Shutter to Think: Passion Project

The private property in which the old transcontinental highway ran through is mostly used as a scrapyard which has a historic presence all its own. (Alex T. Paschal - apaschal@shawmedia.com/credit)

Last week on a Wednesday, I worked on two stories that just so happened to both be in the hamlet of Franklin Grove (or Creek .. that battle wages on).

Regular readers likely saw our June 10 front page coverage of the controversy regarding the removal of trees at Franklin Creek State Park. Park and naturalist leaders are wanting to turn the park into classic prairie while park users, specifically those who use the trails for equine activity, are upset that these healthy trees that create a cooling canopy of shade for riders are being exterminated with extreme prejudice.

I was given a tour of the park by vocal dissenter Marge Dixon (who allowed a goofy kid in 1991 to work in her photography dark room, which is leading directly to the writing of this column) whose passion for the park and the trees is rich and obvious.

Speaking of passion projects, story two out of this quaint little town revolves around local historian Mark Wagner and the Lincoln Highway. For those who don’t know, the highway was the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. It ran through Franklin Grove, where a small section can still be seen cutting through a piece of private property.

Now I met Wagner for a different story on this day, but his passion to preserve this piece of history usurped the original meeting just a bit. I got a short history lesson and was shown some of his hopes and plans to preserve this road that literally changed the landscape of America.

Passion comes in so many forms. These two stories aren’t all that different, they both revolve around preservation, the connecting tissue being geological adjacency, but the hope that comes with passion is there.

To meet someone who is all in on something and to see their expressions change and hear speech patterns quicken and gestures get more pronounced, its really hard not to be inspired and sparked toward something bigger and better.

• Follow Alex T. Paschal on Instagram @svmphotogs or message him at apaschal@shawmedia.com.