Save our Seniors! Save our Community Building! Save our Town!

I never thought i would be writing this post. This story is about a senior center meal site in Toledo, Iowa, USA where I grew up. For decades the Tama-Toledo area has had a senior Lifestyles Center in Downtown where folks could come, have a good meal, enjoy some live music, exercise, participate in crafts and so much more. It has become a fabric of our downtown where I grew up. Grandma went there and mom still does. Many seniors come from all walks of life and backgrounds.

In the last few month the winds of change has come. Our local city council has decided THEY want to demolish the Toledo Community building where they meet. They voted and it passed. The inside story is that the local school system wants a performance stage Theater. The STC High School Theater is small. Next door to our community building is a 105 year old community theater. There is a push to expand the theater to make it a 'Performance' Theater. And it is way cheaper to upgrade this local Weiting Community Theater than to build an updated school performance Theater. thought they already have had countless performances there. However They want to add updated dressing rooms and a parking lot. SOOO. They 98 year old Community Building would be bulldozed for a small one story dressing room building and a parking lot. WOW!!

So we have the tale of two building. One the Weiting Theater, built in 1912, got a 1.2 million dollar makeover of restoration and national historic registry status in 2012. The other, The Toledo Community building built in 1919, gets the bulldozer for its centennial. To complete this they will get a grant to demolish it but have to let it set for 6 months abandoned to qualify for the funds.

The Community Building was build originally as an 'Odd Fellows' Lodge and has been used for dances, Scouts, dance instruction, Seniors and City Council and Clerk offices. So it is like a town coliseum and community center. It has been actively loved and used for the past 98 years.

Back to the seniors. They will be kicked out of their home they have long known. There are alternatives for them to go to HOWEVER none are as good as where they currently are. They may have to go to Tama. Not all seniors drive and it is a shame. Why are our senior citizens treated with such disrespect? Why are they pushed around as an obsolete inconvenience?

Earlier tonight 50 seniors attended the council meeting. A few of them spoke of their plight. The council was bored and it was the last agenda item for the night. Why does this have to be? Why does MONEY trump in disrespect the lives of others? Why has our country and world become soooo selfish?

I am asking for your prayers. I am asking for the community of steemit to come together in prayer. I know God listens. I personally have distributed flyers, petitions, and written editorials. We have a Facebook group page of 118 members and growing. If you go to Facebook and type in Toledo Community Building, Toledo, IA, you will see it under groups. It is an open group. WE will continue to do more. We will be setting up a fund to help save the seniors from this plight. i will share a poem I wrote and an editorial for you below. I will be contributing financially to this cause. Thanks for your help.

HERE IS THE POEM I WROTE

Ode to our Small Town

They tore down the depot where folks road the train,
But I did not speak out. I could not complain.
They tore down two dear elementary schools,
But I did not speak out, it wouldn't be cool.
They drove our downtown businesses away
But I did not speak out. What could I say?
They let a governor close the IJH door.
But I did not speak out and what for?
They let our little towns slowly die.
But I did not speak out. How could I?
Our Community Building they want to tear down
And disrespect our seniors who built this town.
What will it take to have the guts to speak?
Will it come it a day, a month or a week?
Get up! Defend our quaint little town!
Before you find you are the only one around
And no one is there to help you my dear.
Where will you live when no one is here?
When your houses and buildings are bulldozed to dust
It will be too late to say, then, " I will, I Must".
Our seniors deserve the love and respect
to save their building from the bulldozing wreck.
So get up! And stand for our seniors and our town
Unless you want it bulldozed to the ground.

HERE IS THE EDITORIAL I WROTE IN THE TAMA /TOLEDO CHRONICLE/NEWS HERALD BACK IN MAY.

Thanks Tama-Toledo Chamber for remaining in downtown Toledo. Yes I want to sincerely thank you. This is a big first step. However this candy is a political gesture, distracting us from the main issue which is saving and preserving the Toledo Community Building.

Our treasured Community Building, rich in history, deserves the respect and dignity that the library and theater have so eloquently received. It deserves national historic status and has been the cornerstone of Toledo happenings for generations. Many dances, receptions, scouting events and romances happened in the strong solid walls of this fine structure. In two years this landmark will turn 100 years old. How will we choose to celebrate its centennial? With a bulldozer? when there are far worse buildings standing in our downtown I think not.

Toledo senior citizens also deserve the respect to stay in the surroundings that they have grown to love for decades. The community building is handicap accessible and works perfectly for our wonderful seniors. They deserve not to be uprooted from their home. Some seniors walk and do not have the transit availability to go to another location farther away. How would our community leaders feel if a senior falls, gets injured or even dies as a result of the new unfamiliar surroundings?. How would our community leaders feel if THEY had their home bulldozed against their will? Sometimes cities have to absorb the financial loss of a building or program for the benefit of the citizens it serves. These towns and cities learn to make up the lost revenue in other creative ways.

Most folks in Toledo want the community building saved. Put it up to a vote of the citizens of Toledo. Keeping a building unoccupied will only invite vandalism and crime. A century ago the leaders of Toledo provided us this fine gift to enjoy and thrive. We are called to be stewards of that gift. Will we treasure this and pass it on to our children and grandchildren? Or will we throw this gift in the landfill as it rots and decays to nothing. Can we take the higher road and be good stewards?

Please leaders of our great community Listen to the taxpayers of our community. This is a 'community' building. That includes everyone and excludes no one. This is not a parcel of land to be tossed out by a small few. Please do not be so impressed with the money savings that you loose sight of the needs our our dear friends and neighbors. They count. Please let them vote on this issue.

OK people stand up, wake up, turn off the TV, dust off that apathy, speak out, take action. Don't be afraid. for the love of our dear community

Thank you for reading my post. Feel free to offer prayers, suggestions or upVote. As we will soon have a fund going, I will be contributing to help fund this. Thanks!