The new Metamora momentum

The new Metamora momentum

Let me start off by saying, what follows is my opinion. It is admittedly incomplete, but who among us has the whole picture? About anything! But in this case about the purchase of the MacLynn property.
As you know the 33-acre campground and campus (that’s a high falutin’ way of including the restaurant, museum and excellent utility barn) is soon to become public property, sort of. Indiana DOT announced they would be kicking in $689,600 towards the purchase of the property by the Whitewater Canal Byway Association, a group headed by Candy Yurcak of Metamora.
As I remember it — I’ve been gone for almost three years — this was the result of a group of people with various interests in Metamora getting together and doing one of those Andy Hardy film things where Mickey Rooney jumps up and says “Lets put on a play!” But instead of a play this group decided to think even bigger, bigger than a play, bigger than a production to hold the play and bigger even than a single season, play or otherwise. They looked around, inventoried every conceivable opportunity and decided the best single-swoop effort they could make was to buy the moribund property across US 52 and churn it back to life.
Now, it seems, they can say, “We did it!” And I can say, “Congratulations!” As a property owner and citizen of Metamora, your success has made my life much more interesting.
Did I say this was a group from Metamora and Metamora being what it is, for anyone attempting a step forward, there is another one trying his or her best to anchor that offending leg. If momentum is any phenomenon with which to judge the economic vitality of a place, Metamora had little when these folks began to dream. By the success of their action, this group has worked mojo on that old Metamora momentum, which amounted to ‘a body at rest stays at rest’.
Things are now moving in Metamora. Like I said, I’ve been gone for several years and so I am seeing the town and the county from an outsider’s perspective. I remember things looking worse when I left in 2006.
So they started with not much more than a pipe dream and a head full of optimism for steam. They ran into obstacles, they ran into setbacks, they spent a lot of time spinning their wheels. But in retrospect those spinning wheels which may have seemed so frustrating when they were whirring away, were actually doing something. Those spinning wheels were sliding along trying to get a grip on that old momentum. And through their continued and determined effort they were able to slide over that tar baby ooze and put together, by a tally from the county commissioner’s minutes, $1,583,200. This is the big piñata!
Does that mean the old Metamora malaise has been conquered? Yes! Does it mean it is subdued? I doubt it.