People brought food that held meaning for them.

Cities are made up of individuals. When individuals gather together, culture is formed, maintained, celebrated, or changed. One of culture’s greatest expression of itself is food. So when we gather to think about culture, it is always good to feed one another as a way to know more about where we come from and literally what feeds us.

In our ongoing partnership with choreographer, dancer, and gather-er, Emily Johnson, we created and evening of feasting. The invitation was to a potluck meal where people were asked to bring dishes that were meaningful to them. We ate, we shared stories about food that honored special occasions, held pieces of our histories, and made us feel like we were part of this region of the world where cheese curds and spam are part of our unique culinary contributions to the broader world. After breaking bread together and learning about histories, we turned toward what we might share in the future as people who live in the rich field of possibilities that is Richfield. Emily asked us to write 100 ideas for the culture we might co-create. The list is below and I invite you to read it as if each one is possible. After all, so many good ideas start as dinner table conversations. Let’s continue to break bread and have mouthfuls of good food and “Yes! And…”

1. Running Club
   

   We begin to fill up the board with 100 of our ideas.

2. soccer pick-up games
3. Read to kids
4. Be a ___ for a day
5. skateboard park
6. singing around the lake
7. Richfield Event Calendar
8. Origami Club
9. Kitchen stories club
10. Outdoor ice skating
11. Buildings that produce energy
12. Bees=legal in Richfield
13. Thai Chi in the Park
14. Comfortable place to read, write, do art, think meet, drink coffee
15. more small businesses, no more chains!
16. Read to elders
17. Delicious Ice Cream
18. Storytelling place
19. Little Free Movie Library
20. Foot rubs
21. Rich People Babysit
22. Cultural Hub
23. Richfield Innovation Think Tank and Doers
    

    A full board that displays our dreams, ideas, and hopes for Richfield.

24. Soap Box, Free Speeches
25. Canning and Preserving Kitchen to Share
26. City Staff Support the Arts
27. Potluck Every Month
28. Restaurant that Welcomes Dogs
29. Share stories
30. Chickens
31. Brew Pubs
32. Poetry Readings
33. Community Radio
34. Star Gazing Telescopes
35. Richfield Scrapbooking
36. International Game Day
37. Cake Walk
38. “Journey to Richfield” event
39. Kid drop- safe place for kids to go at last minute
40. Adult Playground
41. Student Loan Relief
42. Herb Walks
43. Dancing Club
44. Share resources, $, Products, etc.
45. A Brewery!
46. Hip, fun, community spaces
47. Treasure Hunts
48. Borrow/Trade Artistic Skills Program
49. Lunchtime Yoga in the Park
50. Little Kids Know Old People
51. Celebrating Babies
52. Outdoor dance parties at noon
53. Free dance classes
54. Tending water pollution-goldfish takeover prevented!
55. Recipe Swap day
56. Better housing for low-income communities
57. Spreading random acts of kindness
58. book borrowing program between neighbors
59. locally owned book store
60. A good art supply store
61. Double Dutch contests
62. Gorgeous Murals
63. Lunchtime concerts
64. Fly Kites
65. Free Tickets to shows
66. Clean Around Richfield Lake
67. Bicycle Paths on every street
68. City composting
69. Urban Farming
70. Gardens on every corner
71. Chickens
72. Community Carpool
73. Knitting Circle
74. Book Club
75. Choreographers come here to dance
76. Wacky, weird, queer, delight
77. Tasting Room (beer)
78. Strong Community Safety Program
79. Full Moon Vollyball
80. Peace Park
81. People understand silent stories
82. More public art shows/street fares
83. Head Massages, free and frequent
84. Wiffle Ball
85. Pure clean air for everyone to breathe
86. Collect and scan other’s old photos
87. Legalize Goats
88. Everyone knows each other
89. Share Music you love
90. Everyone gets a song
91. More Cultural diversity in City Staff, Commissions, and Boards
    

    A community that eats together, dreams together…

92. Engage Richfield History
93. Dumplings: Make them, eat them
94. Flowers to entire graveyard
95. Lunch break Walk together
96. Paid Park Visits
97. Clothes swap day
98. Movies outside
99. Cloud watching
100. Community Naps