Most rural hometowns are decreasing in population and industrial base, with the exceptions of some towns that seem to be transitioning to bedroom communities for a larger city nearby. What could be done to attract more of our talented youngsters to stay close to their roots? What could be done to attract new talent, industry and outside professionals to our rural areas? Or should the question be: Should we do something to strengthen our rural hometowns or let them slowly die?

Keeping doctors and professionals in our rural areas is a problem.

While attending a local social event two years ago, we were fortunate enough to be seated at a table with two prominent local citizens. We began to discuss the problems with staffing the local hospital. One individual mentioned that perhaps the reason so many new doctors to the area were leaving after only a few years was of the lack of cultural activities in our rural area.

Terre Haute, Indiana, some 50 miles to the east, is about the closest thing to culture in the lifestyles of these professionals and their families. Those who want more involvement in the arts and entertainment seem to prefer Chicago (230 miles north) and Champaign-Urbana (home of the University of Illinois) even more. Until last week, residents of Robinson had to drive 50 to 60 miles just to see a first run movie. The Newton drive-in theater (15 miles west) is the only exception, but it is open only during summer months.

The Eagle theater may help spark our local community.

Last Friday, Robinson saw the opening of the Robinson Eagle Theater, a 5-screen complex that promises to show first-run movies locally. Our family attended the theater last night for the first time since the opening, and we found it to be an excellent venue for a small town. We had previously attended an open house, held some three months ago during construction, and we were impressed by the creative way builders converted the pre-existing building into a theater. During our visit to view a movie, we found comfortable seating with good leg room for this large reporter, a well-planned, elevated seating plan that allows good views of the screen, and an excellent sound system. Even though each theater is small compared to multiplex theaters found in larger cities, it seems to be designed well for our rural area. Our costs were a little over $10 each for a matinee, including a small drink and a small popcorn, both with unlimited re-fills. We found the small portions adequate, and we did not have to take advantage of the free refills. We know some theaters have cheaper ticket prices, but they often charge more for popcorn and drinks. Still, compared to other areas, these prices seem to be competitive.

We do not know any of the investors in this project, but we certainly wish them success. Nobody has stated this idea vocally, but from the reading the local paper about the project, I get the idea many feel this is an extremely risky investment. Despite the savings of using a vacant building, re-modeling and equipment costs have been considerable. Several studies have shown this new theater will become profitable, but it has been alluded that some investors consider their investment more a contribution to the local area than one that will reap large dividends in the future.

Many contributions to our rural areas are already strong.

In our part of Illinois, Crawford County has many rocks of community upon which to build -- a junior college with a great staff, the Marathon-Ashland refinery, the Hershey candy company, a minimum security prison, and many other employers locally give it a head start over some nearby areas with little or no industry.

Farming is much more of a contributor to our local community than some of our local leaders would seem to believe. The local ethanol plant currently under construction is evidence of a spark many local farmers have ignited to provide more local jobs and better profits from agriculture. Good local county school units, excellent libraries and churches, a country club that was once on the PGA circuit, and many, many great restaurants and fast-food outlets are great attractions to our corner of the world. Parks in several of our local towns provide many attractions. And, a good effort to attract tourists to the unique historical places in our area has are also embers already burning in the effort to revive our rural area.

Robinson, as an example, is blessed with an excellent parks director who is very creative in providing activities for youth and leading many in improvements to fun activities. A forward-thinking airport authority has led the way for many improvements to our local facility that has the capacity to land business aircraft that could help our area in its search for more industry. It would be impossible to give credit to so many people contributing unselfishly to promoting our area and trying to stem the tide of attrition found in some local factories as they move their operations across borders and to other countries overseas.

What new sparks are needed to revive our rural economies?

Farmers are just as involved as city dwellers in helping to improve local villages. Even though we may live in the country, the local village is usually a commerce and recreational center for all living in an area. We should help in any way we can to provide more opportunities, small though they may be. The example of the Eagle Theater is only one small spark in what it takes to grow a community. We all need to become involved as we see opportunities.

Improvement in our highway systems could bring a boost to our part of the state. The long-standing Route 1 group has many times made efforts to improve this main artery of commerce, including efforts to make it four lanes. Even though widening this highway would be a great problem to farmers along the route, perhaps long-term benefits would outweigh sacrifices made by some landowners. Moving inputs and outputs of an industrial area on a 35 mile 2-lane highway to an Interstate route is a handicap to industrial progress.

More advancement in educational and artistic venues will help, as well as attracting better professional and factory jobs to the community. Many rural towns have provided industrial zones with advantages of cheap land and reduced taxes to attract industries. This is one approach, but often rural areas are so desperate they give away the future tax base and spend funds a little too widely in their search for new factories. Often the industry attracted is little more than minimum-wage outfits that offer relief to some, but do not stimulate the local economies as they should. Much planning and thought should be given to any incentive program, although it could well be argued that any improvement that might stem the tide of population loss to some communities is an improvement.

This article has only begun to touch on the many sparks that need to be ignited in our rural areas. It does not solve all our problems, but only by thinking about improvements can we inspire others to rise up and offer their small contributions.

It takes a lot of sparks to ignite the fire of growth in our rural areas, what can you do?

- © 2004 John Dappert