As Blocks are gathering around the city and home improvements continue, Fulton is being noticed by other communities.
In July, the Mayor of the Village of East Syracuse, Bob Tackman and the Richland Area Chamber of Commerce President, Jodie Perry located in Mansfield Ohio - contacted Linda Eagan, and asked how the Block Builders got started and if more information could be shared. Of course, Linda was more than happy to do that. After all, Paul Stewart, Executive Director of the Oswego Renaissance Association and the Executive Director of the Shineman Foundation, Karen Goetz have shared plenty of information with the Fulton Block Builders (FBB). Without their advice and guidance Linda doesn’t think that FBB would have even been born.
Fulton Block Builder volunteers Heather Crofoot, Dennis Merlino and Linda Eagan, with the Village of East Syracuse Mayor, Bob Tackman
Thursday August 3rd, Block Builder volunteers Heather Crofoot, Dennis & Kelly Merlino and Linda Eagan, met with the Village of East Syracuse Mayor, Bob Tackman and Clerk, Pat Derby. It seems that Pat is friends with a former resident of Fulton and they sent her a link to the Fulton Block Builder website https://www.fultonblockbuilders.com/info/ with a message to check out what Fulton is doing! Pat did and shared it with the Mayor.
Bob and Pat came to the August meeting eager to learn what the Block Builder project was all about and ended up talking with the volunteers for about an hour and a half. “We are proud of what is happening in Fulton and all of the volunteer’s love sharing our story every chance we get” commented Eagan. Dennis Merlino said that the Fulton Block Builder project is giving people the opportunity to see how we can improve our community and enabling enthusiasm and action for positive change. Heather zoned in on the increased sense of community that can be felt in the participating blocks and beyond. The Block Builders offered to meet again or share more in the future and the Mayor “tagged” FBB on Facebook before the volunteers arrived home!
Jodie Perry from the Richland Area Chamber of Commerce has been following FBB on Facebook since its launch in January and has been intrigued with the progress the City of Fulton residents have made in such a short time. Linda Eagan shared information about the Healthy Neighborhood Initiative and gave Jodi links to Charles Buki at CZB LLC for more information on how to rank a city and possibly hire that firm to develop a plan for their communities. “I don’t know if either community will start a program like ours, but if they do, I hope both have the same success we are feeling and seeing in Fulton” said Eagan.
