Lyons-Muir Commitee        Stay up to date on our progress here!        

Lyons-Muir Community Meeting -----March 22, 2011

          Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Community Meeting. We had 27 adults attend and lots of great ideas, resources and ideas exchanged. Thank you to everyone who helped in any way, big or small. The Lions Club offered their facility and kept the coffee hot, Bryon Bennett and Ann Pennington put a lot of time into getting this organized and the word out. Here is a summary of what was discussed. The main purpose of this meeting was to create awareness, a line of communication throughout the community and find what resources we have amongst us.

Rev. Bert Nelson from the Lyons-Muir Church offered a prayer of thanks and guidance.

Bryon Bennett: Lyons Events Committee and organizer of many local events read the “Fable of Stone Soup” and talked about the reason and need for the meeting. Community involvement and communication are key to making this a family friendly, successful and exciting community.

Bill Bigford: Muir-Lyons VFW Post 4646, they are happy to support many local efforts and hope to continue doing so. They offer many services to the community such as Steak dinners, rent the facility out for events, participate in Veteran Services and others. They need community support as well, you can call them for more info. Leave a message since their hours vary. 989-855-2608

Suzann Saterstad: “Just Imagine ARTS for Lyons-Muir” and other ways to encourage creativity in the community. Suzann has been organizing a community Art Program. She is looking for your trash that can be used for art. Some things in the works are murals at local businesses, doing the Art for the Library programs, having art activities at the community events, a gallery of local artist (art in any form), various classes offered by locals who volunteer their time, and much more. “Drop in for Art” is on Saturdays in the Lyons Library, there are always new ones being planned. You can find more info out by calling the Lyons Library (989-855-3414) or by joining the “Just Imagine” group on Facebook.

Belinda Cadena: Lyons Muir Lions Club, they supplied the coffee and location for our meeting (BIG THANKS!!). The Lions club has a few programs they would like to incorporate into community events. They have a SightMobile that offers free screening for sight, hearing and diabetes. The program takes photos of children’s eyes to help with early detection of eye problems, and offers on site testing and information, free of charge. They also have a program geared for testing of hearing and diabetes. They have a facebook page as well. Belinda also mentioned that there is a local group for Adults with disabilities. They plan one event a month for the caregivers and the disabled adult. I didn’t catch the contact info for this.

Susan Craft: DPW, shared the 2010 Census results!! The population for Lyons went from 726 (2000) to 789 (2010) and Muir went from 634 (2000) to 604 (2010). They also will take donations of items that can be repaired and used for our local parks (picnic tables for example).

Ann Pennington: Lyons Village council member and Events Committee member shared information on becoming a Non-profit to better serve the community as an information hub.

Rev. Greg Gladding Muir First Christian Church, provided information about their youth programs at the church. It is open to kids of all ages. You can call the church for more info 989-855-2247

Vicki Reinhart: Lyons District Library, the Library offers several activities free of charge. They have a Writing group that meets weekly at the library and a Book Club that meets monthly. They are on facebook and have a online directory. You can call them for more info 989-855-3414

Jennifer Dugan: Friends of the Library, meets monthly at the Lyons Library. They help raise money for items for the library and organize activities to get the community involved. There is a facebook page or you can contact the Lyons Library for more info.

Dayna Ellis: Principal of Twin Rivers Elementary helped us collect all the local needs into a list.
Ways to inform the community: Village newsletter, school newsletter, Shoppers Guide, Sentinel Standard, WION radio FM 92.7/I-1430 (local radio station out of Ionia), facebook, www.lyonsmuir.com, a sign up sheet for email updates in the village offices, paper mailing

Community Needs:
Park & Recreation: possible local sport programs for kids and adults
Summer Lunch Program; the school has the opportunity to offer free lunch to children (up to age 26) in the summer and at reduced prices to adults. They would like to offer this if there is enough interest this year.
Location for Art classes: The library has been offering their room, but it only holds a limited amount of people and doesn’t offer much storage space. The school is a possibility. Parks and local events will try to include an Art project at their events. Looking for a local space to display art.
Movie on the Island: Details are being worked out to try to offer this at the Island this summer.
Farmers Market: More interest is needed!! It would be a way to share extra produce, plants and provide local products in the community.
Food Pantry: Located at the Muir Christian Church, they offer a food, clothing and household items pantry. Free of charge, they accept donations of all of the above including some large appliances and furniture. They offer it to community members in need. They are open on Tuesdays but will offer emergency help if necessary on other days.
Kids Day: A day just for kids, full of activities for health and fun. This may be combined with the Island Fest or possibly a separate event. The Island Fest is planned with many kids activities in mind.
Health Screening day: Lions Club has the Sightmobile that can offer sight, hearing and diabetes health checks.
Cooking/Baking/food preservation classes: Would need to check into license info and find a location to offer them. The MSU extension and WIC office in Ionia are possible supporters.

Resources to check for help with some of the ideas: WIC office in Ionia, MSU Extension office, Commission on Aging, Dial-A-Ride, VFW Post in Lyons, Lions Club in Muir, Muir Market, Lyons-Muir Church, Lyons Library, and others that were not mentioned.

If I am missing any information, please feel free to add it as a comment on here. This will be posted on www.lyonsmuir.com with links in the next few days as well. Feel free to share this info with your friends and family. If you have any questions or would like to be more involved you can contact us thru facebook, www.lyonsmuir.com or email events@lyonsmuir.com.

Thanks,   Jennifer Dugan & Bryon Bennett