By Brenna Eller
MARQUETTE, Kan. — Marquette Chamber of Commerce President Haley Samford spoke with the McPherson County Community Foundation recently about feedback from the county wide survey.
“We learned that the community really wanted to see some beautification efforts from us, so that’s what we applied for,” Samford said.
Last year the Marquette Chamber of Commerce received a grant from the Mastermind McPherson County grant process for $8,750. The grant, along with a great showing of volunteerism, allowed the chamber to replace dilapidated welcome signs and clear dead trees from public spaces.
“Specifically, we wanted to focus on the main roads coming through town,” Samford added. “Entrances and then downtown specifically.”
The project’s impact was much more significant on the Marquette community this year due to the fact that this is its 150th.
While looking inside the “Welcome to Marquette” signs, it was noticed that they were close to falling down and according to Samford, they wouldn’t have survived without the grant.
“The structure on the inside was totally rotted out, and so if we wouldn’t have gotten this grant, we probably couldn’t have done anything,” Samford said. “We would’ve had no signs at all. They would’ve fallen down in the next windstorm.”
The grant was also used to clear dead trees in front of the museum and in the city park, which she said made everything look more open and a lot cleaner. She said when there are bad storms, a lot of tree branches break off and fall into the road, which is dangerous and doesn’t look good for the community.
“I think Marquette as a community has always been really impressive in what we can get done with volunteers,” Samford said.
Including herself, the Chamber members, and most of the organizations that help plan events, she said each contributes in some way to volunteer.
“And I think we have really been able to get done a lot more than most because we have such a dedicated team that cares about their community and wants to make sure that everyone can enjoy it in the way that they’re used to over their life,” Samford said.
