by
Melinda Pillsbury-Foster
When
I walk down Main Avenue I try to see it as my friends have described.
Busy shops, sidewalks teeming with people who knew there, on Main
Avenue, they would find friends. Everyone, I was told, went to Main
Avenue.
Instead
of seeing the pot holes and closed businesses, I imagine what could
be, and what must happen for this to take place. Much more is at
stake than you might imagine.
The
little girl approached the man she had often seen assisting with
breakfasts at St. Peter's Episcopal Church. Around seven, she was
bundled up in a blanket, though the day was very warm. It was around
noon, and the church service had just ended.
“Why
isn't there food this morning?” she asked him. Looking down at
her anxious eyes for a moment he did not know what to say. Then he
responded, “St. Peter's doesn't serve breakfasts during the
summer months.”
The
girl had lost the body fat of childhood and so appeared gaunt, her
eyes far too large for her small face. She sighed, turning away.
As
she walked off, her shoulders hunched forward, the man watched her,
trying not to let his face show what he felt.
Looking
first toward South Park and then North, I imagined how Ashtabula
could change to provide more of what we need for all of us.
One
of the businesses-we-want-here which emerged from the survey the ADDA
circulated a while back, included a bakery on Main Avenue. I asked
Al, a retired banker from my Yoga class at the Y, about a bakery here
in Ashtabula. Al has been retired for longer than most people today
have been alive, but he is sharp and had ideas. Bakeries are a
resource in the community, providing both jobs and yummy pastries to
be enjoyed at home, with friends, and while sitting at a table on
Main Avenue, watching people.
A
renovation for the Shea Theater, now empty and awaiting its fate, has
been proposed. All change begins with one good thing happening.
What
Ashtabula needs most is businesses which gives back to the people,
and to the community, keeping money local and the focus on making our
town a better place to live for all of us.
What
would you like to see, when you walk down Main Avenue. Tell Me.
When
people dream, and act, those dreams become reality.
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