CENTRALIA COMMUNITY GARDENS, CENTRALIA JUNETEENTH PRESENT AT CHAMBER LUNCH

The Centralia Chamber of Commerce’s “inspire connections” lunch at first-time location City Hope Church featured presentations from both Centralia Community Gardens and Centralia Juneteenth.

Rob Schnicker of Centralia Community Gardens discussed the origins of the CCG, which he said began after he noticed a food insecurity in the Centralia area. With the aid of organizations like the United Way, the budding organization was able to create community gardens on Sycamore Street, the Centralia Community Youth Center, on the southside of the Wamac Food Pantry, and on the parking lot of City Hope Church.

Schnicker, who advised two more gardens were expected to arrive in Centralia this year, said City Hope Church was chosen as a location due to accessibility, saying Centralia Community Gardens wished to find a space with concrete surfaces so that all may come and enjoy the garden.

Chris Lueking of University of Illinois Extension, which works in part with Centralia Community Gardens, said she is planning several gardening-based programs this year to help community members with a green thumb.

The programs include lessons on growing flowers in the backyard, understanding when to harvest, and detecting which insects are good or bad for your garden. Lueking also said the organization will be teaming with local farmers this fall to grow turnips and kale for local food pantries.

Ellie McClelland and Malaya Downey of Centralia Juneteenth spoke on the non-profits upcoming celebration, held June 13 and 14 in Laura Leake Park, with Downey also expressing interest in collaborating with other chamber members in the room through event sponsorships and volunteer work at this year’s Juneteenth celebration.

“If you haven’t noticed, Centralia is progressing,” said Downey. “The people who are at the forefront of that progression are all chamber members. It’s you guys that are taking Centralia to the next level. That is one of the reasons that Centralia Juneteenth joined the chamber. We want to be a part of that progress.”

“There are so many tourists coming to Centralia June 13 an 14 and I don’t want you guys to miss out on that. So, I am looking to partner with more chamber members to welcome these tourists to town. This is where economic development for the city comes from. We want to continue to enhance and build that.”

This month’s lunch was catered by Simply Soul, LLC.