Grantee Partner Spotlight: Carlinville Winning Communities
Sculpture dedication ceremony noting Carlinville as the first Bee City in Illinois
Features
By Mark Hallett, Director of Grants Programs
Read Time 10 minutes
March 11, 2025
Carlinville Winning Communities NFP is a community organization that works to enhance the quality of life in the community for today and into the future. Its vision is to “Celebrate the past, Cooperate in the present, Compete for the future.”
In August 2024, Carlinville Winning Communities NFP received an Illinois Humanities grant to support the organization's general operating budget and the development of a new program series entitled "Community Conversations."
Learn more about the organization, its mission, its work, and the community it serves in this interview.
A Q&A with Mary Tinder
Board Member and Grant Writer, Carlinville Winning Communities NFP
Tell us about Carlinville Winning Communities. What is its mission and main areas of focus?
We [Carlinville Winning Communities] are a nonprofit organization that supports the city and its residents in efforts to improve the lifestyle of all residents. We are not just a board of 6-10 people with no employees. The Board of Directors encourages other small groups and individuals to bring to our attention their goals and ideas and work with us to solve problems. These groups and individuals can raise funds, write grants, and assist with our current goals.
We grant the use of our 501c3 status, accounting, and oversight structure to these organizations and individuals. At monthly meetings, the board hears from each team leader in the following focus areas to assess our progress and provide updates. Carlinville Winning Communities focuses on 1) education, 2) beautification, 3) the arts, 4) parks and recreation, and 5) economic development.
Carlinville is a microcosm of the world – we have the same problems as a city like Chicago – we have people with no homes, not enough food, aging infrastructure, and an unsure water situation. We have made a lot of progress, but I am especially excited about where we are going. Carlinville Winning Communities is in its 11th year. One of our newest collaborations with the City of Carlinville and the Illinois Housing Authority is the opportunity to participate in a community revitalization plan.
Technical assistance, a needs assessment survey, and community discussions are all a part of identifying the priorities of residents. The assessment allows residents to take the survey and identify their individual priorities, such as better streets and sidewalks, more opportunities for shopping, more restaurants, etc. The survey is broad. The city is in the initial stages of gathering the data, but Carlinville Winning Communities is positioned to do its part.
Mary Tinder (left) presented Elizabeth Engles-Williams with a framed copy of the 1929 Sears and Roebuck Catalog advertising the Lebanon Sears Kit Home.
You’ve got some exciting plans for 2025, including ‘community conversations.’ Please share with us a little about these plans.
The most recent funding from the Foreground Rural Initiative allowed us to branch out more than usual and get highly creative for 2025! Carlinville Winning Communities is sponsoring a series of programs designed to engage the community in conversations. The revitalization survey I mentioned earlier helped us jump-start our 2025 plans for our “Community Conversations” series. It is a perfect complement to the larger plan and very necessary.
There will be a series of 5-7 events, including a “Meet the Candidate Forum”, a Songwriters Conference, and a live musical performance by Illinois Humanities Roads Scholar Chris Vallillo, who sings, writes, and tells stories about rural Illinois. Carlinville Winning Communities is offering better ways (more variety) to communicate about what is on the minds of its residents while encouraging listening and communication.
The first 2025 community conversation, held on February 12, 2025, “Meet the Candidates, ” was a forum at Blackburn College. Carlinville Winning Communities partnered with the local Chamber of Commerce and Blackburn College to hold a “meet and greet and forum” for all candidates running for an elected office in the city of Carlinville. They had equal time to respond to 34 anonymously submitted questions from residents. A Q & A included the live audience, and a livestream was available to residents who couldn’t attend. Students from the local high school assisted Carlinville Winning Communities in presenting the event.
The second event is called “Let us hear your song”. This is a series of three evenings where attendees will be taught basic songwriting skills. The series includes guest appearances from other local songwriters and a follow-up opportunity to present their songs to the public. Our partner for this event is the Macoupin County Historical Society.
The instructor will teach attendees 12 years old and up the techniques of beginning songwriting. I’ve thought about this program for about 5 years, and it is finally coming together!
The third conversation comes to us from Illinois Humanities Road Scholar Chris Vallillo, an accomplished rural artist and humanities performer. We are thrilled to have Chris and his program about rural Illinois, called “Forgottonia,” in Carlinville.
This presentation is scheduled for July 7, 2025, at the Macoupin County Historical Society. He will be singing and storytelling about rural Illinois and how he came to write songs about it. These original works are very inspiring.
Although Forgottonia refers to the western side of Illinois and the area that was for so long overlooked, I believe Carlinville fits into that description. Hearing more about our history through music will be interesting, healing, and informative. I expect the evening to be remembered for a long time.
Carlinville Winning Communities’ overarching goal is to offer a variety of venues and methods for people to participate and share their hopes, dreams, and experiences through conversations. That is a good recipe for setting the stage to solve problems together. Civic participation and cultural exposure in social settings always lead to stronger friendships and, therefore, stronger communities. Carlinville Winning Communities is so blessed to have the support of the Illinois Humanities Foreground Rural Initiative grant to make all of this happen.
One more program that I am working on is in the very early development stages. I would like to create a documentary from a recent interview with the Taylor Brothers. They are the two last living descendants of the famous Taylors Chili, who grew up working in the chili parlor in Carlinville. The back story of the family, the special recipe, and their colorful family members are a fascinating piece of Carlinville history. I am trying to educate myself on the best approach to make this noteworthy and successful. I’ve reached out to a filmmaker.
