The Small Town Big on Community Care

“When you think of a small, rural Indiana community, we fit that description perfectly,” says MacKenzie Taylor, the Clerk Treasurer for the Elkhart County town of Millersburg. “We’re talking about a town of around 900 residents; that’s only a little more than twice as many residents as the town’s 413 acres. But Millersburg has a lot of unique history, and folks here truly are neighbors to one another on a deeper level. There is a real sense of home here, a terrific school system, and people who’ve come here tend to stay for generations. I think that contributes to Millersburg’s strong sense of community, because people here know each other and care about one another.

I didn’t plan to go into government, but I’ve found that nothing compares to the friendships and relationships that you make along the way when you are actively working to help others. During the course of my day, if I can put a smile on someone’s face while doing my job or produce laughter or help someone with something, then I just feel so good about myself and everything and everyone around me. I think there are a lot of rewards for those who are involved in community work, but maybe they’re not always rewards you can see.

I’d say the person who inspired me most was my grandmother, Peggy Miller. She was a county recorder for two terms. Growing up I didn’t know what her job was but she was always very involved in the community and she always took a lot of pride and joy in the relationships she made. She treated everyone like a friend regardless of how well she knew them, and that is one of the best ways you can be when you’re involved in a leadership role.”

Don’t need a word for ‘caring’

“A lot of towns have drives, committees, and programs for volunteering,” says Jessica Frye, Millersburg’s Deputy Clerk. “We do, obviously, have some of that. But Millersburg is such a small and tight-knit community that, in some ways, I think the concept of ‘volunteering’ is sort of built into the entire makeup of the community. I’m not sure we even need a word for it, because helping each other out is sort of a given here.

Just recently there was a daycare in town that was experiencing financial hardship. Well, this being such a small town—there aren’t a lot of daycare options young families can rely on. So the community rallied and raised funds and helped them stay open. We also recently had a collaboration between local businesses, organizations, and residents that produced the town’s first-ever ‘Back to School Bash.’ This resulted in 137 free backpacks being given out to families and children in the community for the school year.

Those are just two examples, but I would definitely say that Millersburg is a place where there is a heightened sense of community care. A lot of the businesses here have been around for a long time—Millersburg Lumber has been in town for generations, Battery Tech has been part of this community for 20 years. So there’s a sense of connectedness and it feels like people are always striving to give back to the community.

My grandfather, Tom Riggs, was an inspiration to me. He was the Code Enforcement Officer in Goshen for years. He also helped with the Lincolnway Historical Trail for Elkhart County. I saw him do a lot of good work and he was really the person in my life who set the standard for community involvement.

I know the world has changed over the years, and these days it’s not always easy to find people willing to give their time to their community. But for me, personally, it’s a great feeling to be helpful to people in Elkhart County. I come across people all the time who want to help out our community in any way they can—and it’s so comforting to know that there are still people out there with more on their mind than just ‘what’s in this for me?’”

“The Summer Festival Parade is always a big deal for us, we actually shut down State Road 13 during much of the day for the parade,” says Levi King, a volunteer coordinator for the Middlebury Summer Festival. “Our parade is one of the larger festival parades in Indiana. We had about 50 entries this year – everything from RVs to horse-drawn entries to people making their own floats, and a lot of floats promoting local businesses and organizations, as well.

This year the Middlebury Summer Festival was June 23 and 24 and we had thousands of people come out. People love to come for the parade and the music and the food trucks – everyone just loves the food trucks. We also had a variety of unique events, and the festival is always packed with info booths and a lot of non-profit organizations participate; parent associations from Middlebury Community Schools were involved and we had crafting events and kids activities – it was nice to see a lot of interaction between parents and children.

The Middlebury Summer Festival is just a great thing for this community; it’s really energizing and brings so many people together. I’ve been volunteering for 32 years. The past seven years I’ve been in charge of planning the parade. A lot goes into the planning of the parade but it’s a great feeling to be part of making this event happen.

Just like always, our volunteers played a huge role in this year’s event – we had close to 30 volunteers this year – and we’d also thank Sheri Howland and Carmen Carpenter from the Middlebury Chamber of Commerce for their support and assistance. We’re very fortunate to have so many great volunteers every year. I wish every event was as lucky as we are, to have people wanting to help out in any way possible. We’re always on the lookout for more help, but if you live in a community where there’s an event like this that brings your community together –- my suggestion would be to try and get involved.

People talk about our parade and the food – that’s what they get excited about. People have lots of different reasons for loving the Middlebury Summer Festival, but, personally, my favorite part of the festival is always the music. Always has been. It’s just so nice to gather with the community in such a fun atmosphere and then be entertained with live music. This year we were lucky to have some great musicians and performers, including Buddy Pearson and local songwriter Marty Miles.

For me, I just think volunteering is a good thing to do. It sets a good example. You know, you don’t always have to give money or materials or products to have an impact on the community around you. Volunteering is one of those ways you can help, and it’s a good feeling to give of your time. Especially when you’re contributing to an event like this one that brings people together, creates a lot of great memories and puts smiles on faces.”

