03/21/2025
Thank you Ozarks Alive for telling our story! While the building is not open for rentals, we will continue to serve in emergencies. If anyone is in need, please contact our Vice President, Susie Williams.
The term “community building” is one that can mean a couple of different things. There is the action form – as in, we’re “building” community – but there’s also the physical place: Buildings that have become landmarks in rural spaces for birthday parties, funeral dinners and other gatherings that mark important moments.
They’ve come to mind several times recently in their fragility and importance. A few weeks ago, news came out of Howell County that the Caulfield Community Building had closed due to lack of money.
I wrote about this place five years ago at another moment of concern: Back then, there was worry it might close due to lack of funds given that there had been fewer events in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Folks rallied and raised the needed dollars, keeping it open. Now, however, it’s closed indefinitely – if not permanently – unless a chunk of money can be raised and sustained for its ongoing expenses.
“The CCB requires approximately $5,000 per year to cover basic operational costs, including insurance, electricity, and propane,” noted a statement put out about the building’s closure. “Following renovations completed in 2023, the board opted to maintain low rental fees in response to community needs. However, with rising expenses due to inflation, the revenue generated from usage fees has not been enough to sustain the facility.”
There’s hope it will reopen if that necessary funding is raised, and plans are in the works to that end. But that’s a sad, difficult reality.
“This is where people gather and socialize,” Melody Hubbell, a leader at the building, tells me. “Without it, people in Caulfield have to leave the community.”
Part of keeping a sense of community is having a space to gather and build local connections with people and places. In some instances, they also provide historical context as they are the next life for former one-room rural schools, which is the case in Caulfield.
"See that beam? It separated the two rooms," Betty Meeks asked me in 2020 when I did the first story about the community building. A former Caulfield student, she pointed out the space where the stove used to sit, noting that it heated the entire room.
"This is where I got my education," she told me.
These buildings still play an important role in our rural places but sustaining them can be challenging in a world where expenses keep increasing yet use fees need to remain affordable.
I feel safe saying that’s true across the region. I know it’s the case in rural Christian County, where I’m part of the Chadwick Friendship Club and I see the regular use of that building, and the work it takes to keep bills paid.
Another example is in Douglas County where the Vanzant Community Center – also a former school – has long been home to local events and a weekly music party on Thursdays. This Saturday (tomorrow), a pie supper fundraiser is being held at the building to help its empty coffers.
“The donation jar at the Thursday Jam brings in some, but not enough to cover the cost of insurance and all the upkeep,” Wilda Moses, a local newspaper correspondent and regular attendee at the jam, told me. “There is a nominal charge for benefits and other uses, but they keep it low so it can be affordable.”
So, for folks in the area around Vanzant, I hope you’re able to make it out for tomorrow’s benefit. (You can find more info on the building's page -- I'm sorry I won't be able to make it!)
But for everyone else in the Ozarks, let’s remember these community spaces and support them the best we can. They are a (relatively) easy means of keeping community local and building connections close to home.
