“What we did right after the tornado was easy compared to what we are doing now,” said Greensburg Superintendent of Schools Darin Headrick at this year’s Public Square’s Vision Retreat held at the Kinsley Country Club on Tuesday. Headrick’s remarks referred to the work done immediately following the EF5 tornado that destroyed Greensburg on May 4, 2007 as well as the work that lies ahead.
To help navigate the path Terry Woodbury of Public Square Communities was sent to Greensburg right after the storm by then Governor Sebelius to guide progress. Key people representing the four segments of community—business, government, human services, and education—came together to identify problems and brainstorm solutions. Action teams were organized to deal with critical needs such as affordable housing, and “relief” slowly turned to “recovery.”
In year two of the Public Square effort, the goals of the group became less concrete: to encourage “green” growth and to improve communications. It also broadened discussion to county concerns. A sense of community became a countywide concept for members of the Public Square.
And now, members are at what Headrick calls the hard part—deciding where to go from here.
Together Woodbury and Steffensmeier guided the group of more than 25 attendees representing Mullinville, Greensburg, and Haviland to consider whether or not they should proceed with a countywide approach to move beyond surviving in rural Kansas to thriving.
The answer from the group was an overwhelming “yes,” with clearly stated conditions of the work ahead being citizen-driven, equally representative, and results oriented with benefits to the entire county. To those ends, a nominating committee made up of Paul Kendall, Steve Teter, Steve Kirk, and Kim Gamble, has been formed to create an exploratory group. The exploratory group will assist in laying the groundwork for a new Public Square that will represent Haviland, Greensburg, and Mullinville.
