"Save Your Town" Coming to Our Town!

Courtesy PR Extension Office

“Idea Friendly” Attitude Topic for Second Reimagining Rural Session…

The Save Your Town organization is coming to our town Tuesday, September 29th as part of the statewide Reimagining Rural Virtual Gathering. Becky McCray and Deb Brown, the organization’s founders and small-town enthusiasts, believe small towns can be saved by their own people using their own resources. The program will be held at the Broadus Community Center from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. and include a free supper.

Deb and Becky say choosing the name Save Your Town for their organization was very deliberate. “You have to save your town. No one is coming to do it for you. No factory or big business is going to save you. No outside expert has the one right answer. It’s you.”

On the 29th, Becky and Deb will introduce their “idea friendly” approach to community work that will energize local folks into trying new ideas. “We need to be more open to new ideas,” McCray said. “Iowa State University studied 99 small towns over 20 years and found that the communities that survived the best were the ones that were open to new ideas. And it makes sense. If you are open to new ideas, you can deal with new challenges.”

This session is the second in the three-part series, Reimagining Rural. The series is a collaborative effort between MSU Extension, Montana Community Foundation, the Governor’s Office on Economic Development and the Burton K. Wheeler Center at MSU. Twenty-four communities across the state are participating in this first-ever venture. Locally, the program is sponsored by the Powder River Chamber of Commerce and Ag and Powder River Extension.

For more information on how you can join the idea friendly conversation, contact Powder River Extension at 436-2424 or Powder River Chamber of Commerce and Ag by emailing [email protected].