent meeting featured the survey results, which identified several assets in these communities. Friendly, caring people, strong core values, small schools with a good education system, good accessibility to other markets and the desire to improve topped the result list.
Then Ron Hirst and Barbara Lilyhorn facilitated a process of voting where participants could identify their top priorities. Another meeting brought resources to address those top issues, and participants agreed to join the PRIDE Program as a single entity: Fairfield Area Partners. This is unusual because the PRIDE Program typically works with individual towns, but in this case, it made sense for these communities to come together as a region.
Fairfield Area Partners represents a rural region of the state. Its territory includes six incorporated towns: The cities of Arlington, population 452; Turon, population 432; Sylvia, population 295; Abbyville, population 127; Plevna, population 98; and Langdon, population 71. Now, that’s rural.
It’s logical for such rural communities to work together on key issues. They have both shared issues and individual strengths. Abbyville hosts an annual PRCA rodeo. Sylvia is nationally known for its waterfowl and good hunting. Turon has monthly community dinners with entertainment. Arlington conducts a yearly garage sale and city-wide cleanup. Langdon is near the senior high and middle school. Plevna has a historic bank that is used as City Hall.
Together, they can promote each other’s assets while working on shared needs. Barbara Lilyhorn successfully applied for a min-grant from the Huck Boyd Institute’s Rural Engagement and Action Leadership Project to support this effort. The REAL Project was funded by K-State’s Center for Engagement and Community Development.
Now these communities are working on recruitment of young families, promoting the special events and attractions in the various communities, seeking funding, and working to upgrade Internet access for the area.
So fold up your Kansas map, it’s time to leave Fairfield. No, it’s not a dot on the map, but it is a region where people are collaborating for the benefit of all their communities. We commend Ron Hirst, Barbara Lilyhorn, and all those involved with Fairfield Area Partners for making a difference with their collaborative efforts. By taking such a fair view of their shared opportunities, I think they’ll go a fair way.
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The mission of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development is to enhance rural development by helping rural people help themselves. The Kansas Profile radio series and columns are produced with assistance from the K-State Research and Extension Department of Communications News Unit. Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at http://www.kansasprofile.com. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/huckboyd/.
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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.
Story by: Ron Wilson
rwilson@oznet.ksu.eduK-State Research & Extension News The Huck Boyd Institute is at 785-532-7690 or rwilson@ksu.edu.