Mary Gibble, center, president of the Community Foundation of Hancock County, led a strategy session last year with staff members Marie Felver, Shelley Haney, Katie Ottinger and Laura Parker. The foundation is hosting two public brainstorming sessions this summer to gather the public’s input on Hancock County’s future.
HANCOCK COUNTY — Local residents as young as 14 can put their two cents in regarding the future of Hancock County at upcoming brainstorming sessions hosted by the Community Foundation Hancock County.
The event — called Pop Shop — takes place over two sessions from 10 a.m. to noon Friday, July 14 and Saturday, Aug. 12 at the foundation’s offices at 971 West U.S. 40 in Greenfield. A free picnic will follow the second session.
Community foundation president Mary Gibble said the sessions are designed to give the community a chance to share their vision for the future as Hancock County continues to grow and evolve.
“The whole idea is to think about what our county could be doing and achieving in the future,” said Gibble, a lifelong Hancock County resident.
Instructors will be on site sharing examples of things other communities throughout the world are doing to make their home a better place, she said.
“I’d call this a quality of place exercise,” said Gibble. “It really gives people the opportunity to be creative and exchange ideas that might lead to bigger things in the future.”
How the ideas generated will be used is yet to be determined, she said, but Hancock County is full of forward-thinking individuals who are adept at collaborating for the greater good of the community.
“We’ve been meeting with the planners form our county, towns and municipalities for many years, so we look forward to gathering these ideas and thoughts and sharing them with those folks and then get their feedback on what we might be able to do to bring some of those ideas to fruition,” said Gibble.
“We want people to dream big,” she said.
To register for the upcoming Pop Shop sessions, visit CelebrateHancock.org/talent-pathway-pop-shop or call 317-462-8870. The event is open to the first 100 people to register.
