We don’t often get to see the visible results of work that we personally do in our lives, because change takes time. Have we made a difference, did it matter? It can make us wonder, is all this worth the effort? Most change we work for can take place years down the road, and maybe not in our life times, but just because we don’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. I worked on something in my life that made me realize the truth of this, so I wanted to share it with you, to give you hope.
I moved to Cottonwood, AZ with my family in 1990 off the southern border of AZ. We were always seeking water and there isn’t much to be found down there, but Cottonwood is in the Verde Valley, which has the most rivers and creeks in the state of Arizona. The Verde River runs all through the town of Cottonwood.
In 1992 I had just gotten my first degree that I had worked 17 years for, when my mom approached me about opening a store in Cottonwood. I have never liked retail, it is not my forte, but I did it for family reasons, it was not for myself that I did it. I spent the next two years of my life working over 70 hours a week and not making one penny. But I did create some change.
I had chosen a building in Old Town Cottonwood for the store's location, the rent was cheap, I lived in Old Town, and to me this was the part of town that had character. For many years, Old Town was Cottonwood until the newer chain stores started coming in. I realized right away, I had probably made a mistake. No one came to Old Town to do anything. It was running down, there weren’t that many stores, only one restaurant, and many of the buildings were boarded or unoccupied and falling into ruin. A lot of traffic came through but no one stopped.
The business people that were there were a very diverse lot, but I talked to them all. A couple of them talked to me about how if they could get into the Main Street Program it would revitalize Old Town. They said they had tried before but it didn’t happen because people could not get it together to make it. The National Main Street program was developed as a way to preserve and restore the local heritage of towns. It takes a lot of time and organizing to get into the program. You have to prove there is a commitment from the people who live and work in the defined area and have the backing of the political forces to make it happen. Many hated the idea and fought against it, they didn’t want change.
Over the past 30 years, the Main Street movement has transformed the way communities think about the revitalization and management of their downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts. Cities and towns across the nation have come to see that a prosperous, sustainable community is only as healthy as its core.
Another lady, Debbie and I started laying the ground work. We spent tons of hours talking to everyone in the few miles that would be defined as Main Street and having meetings that we practically had to drag people to. Many said, “I don’t want to do anything.” I said, “Give me your money, and I will do the work.” And they did. I can be persuasive. We had to prove we had members and by giving me donations they were at least saying in one way they supported the idea. After a year, and many fundraisers, going to city council meetings to recruit the members and the city’s general manager, the ground work was finally laid and I took another couple of months to fill out the application.
I met with our city manager, Brian Mickelsen, before turning it in, because he had to sign off on it. Brian and I had been working together on the project, because he saw the vision and possibilities. We still needed to articulate and define a theme for our town, which is part of the application. I said, “We already have one, river rock.” Being a river town, many of the original settlers had used the available materials to build walls, town buildings and their houses out of it. It was cheap and available. Brian, as a visionary manager, made sure after this that river rock got incorporated into new street signs and buildings in our town preserving and continuing its original character.
Finally Debbie and I met with the National Main Street Program people, and they told us we had been accepted. This opened Old Town Cottonwood up for hundreds of thousands of grants and low cost loans to revitalize it. By that time, Debbie and I were burnt out, which the national people told us was very typical. I turned over the store to my sister shortly after and was working at an elementary school. I spent another year, working on fundraisers and being the secretary and treasurer, getting all our incorporation papers written and our books in order. Then I got on with what I wanted to do, which was work in education and be a librarian.
The store I opened closed about a year after that, because the change I had set in motion did not happen soon enough to save it. But it did happen. The first grant made tons of money available that built new sidewalks, parking lots and added old fashioned street lamps. It gave business owners money to build new facades and save deteriorating buildings. Gradually that attracted more business people who invested more money and more civic minded people who kept up the fundraising and activities in Old Town that drew people there.
Old Town Cottonwood is now one of the most popular places to hang out in my town, has many new thriving businesses and restaurants, is full of cars that now stop and park instead of driving by, people walking, shopping and drinking and eating in restaurants and outdoor areas. It has been 20 years now. I laugh, because I have seen people try to take credit for the work that Debbie and I did, although I was the only one who got a plaque acknowledging the work I did, but credit doesn’t matter to me. I can see what I did every day when I drive through Old Town Cottonwood, and say to myself, “I did make a difference.”
Brian died four years ago at the age of fifty while out jogging. There is now a park, street, state housing award and half K marathonnamed in his memory. If you click on this link to Cottonwood, you will see some pictures of the old rock work and the Verde River.
8:41 AM PT: Debbie was a very creative leather designer who had seven children and a leather store next to my store. She moved her family and business to Prescott a couple of years after that.
Sun Mar 25, 2012 at 8:25 AM PT: I also want to acknowledge the work of Helga, Jack and Charley who were the core group who attended all the meetings and worked tirelessly on the fundraisers. Charley is the only one still with a business in Old Town. And I can't forget Jay and Gleah, both passed away now. Jay was a skeptical old coot who I managed to get money and grudging support from because he saw my determination. Jay always like a fighter.