Neoga Partnership for Progress Hopes to Foster Positive Energy, Growth

A new organization known as Neoga Partnership for Progress is hoping for broad community support for initiatives to foster growth and community pride.

The group has held a couple of meetings in May to establish some community events, but more ideas and input are being sought. The next meeting of the group is set for Thursday, June 4 at 5pm at the Neoga Municipal Building. NPP's beautification and activities/recreation groups will each meet with a goal of building on the great aspects of Neoga and creating more reasons to take pride in being part of the community.

One of the first public events will be a Community Cleanup Day the morning of Saturday, June 13. Participants are invited to begin the day at 7am with coffee and donuts at the Neoga Municipal Building before beginning their cleanup efforts at 8am. They plan to wrap up the day at noon at Neoga IGA.

The main points of emphasis will be cleaning up curbs, cleaning along the railroad, cleaning the area near the four-way stop, putting mulch around trees, and edging grass and sidewalks along 6th and 7th Streets.

If you're interested in helping, if you have questions, or if you have equipment like weedeaters, rakes, bush trimmers, brooms or shovels you'd like to make available, contact project coordinator Andy Schabbing at aschabbing@neoga.org or phone the Municipal Building at 895-3237.

The group is also working toward organizing a Farmers Market. Katie and Dusty Hakman are the coordinators. Contact them at Hakman.dustin@gmail.com or Katie.hakman@psci.info if you would like to participate or have any questions.

Another initiative is the return of Sooeyfest. Longtime Neoga residents may remember the annual celebration and Brenda Evans is looking to revive the one-day event with October 3 serving as the tentative date. Fun activities and competitions would take place around a free ham and beans and cornbread supper.

The group also plans to promote the annual Neoga Days celebration, set this year for June 18-20, and to utilize the celebration as a way to spread the word about NPP. The group will have a booth at the park pavilion, and volunteers are needed to spend a little time handing out information and answering questions. If you'd like to help, contact Katie Hakman at Katie.hakman@psci.info.