First Lady Delivers 2000 Tool Box
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Warsaw residents were encouraged Tuesday to learn about their past to make their future the best it can be.
Indiana first lady Judy O'Bannon made that push, presenting local Hoosier Millennium coordinator Trish Brown with a "Millennium Toolbox" in the old courtroom of the Kosciusko County Courthouse.
"We're here for the millennium and talking about the experiences that bring communities together. Often that means restoring a beautiful old building like this courthouse, or a one-room school house," O'Bannon said. "We're talking about taking advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime moment like the millennium to make people feel a sense of community and that they belong.
"People want to feel that they are a part of something that will have an impact when they aren't here anymore," she said.
The purpose of the Hoosier Millennium is to focus on the history of the state and each of its communities and use the understanding that focus gives the communities to plan for a future that will meet needs that aren't met today.
"Until you know where you've been, I don't know how you know where you are," O'Bannon said. "And until you know where you are, you can't know where you're going.
"So, it's looking at where you want to be in 2016, and then it's just filling in the blanks to get there," she said.
2016 is key, because that is the 200th anniversary of Indiana statehood, she said.
The millennium toolbox contains a "how-to" guide telling communities how to put together a millennium committee and suggests some general areas for projects to be considered; a resource book, detailing where communities can get assistance in developing their projects; an icon box containing symbols of Indiana history: a piece of limestone and ear of corn, a glass bottle a musical instrument, a compact disc and a model train rail section.
"The limestone opens up discussions of where we came from - of what happened geologically to shape our communities. The ear of corn asks us what agriculture has meant to the state. The glass bottle, what gas exploration has meant; the instrument asks how the arts have contributed; the compact disc reminds us that the state leads the nation in the production of compact discs; and the train rail piece represents how important transportation is to Indiana," O'Bannon said.
The purpose of starting these discussions, with the aid of the icons, is to involve all of the community in the process.
"We need to give all people the dignity that they have something to contribute," she said. "When they have that, they don't tear down and they don't move away.
"It's only when we include everyone that we build a sustainable community," she said.
Brown said the local millennium observance will involve the placement of a time capsule, with the Kosciusko County Historical Society spearheading that effort; a financial aid workshop sponsored by the Kosciusko County Foundation; and a series of wellness seminars, sponsored by Kosciusko Community Hospital. [[In-content Ad]]
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Warsaw residents were encouraged Tuesday to learn about their past to make their future the best it can be.
Indiana first lady Judy O'Bannon made that push, presenting local Hoosier Millennium coordinator Trish Brown with a "Millennium Toolbox" in the old courtroom of the Kosciusko County Courthouse.
"We're here for the millennium and talking about the experiences that bring communities together. Often that means restoring a beautiful old building like this courthouse, or a one-room school house," O'Bannon said. "We're talking about taking advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime moment like the millennium to make people feel a sense of community and that they belong.
"People want to feel that they are a part of something that will have an impact when they aren't here anymore," she said.
The purpose of the Hoosier Millennium is to focus on the history of the state and each of its communities and use the understanding that focus gives the communities to plan for a future that will meet needs that aren't met today.
"Until you know where you've been, I don't know how you know where you are," O'Bannon said. "And until you know where you are, you can't know where you're going.
"So, it's looking at where you want to be in 2016, and then it's just filling in the blanks to get there," she said.
2016 is key, because that is the 200th anniversary of Indiana statehood, she said.
The millennium toolbox contains a "how-to" guide telling communities how to put together a millennium committee and suggests some general areas for projects to be considered; a resource book, detailing where communities can get assistance in developing their projects; an icon box containing symbols of Indiana history: a piece of limestone and ear of corn, a glass bottle a musical instrument, a compact disc and a model train rail section.
"The limestone opens up discussions of where we came from - of what happened geologically to shape our communities. The ear of corn asks us what agriculture has meant to the state. The glass bottle, what gas exploration has meant; the instrument asks how the arts have contributed; the compact disc reminds us that the state leads the nation in the production of compact discs; and the train rail piece represents how important transportation is to Indiana," O'Bannon said.
The purpose of starting these discussions, with the aid of the icons, is to involve all of the community in the process.
"We need to give all people the dignity that they have something to contribute," she said. "When they have that, they don't tear down and they don't move away.
"It's only when we include everyone that we build a sustainable community," she said.
Brown said the local millennium observance will involve the placement of a time capsule, with the Kosciusko County Historical Society spearheading that effort; a financial aid workshop sponsored by the Kosciusko County Foundation; and a series of wellness seminars, sponsored by Kosciusko Community Hospital. [[In-content Ad]]