By creating this documentary, it brings the 1904 business back into today’s world and is a wonderful example of entrepreneurship, resiliency, and a piece of Carlinville’s early economic development. By the way, Taylor’s Mexican Chili Co., Inc. is still alive and serving chili and more in Carlinville.
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Carlinville Ace Hardware manager, Chad Strubbe, and other employees install the Carlinville Community Mural. The mural, by artist Bobbi Bates, depicts historical points of interest in Carlinville. Strubbe is also the President of Carlinville Winning Communities.
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Richard Oswald, (Left) Greg Boente (right), and Gatlin Dean, Mary Tinder’s great-grandchild clean up the alleys in the Sears Homes Neighborhood.
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Mary Tinder (Left) and Andrea Duncan (Right) members of the Carlinville Tourism Committee, celebrate the launch of the Carlinville History Trails Project, another Illinois Humanities-funded project.
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John Ashby, co-owner of Plaza Truck Service, Inc., installs a replica of the first Carlinville log cabin courthouse on Carlinville Square. The replica holds tourism brochures and is site #1 on the Carlinville History Trails.
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Business owners, Blackburn College staff, City employees, and Carlinville Rotary celebrate a successful Sears Homes Spruce it up event with lunch at the Carlinville Wood Duck.
Long term, what is your dream for the future of Carlinville, Illinois? Where would you like to see it in ten years? To what degree is your future sort of returning to a past versus becoming something new?
My personal dream for Carlinville? What a fun question. I want to keep what we have and grow everything better and a little bigger. I don’t think our residents want Carlinville to become a big city, but we do need to expand a little to save ourselves.
I envision a small town prepared for our aging population; I can say that because I am one of them. Safe sidewalks, bike lanes, stronger family and senior programs, easier access, and more variety in restaurants, movies, cultural entertainment, and education.
Carlinville is the county seat of Macoupin County. My dream is for Carlinville to become a stronger hub for our smaller communities.
The charm of our small town makes it a perfect place for others to move to who are looking for a less expensive place to live in the United States, but we have some work to do to become more appealing to all ages. I dream of turning our historic neighborhood, the Sears Homes, into a look of “tiny houses.” This would interest folks who would like to live in the safety of a simple lifestyle, work from home, and live in a walkable, affordable community of people from various backgrounds and cultures.
I’d like to see our community all dream together. That is how you make it all come true.
And what about young people? I know working with young people has been a priority of yours. How do you envision engaging young people in your work moving forward?
They need a seat on every board, more participation, sooner. I have added students to the Carlinville Bee City leadership team and invited students from Interact to participate in our civic programs. As a member of the Macoupin County Historical Society (MCHS) Board of Directors, I was able to bring Future Farmers of America students and members of the student council into our work in the heirloom garden. They help us run the two major festivals that support the organization. The Bee City youth led activities in cooperation with the University of Illinois Extension Service at the 2024 MCHS Fall Festival. They led activities including the value of pollinating insects and the nutritional value of including honey in recipes. MCHS also provides opportunities for youth to perform acoustic music at the festivals.
Young peoples’ voices should be heard, even in City government. Running a city is extraordinarily complex, so they might not be able to be voting members of a council, but we need to hear what is important to them if we intend to get them to live here as adults, and we do want that. It is always a goal to include young people.
I’d like for Carlinville to be a “promising practice,” an example of how one small town found a way to bring it all home. Let the youth be a part of decision-making on all fronts. They are the perfect partners of elders
The City Administrative Coordinator and her daughter spread mulch donated by Walmart.
Mary Tinder Likes to Read...
- US Economic Development Administration Newsletter
- Xerces Society Newsletter and Bee City USA
- The Thom Hartmann Show, podcasts, and book reviews
- AARP Liveable Communities
- Song lyrics by John Prine, Tyler Childers, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Chris Smithers, Keb Mo, Lyle Lovett, Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen, The Band, Willie Nelson, and all the greats!
- Historical documentaries about how the U.S. was born
- Historical novels
- Illinois Humanities Newsletter and follow-up articles
About Carlinville Winning Communities
Carlinville Winning Communities NFP is a community organization that works to enhance the quality of life in the community for today and into the future. Its vision is to “Celebrate the past, Cooperate in the present, Compete for the future.”
The overall mission of the Carlinville Winning Communities is to improve the quality of life of residents and the greater community. Currently, the organization is focused on Education and Lifelong Learning, Beautification-Downtown Development and Community Pride, Parks, Leisure and Recreation, Social Services, Infrastructure, Economic Development, and Broadband Development.
Carlinville Winning Communities provided new habitat and food sources for the ever-declining pollinating insects (bees, birds, bats, butterflies, and beetles). Since 2019, over 1200 new native plants that feed and shelter pollinators have been installed in forty-five locations across the city by a local group of volunteers called "Make Carlinville Beautiful." As an outgrowth of the pollinator projects, Carlinville Winning Communities successfully applied for certification from the XERCES Society to become an affiliate Bee City USA organization.
Learn more, get involved, and follow @CarlinvilleWinningCommunities on Facebook.
About the Grantee Partner Spotlight Series
Illinois Humanities highlights the work of our Grants partners through our monthly Grantee Partner Spotlight. It shines a light on our grantee partners' work and allows readers to get to know them better through a Q&A with members of the organization. Read more by browsing the "Grantee Partner Spotlight" series here.
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