SAVONBURG — With its diminutive size (barely more than 100 residents in all) and relative isolation in the southeast corner of Allen County, Savonburg is, quite frankly, overlooked.
But as a small but hearty group can attest, great things often come in small packages.
Marilyn Walker, Marilyn Logan, Kim Montgomery and others spoke about a number of endeavors underway in Savonburg.
Their comments came Thursday during a monthly Allen County Tomorrow session, hosted by Thrive Allen County.
Allen County Tomorrow (ACT) was founded during a series of Kansas Health Foundation-funded conversations involving all of Allen County in 2015.
Those conversations help communities set a number of short-term goals for various civic improvements — a new storm siren for Elsmore, for example, or added playground equipment for LaHarpe.
“Since then, Allen County Together has expanded with additional partners,” noted Damaris Kunkler, Thrive’s community engagement director.
Savonburg is among the new partners, one that was previously overlooked, Kunkler said.
“We should have been here sooner,” she admitted.
Montgomery and Logan said the top priority for the Savonburg PRIDE Committee is getting a new park.
The Savonburg Bible Church has agreed to donate a parcel of land for the city to develop a park, Logan noted.
The committee has applied for a series of grants — they’ll find out in 2018 if they’re successful — to help pay for the playground equipment, and a number of fundraisers are planned. “Pennies For the Park” jars have been distributed throughout Allen County to seek financial donations of all sizes.
Logan noted of Savonburg’s 100 residents, more than a third are young children.
“We have a lot of young people, and a lot of elderly residents,” she said. “We just don’t have many in the middle.”
WHILE the park is on the long-term radar, Savonburg PRIDE and other volunteers have a number of activities to appeal to folks of all ages.
A citywide cleanup begins at 9 a.m. Saturday. Volunteers will clean yards, mow lawns, cut weeds and do other menial chores of a few, select homebound seniors.
After that, the focus shifts to spiffing up the downtown for Savonburg’s Oct. 28 Fall Festival, which will feature a parade, children’s games, dinner, merchants drawing, Halloween costume contest, chili cookoff and a raffle for an “opportunity quilt.”
This is the first year in recent memory Savonburg has hosted such a festival.
ON TOP OF that are the thrice-weekly breakfasts at the Savonburg Community Center, each Friday, Saturday and Monday mornings for free-will donations.
The Savonburg Public Library also has become a popular destination — it’s one of the jewels of the Southeast Kansas Public Library System, Walker said — and not just for books.
Photos of Savonburg’s early years, in the late 1800s, dot the walls, and a communal jigsaw puzzle lies on a table for anybody to help assemble.
“It’s a 2,000-piecer,” Logan joked. “So if anybody has some time after the meeting, we need some help.”
Savonburg residents — referred to in history books as “Savonburgers” — are in search of more historical artifacts, Logan said.
Dick Fewins, of Elsmore, noted Savonburg also sports one of the largest Masonic Lodges in Allen County, with large groups gathering for their monthly meetings.
WALKER SAID Savonburg is eager to establish a large-scale recycling system, to keep paper, plastics, glass and other items out of the landfill.
The rub, she noted, is to find a way to do it affordably.
Larry Manes, a member of the Moran PRIDE Committee and ACT member, noted a countywide recycling effort has been a dream for many.
The Iola Rotary Club hosts bi-monthly recycling days, to collect paper and plastic jugs (as long as the containers did not hold hazardous chemicals, such as motor oil or pesticides.)
And while aluminum and steel cans can be taken to Ray’s Metal Depot in LaHarpe, it’s difficult to affordably recycle glass and other refuse.
Even so, Walker responded, Savonburg is willing to throw in its brainpower to help devise an effective recycling plan.
OTHER activities are held on a quasi-regular basis, such as a storm safety meeting hosted last week by the National Weather Service and an eclipse watch party held in August. Another session on railroad safety is in the works as well.
“We’re always looking for anybody who knows something about a topic and would like to host a free class,” Logan said.
THE SAVONBURG PRIDE Committee meets the fourth Wednesday of each month, including this Wednesday, at 6:30 p.m. in the Savonburg Community Center. The public is invited.
