54 W i n d s o r L i f e

THE POWER OF COMMUNITY CAN BE AMAZING. This was certainly the case on Septem-ber 14, 2013 when residents of Dresden came together to paint buildings in the downtown core.Lucy Ogletree spearheaded “Let’s Paint the Town.”

In November 2012, on the 50th anniversary of her father’s death, Ogletree and her sister Marianvisited their father’s gravesite in Dresden. It was on this trip that they stopped in downtown Dresden.While they found the buildings to be amazing, they also felt that they looked tired and in need ofa facelift.

Dresden is located in southwestern Ontario and has a population of 2,800 people. It is well knownfor the Trillium Trail Historical Walk, and the internationally known Uncle Tom’s Cabin, two keydestinations that attract hundreds of tourists annually.

Like other towns and villages across Canada, Dresden continues to lose its economic base as smallbusinesses struggle to survive with demographic change and industry closures. Buildings that are notmaintained eventually deteriorate to the point where they can no longer be used or saved. Emptybuildings encourage vandalism, possibility of fire, insects and rodents.

With a multifaceted career spanning 40 years, Ogletree had the passion and ability to bring “Let’sPaint the Town” to life. She has worked in retailing, manufacturing, folk art and consulting. In ad-dition, she is a public speaker and active volunteer. Ogletree was in the process of creating a visual mer-chandising business when she visited Dresden and thought the town would be a great place to start.

“I contacted Christal Wills, President of the Dresden BIA and owner of McKellar Flowers andGifts, to see if she would be interested in having me do a presentation for the BIA to present myvision for ‘Let’s Paint the Town’.”

On September 14, 2013 "Let's Paint theTown" was held in Dresden, ON as a wayto build community and revitalize thedowntown. Thirteen businesses and 70volunteers participated by painting store-fronts as a way to bring new life to thedowntown core. The project organized byLucy Ogletree was a great success. Vol-unteers got to work early and were able tocomplete the project by the end of the day.

Let’sPaintthe Town

Volunteers change landscape of downtownDresden by painting buildings in one day

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After seeing the presentation the BIAhired Ogletree to manage the project. In amatter of months Ogletree was able tobring her plan and vision to fruition.

Ogletree quickly got to work and spokewith many of the merchants in the down-town to find out who wanted to partici-pate. The overall consensus was that thedowntown was looking tired and effortswere needed to spruce things up. Ownersrecognized that this was vital if they wantedto bring more customers through theirdoors.

Following the meetings with downtownmerchants, Ogletree contacted other Dres-den businesses to see what products andservices they could donate to the project.Ogletree also reached out to local churchesto ask if they would consider holding BBQfundraisers to offset expenses. The goal wasto get as much donated as possible to keepexpenses minimal.

It was critical to the success of the proj-ect to recruit several volunteers who wouldbe willing to participate. A local advertise-ment ran in the newspaper asking for vol-unteers and high school students wereasked to participate. Merchants also askedtheir staff to assist.

By September 14th all of the details hadbeen worked out. Organizers could nothave asked for a more perfect day. It was abeautiful late summer day with the sunshining brightly.

Thirteen businesses in the downtownon St. George Street received facelifts in-cluding; Bella’s Café, Lonnie’s Hair Salon,a chiropractor office, L’il Hoarder’s,McTavish Pharmacy, Verna’s Sewing Cen-tre, Shelley’s Painted Treasures, CocoBeach, Dr. D’Hondt Optometrist office,Foxy Cuts Hair Salon, McKellar Flowersand Gifts, and Arim’s Discount Store.

Seventy volunteers, ranging in age fromten to 70, arrived to lend their services to“Let’s Paint the Town.” Most were fromDresden, but some came from as far asLondon and Windsor.

A large part of the success was due to thegenerosity of sponsors in the communitywho provided supplies, services and hospi-tality. All of the paint was provided byLumberjack Home Building Center, Dres-den Home Hardware provided the paint-ing supplies, local vendors provided foodand refreshments and Captured Momentssupplied hats and t-shirts.

“It was important to that all suppliesand services be either purchased or donatedby Dresden merchants and they came ▼

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through with flying colours. The volunteerswere so excited and energized.They talked,they laughed, they worked hard and inONE day they painted the town,” saysOgletree.Live entertainment was provided through-

out the day by 12 year old Jacklyn Wills, 17year old Lucas Roe and Classic Vibe’s Timand Jeff. The music provided a festive at-mosphere and kept enthusiasm and energylevels high.

Storeowners were thrilled to be part of theinitiative.Wills believes that the benefits willbe felt for several years.

“It definitely achieved a facelift for thedowntown. Not only did the event bring at-tention to local businesses, I believe that wewill experience economic benefits as well.We are very thankful to Lucy Ogletree forseeing what Dresden has to offer and mak-ing this project come together the way itdid. It was great to see the community cometogether and bring life to the downtowncore. It's not the last you've heard of us, thishas just got the ball rolling.”

The bustle of activity attracted attentionfrom Dresden residents who came to seewhat was happening. People drivingthrough town also stopped and walkedaround. Participants, residents and visitorsagreed there was a buzz around town thatday that was contagious.

Brent Babcock was one of the participat-ing retailers. His business, Babcock Jewellerswas started by his father Walter and is cur-rently celebrating its 60th anniversary.

“I have been working at the store for thelast 27 years and have to say that this notonly brought our business community to-gether in an exciting cooperative friendlyand fun event but many citizens of the com-munity joined in in the spirit of communitypride.”

For her part, Ogletree felt like she was ina feel good movie.

“It truly was community at its best –neighbour helping neighbour like the oldbarn raising days,” states Ogletree.

“When I was very little my GrandpaOgletree’s barn burned down. Shortly afterthat my grandpa was in a terrible accidentthat left him in a coma for several days. Hisfriends, family and neighbors banded to-gether and rebuilt his barn, that is where myvision for the merchants and residents ofDresden came from.”

By all accounts Ogletree’s vision was a re-sounding success. Merchants were in agree-ment that this project got them excitedabout the future and what Dresden hasto offer.

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