Saturday, April 29 was supposed to be a rainy day; fortunately, the forecast was wrong. We were blessed with good weather, some sunshine and enjoyed spending the late afternoon in the Bennet Park celebrating the success of Bennet Visioning Process.

Members of the Bennet Advisory Committee organized a Community Visioning Celebration to recognize their achievements and honor the volunteers who committed a lot of time and energy to the visioning process.

The Bennet Community Visioning Process took about six months to complete and Bennet residents have a lot to be proud of:

• The Citizens' Advisory Committee has been formed and become active in the community; the advisory committee will work in partnership with the Village Board and Planning and Zoning Committee on the projects which will improve the quality of life in Bennet. These local leaders will be the liaison between local officials and the whole community and make sure communication goes both ways.

• The Vision Statement was created and will be incorporated into the comprehensive plan; it will guide the community in shaping Bennet’s future. The Vision Statement was created from information gathered at the listening sessions and from the themes which were prioritized by Bennet residents during the second Town Hall meeting. The Vision Statement reflects community residents’ goals, objectives and desires.

• The Citizens’ Advisory Committee decided to promote Bennet and distinguish their community among others in Lancaster County by creating a community slogan. Four different slogans were proposed and the advisory committee distributed voting cards asking Bennet residents to choose their favorite. Based on the results, the new Bennet Community Slogan is, “Remember yesterday’s values; live today’s dreams; invest in tomorrow’s families.”

• The Citizens’ Advisory Committee raised the money ($200) to present Community Visioning Celebration. They also contracted local business owner, Todd Calfee, to create a banner with the Bennet Community Slogan. Visioning Celebration Lee Anderbery, Cathy Jones, Doug Janak, Guenter Schwerdtle and Tyler Goodrich took leadership roles in organizing the Community

Visioning Celebration.

Flyers announcing the event were distributed around town and announcements were published in The Voice and Lincoln Journal Star newspapers. Heartland Community Bank, Bennet Builders and Bennet Youth Group donated money for the event.

About 25 people attended the celebration, enjoying ice cream from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Dairy Store and live music. There was a volunteer recognition, and the new vision statement and community slogan were promoted.

The majority of attendees were aware of the visioning process and had participated in Listening Sessions and Town Hall meetings. Some attendees had not known about the visioning process, but enjoyed the opportunity to learn what was going on in the community.

For more information, contact:

Yelena Mitrofanova, Extension Educator
e-mail: ymitrofanova2@unl.edu
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in Lancaster County
444 Cherrycreek Road, Suite A, Lincoln, NE 68528.
Phone: 402-441-7180

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