Mannakee Circle Group

There's a crossroads of sorts in town. It’s a large traffic circle at the intersection of two residential roads that serve as thoroughfares. It’s not a big Boston rotary. More like a village green. There’s a park in the middle called Mannakee Circle.

The neighborhood is not a walk-everywhere kind of place, but people seem to collect informally on Mannakee Circle.

Sometimes people walking will stop and talk to one another about whatever is going on. If you wait long enough, you will see just about all your neighbors drive by. There’s nothing special here, a small garden, some shrubs, and a few benches. While there are sometimes ceremonies that take place here, that’s not its main function. It’s not an official town center. It’s ad hoc. It’s comfortable.

People use Mannakee Circle for a lot of different purposes. In the early morning hours you can see and hear groups of people being put through their paces by a drill sergeant type as they do calisthenics in a “boot camp” style exercise program. There’s a teenager who seems to practice Tai Chi every afternoon around three. Midmorning brings a local grandmother who stops off and sits with her grandchild, watching the cars go around.

There are many groups that seek to build community, trying to recapture the magic that happens when people decide together, and for themselves, what they ought to do. There’s even an office in the White House designed to do this. Many of these efforts seem formal, mechanized. It’s hard for ordinary people to grab a hold of them.

Mannakee Circle embodies the attitude organizations of all sizes and types need to have when they approach the public.

Meeting people where they are. Organic, approachable, yet with purpose.