Saturday was a scorcher — not the best weather for yard work while the temperature climbed to nearly 90 degrees.
But a long-awaited work day had been planned on Bryan Street. A small group of volunteers arrived as promised to see if they could spruce up one of Hopkinsville’s oldest neighborhoods. They brought a mower, weed-eaters, a truckload of potting soil, tomato plants, flowers, trash bags and enough round plant bed frames to place at least one in front of each house.
Some of the residents wanted flowers. Others said they would also appreciate a tomato plant.
“You never know another person’s story, or their needs, until you listen,” said Ardell Owens as he carried a couple of the round metal frames to the far end of the street. Jamie Lienberger, the Ward 9 city councilwoman, followed him with plants in plastic containers.
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In front of Owens, a young boy from the Men2Be mentoring program dashed across the street with a bag of canned meat and knocked on a door. He was sent to see if the family needed food. The condition of houses on Bryan Street varies. Some have recently had extensive repairs and look almost new. Others need basic maintenance, a paint job or siding, new windows and roof repairs. A few are vacant.
“Sometimes people just want to be heard. Give them five or 10 minutes of your time and let them talk,” said Owens, who is president of the Durrett Avenue Neighborhood Association.
The association organized Saturday’s project, using supplies bought with several hundred dollars from an anonymous donor who knew the street well. The donation, specifically for Bryan Street, was made several years ago but it had taken a while to decide how it should be spent, said Linda Wood, who works with the city’s four inner-city neighborhood associations — Durrett Avenue, Westside, Canton Pike and Eastside.
The neighborhood associations are part of the Inner-City Residential Enterprise Zone that Hopkinsville City Council adopted in 2005. The program grew out of a compromise between two groups on the council after financial incentives were suggested to spur new neighborhoods around the outer edge of the city limits. Advocates for the older neighborhoods in the city’s core were able to secure votes to create the Inner-City REZ, which is now called Legacy Hopkinsville.
The purpose of the neighborhood associations is to connect residents with resources that will improve living conditions and quality of life in the old neighborhoods.
Owens said he’s seen a recent surge of interest in the Durrett Avenue Neighborhood Association. A few years ago some of the association’s monthly meetings couldn’t be held because they lacked a quorum. Now they are getting 15 to 20 people at each session. They need 10 for a quorum.
Lienberger had hoped to see more helpers on Saturday but she, Owens, Wood, and some of the residents were able to complete the work.
Betty Catlett, another member of the Durrett Avenue association, cooked hotdogs so the volunteers could have lunch together. They ate at the Bryan Street Challenge House that serves as the headquarters for Men2Be.
Catlett was among the first inner-city residents who helped brainstorm ideas for neighborhood associations in 2005.
“Originally the idea was for neighbors to help neighbors,” she said.
Nearly 20 years later, Catlett remains interested in helping neighbors. She retired five years ago as a secretary for the city’s sanitation department. She said she wants to keep finding ways to be involved. The neighborhood association allows her to do that.
The Durrett Avenue group is making plans for a back-to-school bash this summer, and there’s some talk of having a float in the Christmas parade. There’s also hope that Durrett Avenue’s print newsletter will be revived this year.
“We try to be informative and tell people what’s going on,” said Catlett.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
