Events needed to utilize Westside Park

The highlight of the party was in the next minute when her son and daughter-in-law from San Diego entered the party room. Our friend was so overcome with emotion when seeing her only child for the first time in over a year that she burst into tears and could not keep from crying. Of course all the other women and a few men shed some tears. These types of moments are priceless because they exhibit pure emotion that cannot be hidden or planned. It's strange that extreme happiness can cause one to cry but perhaps it reveals that crying is probably the most pure form of expressing your emotions whether they be sad or happy.

The following day we drove from Springfield to Hannibal, Missouri, the birth place of Mark Twain and the source for the Tom Sawyer books. While there we toured the town admiring the old architecture and stopped to walk around the farmers market in the town square. In addition to the market, there were games being held for the children that included sack races, T-shirt painting, and numerous other child events. In the small pavilion a group of young fiddlers were playing old time music to entertain the crowd.

Leaving Hannibal we drove to Quincy, which like Hannibal, is located on the Mississippi River. Quincy is an old town with many beautiful old buildings. Anyone who has not been to Quincy should take a 3 hour drive to observe the wonderful old homes and buildings. Quincy's town square was also the setting for a farmers market with musical entertainment and had a large crowd in attendance.

In fact, Minonk's Westside Park seemed like an even better place than the town squares in Hannibal or Quincy. The reason? The Westside Park has public toilets that can accommodate a large crowd. The town squares in both Hannibal and Quincy each had only one portable toilet to accommodate the crowd!

I think the Westside Park would be an ideal place to hold a monthly event for people to congregate. The event could include not only a farmers market but can also be a place for organizations and individuals to sell their wares. Churches could hold a bake sale, local artists could display their paintings or jewelry. In fact, anyone can set up their stand to sell anything they wish. Why not have games for the kids included in the event? I guess you could call it a flea market if you want. The objective is to get people to come and congregate.

I realize that all of this requires planning and I am making an appeal to anyone in the community who would want to organize such an event. The event could take place perhaps the first Saturday of each month between 8:00 am to 2:00 pm from June through October. The Westside Park is an ideal place to hold such an event with the restroom and kitchen facilities in the new pavilion, the extra space provided by the picnic shelter, the shade provided by the many trees, the playground equipment for the children and the quaintness of the new gazebo.

Now that the Westide Park has been revitalized physically it is time to revitalize it socially by holding an annual monthly event there to bring the community together. I urge citizens to provide feedback to this website on this possibility.