A farmer with a mind for conservation.
A union worker new to Indiana’s oldest city.
An immigrant turned community activist.
And an English teacher hungry for change.
On the surface, it doesn’t seem any of them would have much in common, but when they recently came together, rather unexpectedly, there was an immediate spark.
“We see strengths in our diversity,” said Meghan Quinn, an English teacher at Rivet Middle High School, as she looked around the little group gathered for coffee one late afternoon. “Together, we know how strong we are.
“All the puzzle pieces just click.”
Ray McCormick, a Vincennes farmer and conversationalist, in February decided, spur of the moment, to attend a meeting of local Democratic Party leaders. When he got there, his attention was immediately drawn to some unfamiliar faces, specifically Chris Roberts, a union worker from Martinsville, and Vanessa Malapote, a Nicaragua native and Miami transplant who settled in Vincennes seven years ago.
“On a whim, I said, ‘Well, I think I’ll go and see what’s going on,” McCormick said. “When I heard all of them speak, I thought, ‘We have to meet.’”
So meet they did, and several hours later, the Wabash Valley Progressives was born.
“We want to be active, w want to be organized,” McCormick said, his hands in the air in energy-filled gestures. “We want to actually do things, not just talk about them or post about them.”
The group says they went to the local Democratic Party meeting looking to make changes. They wanted to think big, beyond the nature of local politics to ways the community could evolve and grow.
They ran for the local leadership positions — chairman, vice-chairman, secretary and treasurer — but were unsuccessful.
Looking back, they see it now as a blessing.
“We felt like somebody needed to provide a spark to this area in the way of promoting some progressive ideas,” said Roberts, who moved here last year and is working with Garmong Construction, Terre Haute, on the 4-year, $38 million restoration of the city’s four neighborhood elementary schools.
“It’s a good thing,” McCormick said of their losses. “It frees us up to do our own thing.”
So do their own thing they are.
Several residents, including ones active in both the Democratic and Republican parties, have expressed interest in joining Wabash Valley Progressives. But the foursome decided to take a step back and, in a sense, lay the foundation for a strong, solutions-minded organization.
They drafted agendas, studied Robert’s Rules of Order, began work on by-laws and even took minutes at their often three-hour weekly meetings.
Initially, they dubbed themselves the Knox County Citizens for Progress, but it didn’t quite stick. Excluding anyone, they agreed, regardless of where they live or what they believe, is out of the question.
“We wanted a larger umbrella,” Roberts said. “We wanted people from surrounding counties to be able to join, even people from Illinois and western Kentucky.
“We just wanted to have a bigger reach.”
Eventually, Wabash Valley Progressives, the group said, seemed to fit.
So armed with a new, broad-reaching name, the group set to work planning its first event. As they chatted about where they could go to participate in a March for Science, a national event to recognize the contributions of science held this year on April 22, they thought, ‘Why travel at all?’
“I said, ‘Why don’t we have our own march?’” Roberts said. “‘Why do we have to go somewhere else?’”
“People always say, ‘Buy local,’” Marapote chimed in. “But go to your local events, too. Make this town as cool as you want it to be.”
The group started a Facebook page and began spreading the word. Everyone was invited, they said, with only one rule to adhere to.
“In terms of signs, we just asked that people be respectful, with no hate-filled political messages,” Quinn said. “Because science doesn’t need to be a political issue.”
The inaugural event drew more than 125 people, and together, they marched from the Riverfront Pavilion to the Riverwalk, raising signs of support.
The members were thrilled with the turnout and hope to see it grow year after year.
But they have other events on the horizon, too. Next up, the Wabash Valley Progressives hopes to host a festival celebrating the local migrant population, a cause near and dear to all of their hearts, specifically McCormick’s.
But regardless of what projects they choose to take on, of the utmost importance is having an open-door policy.
“We wanted freedom to take action, beyond what we can with a one local political party,” Quinn said. “This group takes away any limits we may have had before. We want to focus on the issues instead of what ticket you’re on.”
“We want you to feel like you can come talk to us,” McCormick said. “We want to address community needs. that’s what we’ll push for.
“We don’t have an agenda other than to address community needs.”
Wabash Valley Progressives wants to make sure people with a desire to implement change have a voice in the community. It’s not a place, they say, for complainers, and political affiliations don’t matter.
It’s a safe heaven for solution-minded thinkers who are ready to take action, they say.
“These people,” McCormick said gesturing specifically to Malapote and Roberts. “I want to make sure they want to stay here. I want people to see events like the March for Science and say, ‘Wow, this is cool.’
“People that come here, that live here, need to see a beautiful community, a place they want to stay and live in,” he said. “Progress is what makes people want to stay in a community, so that’s what we want to do.”