A capacity crowd at Iola’s New Community Building was greeted with healthy doses of enthusiasm Friday for the inaugural “See, Hear Iola” event.
The hour-long session featured a number of speakers touting Iola’s strengths, while sprinkling in nuggets of news.
In his keynote address, Allen County Historical Society Museum Director Jeff Kluever, lauded Iolans past and present for their willingness to better the city.
“Individuals taking action have made this community what it is today, from the Veterans Wall to the historic buildings and storefronts,” Kluever said. “Iola exists because people acted.”
He lavished praise on Iola’s library, where visiting speakers and workshops provide much more than just books, “something we often fail to acknowledge.”
The city’s old storefronts prove Iola’s downtown remains a viable part of the community.
SAFE BASE, the school district’s after-school program, offers a wealth of activities for area youngsters, “and they get to go for free — FOR FREE!” Kluever continued.
He noted that the Bowlus center was donated, as was land for the Historical Society, for the existing Allen County Hospital and for Riverside Park. Private donations also funded 95 percent of the Frederick Funston relocation to downtown Iola in the 1990s.
If everyone took simple steps to beautify Iola, it would continue to be a southeast Kansas jewel, he said.
“If you’re walking along and you see a Swigger cup, pick it up and throw it away.”
Iolans should look at who they are — a community firmly implanted in its historic roots — what they hope the city can become, and figure out steps to make it happen.
Iola’s goal should be to strive to become the best community in southeast Kansas, Kluever said.
The means to do that is through pride.
Pride, he explained, should be considered a verb. Folks should feel enough pride in the community that they’re compelled to act every day in an effort to make life better.
But it takes more than simply having pride. One must show pride, daily.
“It matters that you show up and support your community,” he said. “We want to be the best, and the way to make that happen is to work at it every day.”
