(The Plaque that is presented in the Decatur Museum)

By: Ivy Anderson, Mariah Jessen and Ty Sears, have started a community studio project in Decatur with intentions of portraying the interesting history that it holds. Showing the history of Decatur is something that the Decatur kids here at LDNE and the community itself will appreciate for years to come. It is important to us and the community that Decatur is not just looked over as a boring small town. For us, we call it “home” and it means just that. Decatur is a place where everyone knows everybody and we look out for each other, you don’t find that in many other communities. For the four hundred and ninety one of us this is something worth the hard work and time.

(Ivy Anderson presenting her project to the Decatur Museum Board)
We sent fundraising letters out to local business asking for donations to help support the History of Decatur plaque. With the generous people that Decatur hold, they all contributed enough money to reach our goal of $400, which helped us achieve our project goals. The sponsors that have helped us achieve our project are: Green Lantern, Decatur River Cabins, K-H Insurance, Decatur Museum, Decatur Community Club, P&L Trucking, Decatur Sears Center, Decatur Express.

                            

(Ty Sears and Mariah Jessen picking out wood)             (Mariah Jessen picking out a paint brush)

The Decatur museum board is willing to let us use the location as a place to display our project. We were planning to be putting it on a post outside, but due to the city owning the ground outside of it we will be hanging it inside for everyone to come see. This community studio activity is revealing some of the history Decatur has to offer, that you can not see driving down main street. The business that is designing and detailing our plaque had some quirks that slowed down the process, however the plaque is being finished with professional detailing and will be in the museum for the town and other communities to see.

(Ty Sears finding the correct paint)
The challenges that we have faced have been unlimited. Working with others is never a simple task, but after putting in the much needed effort, we have learned to get along and work together in order to benefit our community. Communication is another big thing that we all learned about to help further our progress on the project. Communicating with our team members made finishing the designs of the plaque and fundraising money an easier process to achieve. This project has taught us to work with people that we may not always know and has also made us come out of our comfort zone in front of the town. The success of this project shows how we love our small town of Decatur. It benefits us with leadership skills and that extra self confidence that we will use for the rest of our lives.

(Ivy Anderson taking a picture of main street Decatur)

The purpose of our project is to show how the community of Decatur isn’t just a town in Nebraska. It is the second oldest settlement that shouldn’t be overlooked. This project is proving that Decatur has more to it than what meets the eye. People just come to Decatur and see it as another little town, but actually they will learn that there is more to it than they actually think. When our project is finished and set up to hang in the the museum hopefully people talking about it will engage others to come and check it out.