“I’ll be coordinating the crafters and vendors this year for the Bristol Homecoming Festival,” says Jon Riggs, 55, who works for Jayco in Middlebury, Indiana. “Last year my role as a volunteer at the festival was sort of the jack of all trades; doing different things to help out. But one of our dedicated volunteers is out with a medical issue, and there was a need this year for someone to help coordinate the crafters and vendors.

And so I stepped up to the plate and accepted the position.

I was born at Elkhart General Hospital and was raised here in Bristol, and I’ve lived here all my life. My wife of 31 years first got me involved in volunteering at the festival – she wanted to participate as a way to give back to the community. That first year she volunteered, and I did not – but by the end of the festival that year I was pretty much fully on-board. Been doing it ever since; I’ve been volunteering at the festival for the past 26 or 27 years.

I’m also in charge of food this year – I’ve been able to work with the previous person handling that to get caught up and I’m trying to get my feet wet. But so far so good – I like the idea of helping out with the food. I’ve been coming to this festival since I was a kid. I still remember just how good those elephant ears and strawberry sundaes tasted. This year we’ll have Papa’s Dippin Donuts, out of Middlebury, and a taco truck and all sorts of other great food.

This is just a great little festival. It’s just a lot of fun – rides, food, a parade on Saturday, fireworks. Also we do our annual queen pageant and we’ll have some great entertainment. Over the years I’ve been volunteering for this, I’ve served in a lot of different roles – and sometimes it can be hard work. What makes it worth it for me is that I know my service is helping other people enjoy themselves; it feels like giving back to the community, and it also just feels like you’re playing a part in bringing everyone together.

And then we’ve always got the kids play area for both nights of the festival – and to see the kids all running around and playing in a safe, fun space, getting their faces painted and doing the rides and all sorts of activities – that also just makes you feel good, to be a part of making that happen.

This is a great town, and I don’t want to be someone who’s just always ‘taking’; you know, showing up and enjoying what everyone else has worked hard to produce. I want to be someone who returns the favor by giving my time and volunteering and helping make sure our residents – and our families and kids – enjoy this great festival and make great memories the same way I was able to.”

“I’m 84 years old, and I will be 85 in July, and I’ve been helping out at the Bristol Food Pantry for quite a few years,” says Bill Cavanaugh, a volunteer at The HUB (Hearts United for Bristol) – the faith-based organization that now operates the longstanding community pantry. “I am a retired school teacher. I think it’s been about 13 or 14 years since I’ve been coming here but someone said it was closer to 20. Chris (Garner) – who is the Executive Director of The HUB and who does such a great job organizing all this – he likes to joke around that I’ve been here since the building was built in 1847…

Tell you the truth, I don’t remember exactly how long I’ve been volunteering here – but I just like doing it because I meet a bunch of new people. There are a lot of people who need help, and here at the food pantry we have that for them. And it’s not just for food. That may be why people come in at first, but these days – thanks to Chris and everyone else who works really hard on this – it’s more than that now. We have the Xchange program and we have (Life Resources Coordinator) Sarah Farris here too – and she meets with folks who come in and talks to them and finds ways to help. We end up helping people out with more than food.

It’s a good feeling to be here with the people who come into the pantry and all the volunteers who are helping. I talk and spend time with everyone. It’s a good thing to do, and it makes me feel good. A lot of the people who come in here say they enjoy coming – I think they’re glad to know people are thinking about them, and care about them.

I really got into volunteering here around the time of the economic downturn, maybe 2006 or 2007. A lot of folks were having rough economic times back then, and I had some relatives who were going through it as well. I just kind of figured, looking around at friends and family members having challenges like that, that it would be a good thing to do to find a way to help.

Today, me and Bill – the other Bill, Bill Williamson – we got to work before the pantry opened at nine. We loaded up a bunch of cardboard into the truck and took it away. We have a small dumpster outside, but if we load it up with all this cardboard why we wouldn’t be able to fit anything else in there. Chris – he found a factory about two miles away that lets us bring our cardboard there.

I have my own key, these days, and I generally will come into the pantry during the week – off hours, when no one is here – to check on all the fridges and freezers. I’ll read and record the temperatures they’re running at, just to make sure everything is working alright. One morning I came in to check on the fridges and freezers and – forget about checking temps – the whole place was dark. Electricity was completely out.

It might have turned into a bigger problem, but I’m glad I was there to catch it early. I told Chris right away and he did what he does. He went right to work, making calls and reaching out and sure enough he found someone to come in and get it all fixed up.

I was born in St. Louis. My parents and I moved to Kokomo when I was a youth, and then I graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington. I came to this area in the middle of the school year in 1960 to start working as a teacher and I’ve been here ever since. I taught at Westside for 19 years and I taught at Central for 19 years.

Recently I made a new friend – his name is Sy Attica. That’s just a joke. But I have been dealing with sciatica of late – the doctor told me only to take Tylenol for it. I’ve been doing that and I learned some exercises to do. I enjoy riding my bike on big trips – 15 or 20 miles or more. Haven’t been doing that too much, of late. But I do think I’ll keep coming to the food pantry.”

– Bill Cavanaugh