Print edition: 
Some folks are lifelong rural Kansans. Others live in rural spots by choice.
The challenge, said Marci Penner, is figuring out how to ramp up the lifeblood in the state’s smallest communities by attracting tourists, businesses and new residents – all vital to keeping rural Kansas alive.
That’s the focus of a two-day meeting starting at 11 a.m. today at the Meridian Center in Newton. The meeting – dubbed “Big Rural Brainstorm” – will use an out-of-the-box, free-discussion approach to finding solutions to issues facing rural Kansas towns, many of which have aging populations and are led by volunteers.
“It’s up to volunteers to figure out what to do when your grocery store closes, your post office closes,” said Penner, who is also director of the Kansas Sampler Foundation, an organization that promotes rural culture and lifestyle. “There are no paid economic development persons, no paid city managers.”
Around 200 people from across the state will lend their voices to answer questions such as “How do we make rural Kansas the most appealing place in the world to raise a family?” and “How can we put positive value into vacant buildings?”
The meeting also offers rural Kansans the chance to network, said Goessel school district superintendent Jack Fast, a member of the planning committee that organized the meeting along with Penner.
“We rarely get a chance to network with folks in other small communities … and talk about how we can help keep a healthy, strong rural community here in Kansas,” he said. “It’s not about urban versus rural or rural versus urban. It’s about keep everyone strong.”
The discussion wraps up at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
The energy generated during a short breakout session on rural communities during December’s “Kansas In Question” symposium, held in Wichita, planted the seed for this weekend’s brainstorming session.
“We just felt like we wanted to go deeper and further,” Penner said.
“The energy that people are feeling for this – I just think this first hour when we are all together will be magical.”
The group won’t focus on bigger, overarching issues, like how to fund rural hospitals, Penner said, but instead will focus discussion on answering specific questions that can be carried back to a community and implemented.
In the end, the goal is to walk away with a plan for keeping rural Kansas alive for the next 150 years.
“At the end of this 24 hours, there will be this new energy, this new hope, these new collective actions that we can all take,” Penner said. “It will make a difference."
For more information, go to www.kansassampler.org or follow the discussion on Twitter at hashtag #ksbrb12.
