Planning for September

Year 2 Survey

One year in, Beautify Marengo has planters downtown, gardens refreshed, a park getting steady attention, and a cleanup that pulled out a real crew. Now we are deciding what the next year looks like.

This survey does three things: follows up on the projects already running, collects new ideas for September through next summer, and asks you to rank them. What comes back becomes the agenda for our September meeting.

Two things shape the questions. We would rather build a roadmap than line up a row of small independent projects, and we would rather take on the bigger ones alongside the other groups in town than run everything ourselves.

Every question is optional, so answer only the parts you have an opinion on. Skipping straight to the priorities at the bottom is a perfectly good way to fill this out. You do not have to have volunteered with us before.

The meeting this feeds

Wednesday, September 9 at 6:00 PM

Marengo-Union Library District, 19714 E Grant Hwy. Open to anyone, nothing to sign up for. Answer before then and your answers are on the agenda. Event details .

1. The projects we already run

Open any that you have thoughts about and leave the rest closed. Each one has a few decisions we need to settle before September, including what fall cleanup looks like for it, since that is a large part of the September agenda.

Earth Day & Community Cleanups

The spring cleanup brought out a great crew, and the follow-up meeting turned up a lot of questions about when the next one should be and who runs it.

When should the next big community cleanup be?

Some school and service groups already organize a fall cleanup with the county and state. Should we work with them instead of running a separate one?

Should cleanups run through Adopt-a-Block, so blocks already have someone assigned?

Anything else on cleanups?

Who could lead the next one, how the bags get collected afterward, the spots that need it most.

Would you want to be part of this one?

Each project gets two co-leads and a crew this year, so nobody carries one alone.

Tree Planting at the Schools

We agreed to plant one tree a year at the schools. It should be a real tree, not a shrub.

When should we plant?

What needs doing on this one before winter?

Thoughts on the tree itself, or where it should go?

The schools handle who comes from their side, and the city sends who it can spare, so that part is not ours to set.

Would you want to be part of this one?

Each project gets two co-leads and a crew this year, so nobody carries one alone.

Hanging Baskets

The downtown baskets draw more compliments than anything else we do. The city has given us more baskets, and there are older brackets still mounted on poles along Route 23 heading south.

Should we hang more baskets using the brackets already on the poles?

How should the baskets look next year?

Should we ask the city or the Chamber to help cover supplies?

What needs doing on this one before winter?

Anything else on the baskets?

Where the extra baskets should go, colors and plant choices, help hanging them and taking them down.

Would you want to be part of this one?

Each project gets two co-leads and a crew this year, so nobody carries one alone.

Downtown Planters

The high school built and paid for the first round of planters. Going forward we will need to carry more of that cost ourselves.

Should we add more planters downtown if the high school is in again?

Anywhere besides Main Street that should have planters?

Should planters carry the name of a business or family that sponsors them?

Should we grow our own flowers, or ask the high school FFA to grow specific varieties if we supply the seed?

Should the planters get fall decorations?

What needs doing on this one before winter?

Anything else on the planters?

Would you want to be part of this one?

Each project gets two co-leads and a crew this year, so nobody carries one alone.

Murals & Public Art

Murals sit with the city right now, but they will be looking for help from us. There is more than one way to do one: paint, vinyl, tile, marine board.

Which public art projects would you like to see in Marengo?

Check as many as you like.

Would you want to be part of a mural project?

Anything else on murals and public art?

Walls you have in mind, artists or teachers we should ask, what style suits Marengo.

Would you want to be part of this one?

Each project gets two co-leads and a crew this year, so nobody carries one alone.

City Gardens

We refreshed several city gardens this year. The rock garden on the east side of the municipal lot is on hold until the city finishes its parking lot work.

How did this year's refreshes turn out?

Should we line up garden sponsors, the way Woodstock does?

Should we put in rain barrels to cut down on hauling water?

Any garden that should be on the list for spring 2027?

What needs doing on this one before winter?

Anything else on the gardens?

How the yard waste gets hauled away, plants that did or did not work.

Would you want to be part of this one?

Each project gets two co-leads and a crew this year, so nobody carries one alone.

Welcome Signs

The welcome signs are the first thing people see driving into town.

Should we decorate the signs for fall and the holidays?

Should we anchor the beds with shrubs or a small tree, if the utility locates allow it?

Should the mowing and trimming around the signs happen more often?

What needs doing on this one before winter?

Anything else on the welcome signs?

Funding and sponsor ideas, lighting, which sign needs the most attention.

Would you want to be part of this one?

Each project gets two co-leads and a crew this year, so nobody carries one alone.

Calvin Spencer Park

The park has had steady work put into it this year, gazebo lighting included. Plenty is still on the wish list.

Which of these should we take on first?

Check as many as you like.

What needs doing on this one before winter?

What else should happen at the park?

Would you want to be part of this one?

Each project gets two co-leads and a crew this year, so nobody carries one alone.

2. New ideas for the year ahead

September 2026 through summer 2027. Any new project needs two people willing to lead it, plus a plan for how it gets finished and looked after once it is done.

A spot that needs attention, an event, a partnership, a fundraiser, something you saw another town do. Rough ideas are welcome, that is what the meeting is for. This is the box the September agenda gets built out of, so do not talk yourself out of one.

These came up more than once. Which would you like to see us start?

3. Who we do it with

The bigger ideas do not get done by our volunteers alone, and we would rather not try. Year two is about teaming up with the other organizations in town instead of every group working its own corner.

The churches, the schools, the scouts, the Chamber, the service clubs, the park district, the library, a business with equipment we do not have.

Is there a group you could introduce us to?

A business, church, school club, scout troop, service club, or any group you are part of. Partners have covered supplies, brought a crew for a workday, or taken on a piece of a project outright. An introduction from someone they know goes further than a cold ask from us.

4. The two teams we need either way

These two are not on the list of things we might try. Nothing else on this page happens without them, so the only question is who is on them.

Communications
Communications

Getting what we do in front of people who are not already following along: the newspaper, Instagram, the website, and staying in step with the schools and the other groups in town.

Fundraising
Fundraising

Grants, sponsors, and at least one real fundraiser a year, so projects stop coming out of volunteers' pockets.

5. The roadmap

A year of small independent projects leaves less behind than a few years pointed the same direction. We can do a few things well or many things halfway. Pick up to 3 to carry the next year.

Top priorities

0 of 3 selected

The one thing worth chipping away at season after season, even if it is too big to finish in a year.

6. How we work

Two honest questions. Say the awkward thing here if there is one.

Ideas that got raised and went nowhere, projects that stalled or did not get looked after once they were finished, how we communicate, how workdays get organized.

7. About you

All optional, but it helps us follow up.

Have you volunteered with us before?
Overall, how involved would you want to be?

If you checked a project above, an email is how that project's group reaches you.

Answers are used by Beautify Marengo to plan our work, and never sold or shared. Privacy policy