Belleville Kan!

Belleville Kan!

Welcome to Belleville Kan!

This site is intended as a planning, growth and brainstorming center for the community of Belleville, Kansas.

Businesses, Citizens, Charities and Churches (hereinafter referred to as BCCC) of Belleville and Republic County, Kansas are encouraged to participate.

For simplicity, we will probably use a social network such as FaceBook for real-time communication, but post updates here on this site.

To start, here is some background info you are probably curious about.

This site, BellevilleKan.com is owned and operated by G. Tom Tsao, a citizen of Belleville and small business owner. The site and hosting is paid for by him.

A companion site, BellevilleKS.com has been created which intent is to publicly promote Belleville to the rest of the world.

It is Tom's belief that Belleville is a great place to live, work, and visit. Belleville, Kansas has GREAT potential to grow, and Tom is very enthusiastic about this. And no, he's not kidding. Belleville sits on prime real estate at the busiest intersection closest to the geographic center of the USA. There is NO REASON why Belleville KS can't be a city of at least twice its current size.

Yes, this will take time to grow. This isn't the 1890s anymore. But it also isn't the 1940s.

Updated July 09, 2011

Some of what Tom is encouraging the BCCC to do:

Businesses stay open later. At least til 8:00 PM.
    Since this is a lofty goal, Tom is encouraging the restart of the former "Open Late on Thursdays" tradition.
    This will not work unless many businesses make the hard decision to participate on a consistent basis.
    If all the businesses are open late, then people will have good reason to shop in Belleville.
    This holds true for local residents as well as the much-desired out-of-town shoppers.

Shop in town for at least 60% of everything you buy.
    Yes, we all know that you can get better prices on some things or more variety at big box stores. That's OK. But, you cannot get the friendly, personal, and efficient service you get right here in Belleville. For instance, Tom can go into Food Mart with three items on his list (and he often only has three items on his list--being a single guy and all). He goes into the store, gets spinach salad, a bag of croutons, and a banana. Coincidentally, that's what he bought today. He gets his food, has a short conversation with three people and the cashier before he leaves the store. Total time: Seven minutes.

    Additionally, he walked to the store, instead of driving to Concordia and saved 44 miles, which, at 25 mpg translates to about 1.75 gallons of gas at $3.599 a gallon is $6.33. Besides this, he got about 15 minutes of exercise to boot. This is also partly why Tom has lost eight pounds in the last three weeks.

    Another unspoken benefit is the fact that the money you spend in Belleville keeps those stores open! What if all your thrifty spending at Big Box Mart causes your local stores to close? Now what are you going to do when all you need is a bag of sugar you forgot to buy last time? Or if you need just one more 2x4 for your project? Do you really want to drive 44 miles for one item?

Build Tourism with Christmas Lights
Rocky Pond Christmas Sponsors & Volunteers Page
Rocky Pond Christmas Public Page

    The Christmas display that Tom's company, Imaginary Colours, put up at Rocky Pond last Winter (2010) was a huge hit! It overwhelmed Tom. He knew it would be pretty, and knew it would be appreciated, but he had NO IDEA it would make such a big impact on people here. Tom has had people stop him on the street--even during the Summer--to tell him how much they liked the lights. And much to his surprise, many people (if not most) said they went to see the lights many times over. At least a few said they went every night because their kids were asking to go see the lights again.
    You can't imagine how this makes Tom feel. He's getting tears in his eyes as he writes this.

    Anyway, the point is, if this small first-year's display made such a big impact, imagine what it can do for tourism in our town of Belleville!

    Goals & Needs for the 2011 Rocky Pond Christmas Display (read: YOU CAN HELP! There's something for everyone, and many hands make easy work.)
        1. Sponsorships
            a. Businesses, Citizens, Churches, Charities can all sponsor a display or part of one
        2. Donations by BCCC
            a. cash donations can be made to Tom or to the Christmas Lights Fund at Astra Bank. Every dime is needed and appreciated!
            b. Donations of display pieces, extension cords, Romex wire, electrial sockets, etc. etc.
        3. Volunteer Labor
            a. Printing and distribution of fliers
            b. Soliciting Sponsorships & Donations
            c. Helping to build displays
            d. Helping to maintain displays (check bulbs, wires, touch-up paint, etc.)
            e. Helping to set up and take down displays
            f. Build an on-site donation box
            g. Build a portable Santa House with electrical outlets and lighting
            h. Man the donations and Santa house
            i. Hot cider and cookies for visitors to Santa's house
        4. Storage space
            a. Display pieces and cords need to be warehoused securely from January through half of November.
        5. Feeding the volunteer labor
            a. snacks, pizza, beverages over probably 3-5 days total for setup and takedown
        6. Promotions
            a. Printing of promotional fliers
            b. Printing of fridge magnets
            c, Procuring and recording radio spots
            d. Writing and distributing of press releases to all surrounding communities
            e. Promoting special events (like caroling night, hayride night, etc.)
            f. Preparing local coupons or gift bags for people who tour the Rocky Pond Lights Park
            g. Internet chatter—mention this event on your FaceBook page, emails and your own website. The more people talk about it, the more people will come.
        7. Business Relations
            a. Encouraging businesses, esp. restaurants, to stay open late on special nights
            b. Encouraging businesses to provide a free coupon or premium to be given away to all visitors
        8. Creative Team
            a. Send us YOUR ideas! This is your town, your display, your future. Email Tom@ledblimp.com use the subject line: Rocky Pond
            b. Display layout,
            c. Power distribution
        9. Citizen Cavalry--Talk to your Mayor, Councilmen and City Manager
            a. let them know you want this display
           b. you would like to see it expand from the private parcels it occupied in 2010 into and around Rocky Pond Park.
            c. that you'd like the city police to help protect our investment from vandals and thieves
            d. that you'd like the city to provide the electricity for free or at a discount
        10. Bein' Green--it is Tom's belief that Belleville could have one of the largest "green" Christmas lights display in the country.
            a. "green" meaning to use sustainable, energy-efficient lighting (currently LED lights)
            b. Solar powered. With the right planning and funding, this display could actually run on batteries and solar power.
        11. Welding of Displays
            a. Republic County High School has an excellent welding department which could perhaps be used as an educational practicum.
            b. Many of the Rocky Pond Christmas display pieces could be built by our own high school students, and enjoyed for years after they graduate.
            c. Purchase of these displays for Rocky Pond would save money but also raise funds for RCHS
            d. Additional displays could be manufactured for sale around the country.

Christmas Display Ideas (submit your own, too!)

Description	Have	Want	Maybe	Needs repair	Comments
Penguin Village	X				includes 9 pieces; penguins, fishing scene, igloo 4-5 ft tall
Horse & Carriage	X				Carriage with animated wheels drawn by two animated horses; 8+ ft tall
small christmas trees	X				numerous small evergreen trees, incandescent wireframes
Candy canes	X				numerous candy canes, incandescent wireframes
Musical notes/staff	X				musical staff/notes, incandescent wireframes
Musical notes/staff	X			X	musical staff/notes, incandescent wireframe,
Baby Jesus		X			Jesus for nativity set
Joseph		X			Joseph
Mary		X			Mary
Manger		X			Manger (might come with baby Jesus)
Stable		X			Could be done wireframe or actually constructed of wood, then lighted
Wise Man 1		X
Wise Man 2		X
Wise Man 3		X
Shepherd		X
Nativity Angel		X
Bethlehem Star		X
Sheep 1		X
Sheep 2		X
Cow 1		X
Cow 2		X
Animal 1 _________		X
Animal 2_________		X
Animal 3__________		X