LEROY – "If it weren’t for Prairie Visions, none of the four communities would have much of a future.

Thursday, December 02, 1999

LEROY – "If it weren’t for Prairie Visions, none of the four communities would have much of a future."

"The towns of LeRoy, Taopi, Adams and Rose Creek and the things that Prairie Visions has done, make this a corridor across Mower County and if we can partner with Austin, anything can happen."

Ed Koppen, mayor of LeRoy, said words to that affect at Tuesday night’s 10th anniversary Prairie Visions Get-Together.

While there is never anything shy about the LeRoy mayor, it so happens a former mayor, Everett Kinter, agreed.

"It’s fantastic, what they’ve done in 10 years," said Kinter, who himself is one of the Prairie Visions’ "originals."

"With only one city, none of those things could have been accomplished, but with four communities you’ve got a voice that is heard," Kinter said.

Held at the LeRoy Community Center, the combination banquet, recognition and party attracted 45 of the Prairie Visions faithful,

Eileen Hutchins, president, was the evening’s master of ceremonies.

It was four years ago, that the communities of Rose Creek, Adams, Taopi and LeRoy decided to band together to promote the area and enhance the quality of life for all.

In the beginning were soup and sandwich suppers, usually at a church, and the focus was strictly on agriculture, but soon the organization would evolve into something else than a single-issue group.

By 1990, a joint powers agreement had been approved by the city councils in each community and Mark Schmitz of Adams designed a logo for the group.

Prairie Visions started sponsoring events in 1991 and 1992.

In 1993, the Shooting Star recreation trail was embraced by Prairie Visions and it remains the top priority project today of the organization.

Highway 56 which rolls through the four communities was a designated Wildflower Route and by 1994 became a designated Scenic Byway for the state’s tourists, thanks to Prairie Visions.

There was a Doo-Dah Day celebration at Taopi in 1995 that combined with a Prairie Days celebration. This was the year, CBS commentator Charles Osgood discovered the group of small town residents who wanted the world to notice how proud they were of their communities and the rural areas. A story about Prairie Visions was broadcast on the "Osgood Files" and people began to notice.

Work continued to develop a biking and hiking trail along the abandoned railroad right-of-way property across Mower County.

Awards started coming in 1997 for the group’s efforts, while volunteers pushed for funding and other support for the Shooting Star trail project.

State recognition for the Shooting Star Wildflower and Historic Route along Highway 56 in 1998, when the first portion of the biking and hiking trial was opened from the city limits of LeRoy into Lake Louise State Park.

This year, Prairie Visions has continued to work publicly and privately to enhance the quality of life in Mower County. Not content to inaugurate a new project, Prairie Visions has emphasized the need for maintenance of projects it undertakes.

It has also embraced a new event, Roman Landherr’s Allis-Chalmers antique tractor exhibition, championed keeping Lake Louise State Park open after a funding cutback threatened an early closing, kept itself in front of the public with another appearance at the Mower County Fair and otherwise done the things it has done best from the beginning.

Today, Prairie Visions is part of such wide-ranging projects as the Upper Iowa River Watershed, the oak savanna landscape project, a support group for Lake Louise State Park and other ventures in partnership with the Minnesota State Parks and trails Council, Southeast Minnesota Coalition for State Parks and Minnesota Scenic Byway Commission.

It lobbies with area legislators and cajoles the Mower County Board of Commissioners for support.

Marilyn Thorstenson, the Adams city clerk and treasurer, is the unofficial historian of the organization. The scrapbooks maintained by Thorstenson are growing with Prairie Visions.

Hutchins, who has been with the organization since the start, said, "Prairie Visions is about volunteering."

State Rep. Rob Leighton (DFL-Austin) is among the organization’s boosters.

"Prairie Visions exemplifies civic pride and communities coming together," Leighton said. "Hopefully, those kinds of things will be done all around the state."

"I’m so impressed with what Prairie Visions does," he said.

Lora L. Friest, coordinator for the Upper Iowa River Project at Postville, Iowa, told of a new program that will involve Prairie Visions volunteers.

Bernie Halver of Adams and his wife, Joyce, told about their efforts to promote the Scenic Byway after attending a workshop

There were funny awards and more serious ones. Representatives of the communities of LeRoy, Taopi, Adams and Rose Creek accepted plaques from Partnership Minnesota for their efforts through Prairie Visions.

Margie (Mrs. Gerald) Meier of Adams was declared "Prairie Visions most valuable volunteer for the 1990s."

Eileen Evans, former publisher with her husband, Al, of the LeRoy Independent weekly newspaper, stopped Hutchins for a presentation of her own.

Evans honored Hutchins, wife of former funeral director, Doug, with accolades. "She is what holds us all together. She is the driving force behind Prairie Visions," Evans said

But, most of all, just being there at the 10th anniversary seemed to inspire people. Even guest Bonnie Rietz, the mayor of Austin, but that night an entertainer with song and guitar, seemed appropriate for the occasion.

Dale Mau, a planner with the Minnesota Department of Transportation, said, "The litany of activities is admirable; even incredible. It makes me proud to be a Minnesotan to hear what you are doing for our state."