“What's next?"
This past January, after 16 years of continual operation, The Garage (a.k.a. The Youth Center) officially closed its doors. As a founding member of the Chetek Youth Center Project, Inc., the non-profit corporation, I can tell you it wasn't an easy decision to come to. It wasn't because we ran out of money (we hadn't). It wasn't because the kids weren't coming (they were). It was primarily because of our inability to attract new volunteers and when our main one, Don Fritz, who also continues to serve as President of our non-profit corporation, decided to move to Tennessee, the hand-writing was on the wall.
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| The way we were |
The Garage served a niche of kids that for the most part
wasn't being served by any other group in town. While I'm sure there
were exceptions, most of the kids who congregated there were kids who
weren't involved in organized sports, band, or other clubs. Call them
what you will – street urchins, gamers or ragamuffins – these
kids needed a safe, healthy place to come to and gather at. Since 2000, the place was open most Friday and Saturday evenings throughout the calendar year. And now it's gone. All
that's left is the mural on the Banks Street side of the new
AutoValue building that reminds us that something other than auto
parts and accessories used to be transacted within.
When we decided to move forward with the sale last
December we made a collective agreement that the monies that we would
realize due to the sale of our facility would be sown back into the
kids of our town. After all, the money was given for kids it should
go back to them, right?
Since that time I have been approached by some
individuals wondering just what the money could be used for. Could
it, as an example, be used to help defray costs of baseball uniforms
for Little League? Or could it be used to help underwrite youth
outings? And what of exploring merging with the guys at the pool hall? After all, they have a place and we have a need for a place. These suggestions and others certainly are legitimate but
the board of the non-profit organization needed to put our heads
together and come to some consensus.
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| We'd like to plant this in the heart of a great idea |
This past week we did. We met, conferred and came to the
following conclusion that for the time being we will hold our money
in trust and await the emergence of a new non-profit group interested
in forming a new youth center. In other words, it's meant to serve as
seed for what we hope will be the next version of a healthy, safe
place for kids to gather in the City of Lakes. So I was asked to pass
the word with the hope that a person will emerge to lead a group of
people who will do their part to galvanize the interest that many
have expressed to organize a new center in town. You can call me at
City Hall 715-924-4838 or on my cell at 715-925-6078 to get up to speed on the particulars that the Chetek Youth Center Project, Inc. is looking for. But essentially, we're looking for someone who not only has enthusiasm and desire but who has a plan.
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| At a youth outing from the mid-90s, this lady was always involved with kids |
Like Chris Fritz had back in 1999. It began as an idea. She shared it with a
few people, myself included, and we shared it with others at a few
public meetings and what happened next is what I think they mean by synergy:
It wasn't addition; it was multiplication as The Garage (as it was later named following a vote by the kids in town) went from idea to
reality in six months. Like all new ventures some people got
on and others got off but the long and short of it was that we had lift-off and we were on our way. When we officially turned off the lights for the very last time back in January The
Garage was the longest operating youth center in Barron County to
date (and that includes the Boys and Girls' Club in Rice Lake.)
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| By conventional wisdom, a camel is a horse designed by a committee |
You've heard the old saying about a camel being a horse designed by a committee? Well, we're in need of the lead horse who can set the pace and see the matter through. They don't have to be the second coming of Seabiscuit, the champion thoroughbred of 1930s fame. They even don't have to be Chris or Don. They just have to have the gumption and the love for some of the greatest kids who walk the planet - the kids from the place we all call home.
