Who we are:

The Collyer Community Alliance Association was organized on September 26, 2004. We grouped together in an effort to bring new life into our community and bring it back to vitality. The Collyer Community Alliance is a group of hard working individuals who want to preserve and restore the existing historical structures and promote our community to new businesses. This effort has brought back the sense of community, as we have found that it is a lot of fun to work and play together, even during our first event, an October 16th, 2004 main street clean-up day where food was provided by the city government.

Hello Friends and Family,

We would like to introduce you to the Collyer Community Alliance, a grass roots community group working hard to bring prosperity and commerce back to our little town. We are rebuilding our history into a bright new future.

In 1878, a colony of soldiers, sailors, and citizens stepped off the train intending to establish a town at a point formerly known as Coyote . However, discovering that water was more easily attained 3/4 mile northeast, the town site was moved. This new site was renamed Collyer after the presiding president of the group, Rev. Robert Collyer, D.D.

Following these brave pioneers were proud and hard-working groups of people, first Irish immigrants from Chicago, followed by more Irish immigrants, Bohemians, and Germans from Odessa,Russia. And while the Catholic Church was the mainstay for these immigrants, they also made room for diversity as Methodists, Baptists and others soon added their contributions to Collyer. And after the establishment of their churches, the first order of business was to provide their children a quality education and a home where they could always return.

The community of Collyer was founded on the principles of faith, freedom, education, progress and agriculture. Those are the roots established by the early settlers, and those are the roots which are the foundation for us to reestablish Collyer as a thriving community. We are extremely proud of our past, but we are even more proud of the vision we have for the future and the plans we have to get there.

Over the years, our community has slowly been disappearing into the sunset, but the way of life it has stood for and promised to future generations still lives. It is a way of life that deserves more than to be honored as a quaint relic of the past. We are a people and a community and a way of life that is worthy of being reborn, re-energized, and reconnected with the people of Collyer, past, present and future. We are determined to make that happen and be a vibrant, living community once again.

The Collyer Community Alliance formally organized September 26, 2004. At that meeting, we developed a vision of a united community moving powerfully into the future, and we have not looked back since!! Over the past nine months, we have incorporated, applied for 501(C)3 nonprofit status, and developed a plan to preserve our buildings and homes and to fill them with thriving businesses and people who believe in possibility.

We've been working on saving and/or obtaining "historical" designations for 14 buildings including the sod house on the end of Main St. We've purchased the St. Michael School building to renovate and house a small gift shop (which will include candle pouring behind glass) and a museum as well as other enterprises. We've purchased the St. Michael Convent to house a small restaurant and a small inn. We have been gifted the Collyer Dance Hall, which we are trying to rebuild, and the old grocery store, which may be locally operated once again. We are working with City Government to apply for a CDBG grant to rehabilitate occupied houses and demolish those deemed unsafe. And that's just for starters. We are only months into our program, and we couldn't imagine coming this far this fast.

Of course, none of this can happen without money. The CCA has identified numerous grant opportunities to fund the projects we have on the drawing board. To raise the match money for these grants, we've held several successful fund raisers (including the famous Lenton Fish Frys at the Historic Collyer Depot). These funds are being supplemented with financial support from individuals, families, and local units of government.

This is where many of you come in. As former and/or current residents, public and Catholic school alumni, dance hall alumni, church members, and the friends and family of Collyer, we welcome your participation in the future of our community. We believe there are many of you who would like to join with us to make the rebirth of Collyer happen. We are actively seeking contributions to help us rebuild. Some of those contributions will be made in labor, materials, property, pictures and stories, but cash is still what will enable us to access grant money. Cash will also pay for the improvements not covered by grants, and will also establish a means of maintaining our heritage into the future.

One way you can get involved right now is by joining the Collyer Community Alliance as a Founding Member. Annual membership dues are only $10, with "scholarships" available to those who wish to join but don't have the cash. We want "no Collyerite left behind" as we sail into the future. You can also come home for Memorial Weekend when we honor Collyer Alumni and the cemeteries bloom in remembrance of our ancestors.

Other fund-raising activities include the sale of Dance Hall T-shirts that say "I survived the Collyer Dances" with a picture of Zeman Hall and a list of bands that played in Collyer. (T-shirts are $16.00 + tax.) Additional merchandise such as candles, coffee cups, beer steins, etc. will soon be available. We are also hosting a music festival, an arts and crafts fair, and other events through the year not only to raise money but to bring people together in a spirit of joy and cooperation.

As we step forward to rebuild our roots and our history, we'd be pleased to honor your family and ours by having you join our Alliance. We are enclosing membership forms to fill out and mail back to us. Let us know if you would like to purchase a T-shirt, and we'd be grateful for any extra contributions you may wish to include. We also want your ideas for future projects and activities.

If you still live in or around Collyer, we invite you to join in the fun and community spirit for one of our events. If you live far away in body but you still belong to Collyer in spirit, you can send money, pictures, stories and anything else that might contribute to preserving our past or launching our future. We need you all, both near and far, as we bring the family of Collyer together again. We know that none of us is as strong as all of us.

Thank you all,

Donna Malsom - President

Pam Schamberger - Vice President

Angie Ziegler - Treasurer

Rosalie Shaeffer - Secretary

MISSION STATEMENT

Collyer Community Alliance is a group of hard-working individuals who want to preserve and restore the existing structures, as well as promote our community to new businesses. We will do that by enhancing, stabilizing, and increasing the economy and population of the City of Collyer and its surrounding area while celebrating humanities, area history, education, and the arts.

As accepted and approved by the present voting body of the Collyer Community Alliance June 5, 2006.

Web page designed by Collyer Enterprises