The Gifts of PaxtonThis town on the South Platte River gets along by working together. Story and photographs by Christopher Amundson |
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PAXTON HAD A GIFT with strings attached.
A retired English teacher died and left $50,000 for a new library to be spent within one year. Fifty thousand dollars is a generous gift but not nearly enough to build a new library, especially in 12 months.
With the clock ticking, the ladies of the library board counted their books and sketched plans. They figured the library would cost $200,000, start to finish.
They mailed fundraising letters, hosted bake sales and came up with the difference. Within a year, they were stocking shelves and checking out books. As a bonus to Paxton, the library gals added a new village office attached to the library.
Like the library story, the Paxton swimming pool needed some repairs, and the village board decided it would cost a couple hundred thousand dollars.
This time, Deb McCaig, Travis Jay, Jodie Bricker, Dana Cassell and Patti Perlinger, with help from the city, went out and raised $103,000 to get the job done. They ran bake sales, silent auctions, spaghetti feeds and concession stands. “It was a dime at a time sometimes,” McCaig said.
These stories are typical of the zest and ambition of the town of Paxton. “Everything that Paxton does it does with that same spirit,” said Paxton Mayor Richard Colson.
School bond issues in most towns are contentious affairs, pitting neighbor against neighbor, but it should be no surprise that there was none of that in Paxton during a recent $8 million school bond vote. Enrollment is up to 240 students from K-12 at Paxton, with 40 students opting in from neighboring districts. With the school bond passing handily on the first try, construction on the new school addition begins swiftly and promptly this summer.
