Stitching Together Success: A Reflection on Community Triumph

In 2007, locals prepared for a prolonged battle against a proposed 500-kilovolt transmission line that would pass through Washington and Greene counties.

A small grassroots group, including residents from Marianna, Scenery Hill, Eighty Four, and various other towns, vigorously fought and ultimately emerged victorious. Children and young adults who lived along the proposed corridor colored or painted panels of white fabric with a focus on how the towers would affect the natural world. Two local women, Barrie Coleman from Scenery Hill and Lisa Scherer from Marianna, who were part of the Stop the Towers movement, sewed together each square to form a quilt-like banner. This massive banner was initially displayed on the side of a local barn and later exhibited at a local business.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it's the only thing that ever has." 

-Margaret Mead