Chamber Corner: Town Meeting reflections

Hopefully everyone had a good Father's Day Weekend. I definitely did celebrating with my family at Niabi Zoo.

In today's Corner I want to reflect a little bit on the Town Meeting held last Monday in Walnut. I believe we had a pretty good turnout, especially with temperatures getting close to 100 that day. I think everyone was relieved to go inside the air-conditioned Walnut Community Bible Church for the 7:00 meeting with cold custard being served.

The biggest feedback I have received from the meeting was that mood was positive and people were motivated when they left. I think if the Working on Walnut Committee had a goal for that evening that would probably be it. For those that couldn't attend the meeting, there are Action Plan pamphlets at the Village Office and also copies of the survey if you attended the meeting, but didn't have time to fill it out.

For those that still aren't quite sure exactly what Working on Walnut is, let me explain.

Working on Walnut or WOW, for short, is a group of 70+ Walnut citizens that met in the months of March and April to form a strategic plan and vision for the community. This is not an exclusive group, the invitation was out to the whole community to attend these meetings. Now that the vision has been casted the invitation is still out there to join a committee if you desire.

The WOW group is now broken into five committees: Retail & Dining, Industry/Housing, Beautification, Recreation and Festivals/Events. These groups meet once a month with projects and strategies they are trying to achieve.

Here is the vision statement from the entire group: Walnut is a friendly, charming, beautiful and safe community with unique shops, fabulous restaurants, and a bustling downtown. Visitors and residents alike enjoy a variety of entertainment venues and special events as well as a myriad of recreational opportunities. New residents to Walnut enjoy a variety of employment in thriving local industries and business throughout the town. Residents can find high quality housing available for them at any stage of life. Welcome home to Walnut, where you can always find a friendly face.

A lofty vision, for sure, but one that I think we can all agree would be well worth the effort.

I want to thank Walnut Community Bible Church for allowing us to use their building for the event, Walnut Methodist Church for the use of their parking lot, the speakers for the evening and all those that took time out of their evening to attend.

So, what is WOW doing to help our current businesses in town? Pick up an Action Plan at the Village Office and you can see literally everyone committees projects and goals will benefit our current businesses long term. For now, I will remind you, like I always do, to shop Walnut whenever you can.