Anderson Group Essay Nets $5,000
Members of the Anderson Betterment Club gathered in front of City Hall June 3 to accept a check for $5,000 from Shelter Insurance.
Earlier this year, Shelter sponsored an essay contest asking residents why they were thankful for their community.
“We’re very thankful for the communities that we do business in and we wanted to find people that feel about their community the way we do,” said Shelter representative Anna Hargis.
Contestants submitted their essays online, where they were voted on by the public before being narrowed down and reviewed by a panel of judges.
Local Shelter agent Danita Keaton played a crucial role in the process. Keaton told Ken Schutten about the contest and encouraged him to enter. But, her involvement didn’t stop there.
“She helped spread the word to her friends, family and clients as well as through the whole community,” Schutten said. “Without Danita, we wouldn’t have even known about the opportunity.”
Schutten submitted an essay titled “The Pink Bathtub.” It depicts a landscape of hope, growth and embracing “silver linings.”
In the essay, he describes Anderson in its prime and community efforts to see the town thrive once again.
“I think it just shows the desire that people living here have for improving their community. Being thankful for and doing things for the place where you live is a concept that really is important to people in this area,” Schutten said.
The Anderson Betterment Club is now tasked with devising ways to invest $5,000 back into the area.
“Right now we’re looking at several different possibilities,” Schutten said. “We want to be wise in how we use it to best serve our community.”
Schutten’s essay was picked from more than 50 entries across the Midwest.
“We just want to thank all the people who supported the Betterment Club in this contest. When we entered, we shared it on Facebook and sent out emails to our supporters,” he said. “People really came through for us on the likes for this. We needed a little over 2,000 votes, and we got them!”
“It was exactly what we were looking for,” Hargis said. “It really stood out to me. Like a pink bathtub.”
There’s a pink bathtub in my neighbor’s front yard.
In the flowerbed of the house across the street sits a big, blue dumpster. Probably doesn’t sound like the type of neighborhood where you’d want to settle down.
But I’m thankful for that bathtub and that dumpster. They are signs of hope in my little corner of the world.
That corner of the world, is Anderson, Mo. It’s a small town of about 2,000 people cradled in the foothills of the Ozarks in far southwest Missouri. Like many communities in the area, it was built on the backs of hardworking settlers and grew strong when the railroad rumbled through in the late 1800s. The fertile hillsides and valleys made it a perfect place to raise strawberries. And from the early 1920s to the 1950s those hardworking families grew and shipped more strawberries out of this community than anywhere else. It was known at one time as the “Strawberry Capital of the World.”
But, like many communities, over the years Anderson became a “remember when” town: “Remember when” Main Street was packed with people on Saturday night. “Remember when” there were four car dealerships in town. “Remember when” it was a bustling, thriving community.
There were occasional bursts of optimism over the years. A new business here, a small industry there. A few concentrated areas of housing improvements. Community activities were launched. Some stuck, others did not and were forgotten. A new interstate opened just outside of town, and the once busy highway that brought visitors and screen Flick theater has been in operation since 1938. You can still see a movie for $5.”
And after a recent tour of Anderson, the director of the state’s Department of Economic Development said, “One thing about this community we found is the people are passionate about trying to make the community better, and there’s nothing more than a community can do than have those kind of compassionate leaders that are trying to make a difference.”
People are making a difference.
Which brings us back to that pink bathtub and blue Dumpster. They are the byproduct of remodel projects on two vacant homes in my neighborhood. Once again, some local folks are investing in our community. They have purchased the homes and will soon be moving in. But first, there’s a little fix-up. I guess pink was the color of the day way back when, because much of the bathroom fixtures that are sitting in the yard seem to be in that color. The once shabby houses are getting a much-needed facelift, and soon will be full of life again.
Kind of like our community.
Who knew a pink bathtub could hold so much hope?