Building on a sense of community

PINE PLAINS — During its July meeting, the Town Board was approached by two women with a plan — a plan to utilize the new community room located at the recently completed library building to its maximum potential.

Those two women are Jennifer Mosher and Anne Cabral, and they take their self-assigned task pretty seriously.

“I’ve been working in town for the last few years trying to get different programs going and now we have this beautiful building and it’s just going to be amazing and it’s going to provide for the town. That’s all,� said Mosher. “I’m inspired by the building. It’s quite a gift, quite a gift.�

To help figure out what Pine Plains residents would like to see the community room used for, Mosher and Cabral circulated petitions; roughly 100 were completed by adults, nearly 50 by children.

“There were so many great ideas buzzing around we wanted to make a collection and take it from there,� Mosher said. “People are interested in exercise classes, expanding services for seniors, offering programs for teenagers, cooking classes and continuing classes that already exist in town like senior games, etc. I would like to see those team up into something a little bigger at the community center.�

“I think the community wants it to be a multi-function area,� Cabral added. “We also got a lot of responses from a couple of dozen different organizations that said they would like to use that space for their meetings, which is a nice idea.�

Cabral said one of their objectives is also to bring news of those existing programs to the forefront and inform the public about them, as many operate under the radar with little publicity. Others are well known and will bring residents to the community room in droves, whether they’re associated with the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the town’s Business Association or simply offer classes, like yoga or karate. Another goal is to coordinate scheduling, so different groups can avoid conflicts when planning events; she said it will also help fill in the gaps in services offered and developing programs that are needed.

“I think Jen and I both feel like if we’re going to have a community center, it should be for the entire community,� Cabral said. “We really wanted it to be comprehensive and inclusive [and more than just a senior center]. It’s a beautiful space and has great, unlimited potential, but it does take a lot of organization and a lot of work, but I think ultimately it will become something wonderful for the town.�

Town Supervisor Gregg Pulver suggested the pair discuss the proposal with members of the library board, as well as with himself and fellow Town Board member Dorean Gardner, to further pursue their options.

Councilman Rick Butler agreed, and said he supported the idea.

“It’s all worth pursuing to see if we could develop some kind of organized program [or coordinated schedule for the community center],� he said.

Although Mosher and Cabral had hoped to be farther along at this point (they had wanted to apply for grants with August deadlines, something that is now not considered possible), they say they’re not discouraged. They are continuing to pursue ideas for the room’s usage, review their surveys, approach town and library board members and investigate funding sources on a regular basis.

“It’s a tall order, but I think the building itself is inspirational and talking to people in town is an inspiration and even though there are pros to having a quiet little town, people are wanting more social activities and this could be the perfect opportunity to provide that,� Cabral said. “Some people said how about just having a dance for adults; well this could be a safe place for that. I think it will be good. I think what people want is what we will be able to have — that’s what we need and the rest will fall into place. It’s exciting.