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SAFER TRAVEL: The sidewalk that now extends from the cityÕs edge to Neoga Estates makes for safer, more convenient travel.
Sidewalk enhances 'community' of Neoga  Share
Returning from a mission trip to Chile, Anne McClure, now Anne Walk, took a look at her community and said to herself and several members of the First Christian Church, ''If missionaries came to Neoga, the first thing they'd say would be that the north edge of town needed a sidewalk.'' In fact there was a need because residents of Neoga Estates had to walk along the highway and it wasn't uncommon to see folks pushing strollers, riding bikes and using wheelchairs close to the busy highway. The idea sparked a project within the church and community to have a sidewalk installed. Walk and her father, Doug McClure, did some initial investigating and talked with the Neoga City Council and the Illinois Department of Transportation. Once it was established that the project could happen, the church members started raising the funds to pay for the sidewalk. Support came from church members but also from individuals in the community and groups, like the Sesquicentennial Committee, which donated the remainder of their proceeds from the 2006 event to the project. Tom Bushur of Bushur Concrete in Mattoon got the nod to do the work, but there was a long wait while legal matters were worked out and a lot of paperwork ensued. In all, the church and community raised $10,137 for the sidewalk. ''We wanted to have it completed in time for school,'' said McClure, ''and we did that, maybe by hours.'' Walk and McClure are quick to play down their roles in the project and give big credit to their church and community. ''The church saw this as one way to reach out. If it had been up to me alone, the sidewalk probably wouldn't get done. It was really our church and various people in the community who made it happen.''
A graduate of Neoga High School, Walk, who is married to Ted Walk, is currently pursuing her PhD in congnitive psychology and hopes to someday teach at the university level and have a research lab. Although she resides in Mattoon, she spends part of her time in St. Louis engaged in course work toward her degree.
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