VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT FOR BEAUTIFICATION EFFORTS IN DOWNTOWN - It's been a decade since volunteers came together to clean up around Downtown Rison. Pictured in 2015, John Appleget pressure washes a wall along Second Street. Rison Shine Community Development has set two dates for cleaning up properties downtown and along the main routes in town from Hwy. 79 - Saturday, Sept. 27 and Saturday, Oct. 4. The goal, according to Rison Shine President Kristy Strother, is to make Rison more attractive prior to welcoming visitors for the Rison in the Fall Festival and other events.
Free Range Conversations, Episode 58
RISON - At the third meeting as part of a series of communityfocused efforts, Rison Shine has set two dates to clean up properties along the main routes of Rison with hopes to make them more attractive to visitors.
Clean-up dates have been scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 27 and Saturday, Oct. 4.
The goal is to have properties cleaned up in advance of the Rison in the Fall Festival (Oct. 18) and additional events being planned for the fall and the upcoming Christmas holiday season.
Rison Shine volunteers are working with Mayor Charles Roberts to identify the properties that need to be cleaned up, and notify owners of unkempt and/or abandoned properties.
To discuss the mission, Rison Shine President Kristy Strother and Secretary/Treasurer Douglas Boultinghouse joined Free Range Conversations podcast hosts Britt Talent and Roy Phillips to invite the community to join the clean up efforts.
"We want to bring more attraction to the community. Whether it's hanging up lights or cleaning up properties, there have been a lot of good ideas," said Strother of the ideas that came from Monday night's meeting which focused on the beautification of Rison.
Some efforts have already begun with repairs and cleaning around the Welcome to Rison sign at the intersection of Highways 79 and 35.
According to Boultinghouse, the goal is to improve the town's curb appeal to incoming visitors.
Though some of the properties along Hwy. 35/Magnolia Street and around downtown Rison are privately owned, the City of Rison is taking an approach to encourage owners to clean them up.
Talent pointed out during the podcast that the properties impact more than just the owner.
"When you have an unkempt property, it impacts everyone around you," he said.
Boultinghouse noted that investors have visited Rison, but left quickly choosing not to pursue interest in Rison based on what they saw of the properties around town.
It was mentioned during the podcast that some things are in progress with a handful of properties on Main Street to eventually remove or renovate some of the "eyesores." With the two dates set for clean up, Rison Shine is seeking volunteers to help with mowing, pressure washing sidewalks and parking lots, picking up limbs, trash clean up, etc.
"We would also love to have some groups come in and do highway clean up," Strother said.
Strother said the clean up days are a great opportunity for students of both Cleveland County School District and Woodlawn School District to volunteer and earn community service hours required for graduation.
Rison Shine Community Development, Inc. is registered with both schools as a volunteer organization.
Anyone interested in assisting with the clean up should message Rison Shine on Facebook, email risonshines@gmail.com, or stop by the Cleveland County Herald office (215 Main Street) or Rison City Hall (405 Main Street).
Boultinghouse said information will be collected and volunteers will be contacted prior to the clean up dates once a list of tasks have been finalized.
The hosts reminded listeners that with groups of people working together, the projects could only take a few hours one morning.
During the podcast, Talent and Phillips reflected on the last clean-up initiative Rison Shine held roughly 10 years ago.
The group discussed seasonal décor plans for Christmas, as well as other ideas for parks and areas of town that could be spruced up.
They also used the podcast to preview the fourth meeting in the series, which will focus on events and recreation. This meeting is set for Monday, Sept. 29 at 6 p.m. at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds meeting room.
The meeting will be moderated by Boultinghouse, who is the director of the Rison in the Fall Festival, and Stacy Walz, executive director of the Cleveland County Community Theater.
According to Boultinghouse, all of the action groups under Kickstart Cleveland County, which includes Rison Shine, Pioneer Village, Community Theater, Cleveland County Fair Association, as well as Kickstart Kingsland and Re-New-ing Edinburg, are seeking input for new event ideas, as well as expansions of events already in place.
"We had a lot of great ideas come from the initial meeting in June," he said, mentioning a hunting expo, public fishing pond and pickleball tournaments.
Boultinghouse said they are hoping to flesh out more plans for those events and recreation opportunities, and other new ideas people may have.
The Community Theater is working behind the scenes to set the stage for a comeback and could use more volunteers and performers.
If anyone has interest in improving events or new ideas, they are encouraged to attend the Sept. 29 meeting.
The full episode of the podcast, including more of the beautification discussion, is streaming now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Cleveland-CountyHerald.com