A meeting was held on Wednesday, November 15, at GALLERY ONE EIIIEVEN in Leesville attended by many civic and nonprofit groups in the area to discuss and address their multiple ongoing projects and programs and to better coordinate information and activities for the groups and the public. In attendance were members representing the Leesville Junior League, Civitan, Kiwanis, Friends of Main Street, Fort Johnson Spouse and Community Club, Lions, Pilot, Rotary, GALLERY ONE EIIIEVEN, Jubilee Park, C.A.S.A, and the Chamber of Commerce. The round table discussion provided an opportunity for each group to present their most recent upcoming events and provide a short talk on their club, their focus, and their activities in the community.

Chamber members introduced the Community Calendar feature on their website: http://www.greatervernon.org/events/commmunity-events. The calendar is interactive and is available for even non-chamber nonprofits to post their events and use as a marketing and coordination tool. The posts on the calendar have a 24-hour lag time for a moderator to approve the content of the postings. All in attendance were encouraged to take advantage of this tool for their events.

Other topics of discussion were finding and using grants to finance community projects, developing a common project for group participation, cross marketing and participating in each other’s events, involving school clubs in civic projects and how to best market to the public on social media and other means.

The meeting adjourned with a commitment to meet at a minimum each quarter and to communicate throughout the coming months to improve the quality of life in the area. The next meeting is set for Wednesday, January 24th at 5:00 at GALLERY ONE EIIIEVEN.