Looking Back on 2025

This year was once again a wild one for Rural Resurrection. It was full of firsts, traditional favorites, and quite a bit of exploring. Although the year flew by, this blog covered a wide range of subjects geared to help rural communities not just survive, but thrive!

We started the year with the fifth annual National Implementation Month. A month dedicated entirely to implementing your community plans. This year, we stressed not to “Reinvent the Wheel”, knowing that most projects have likely been done before and worked. Don’t be afraid to use similar projects as a model to make your next project a reality. We also looked at scoping for successful implementation. Through proper scoping, you can create a map to your project’s future success.

Highlighting Excellence

We also continued a popular series of posts entitled Star Communities. Star Communities are those communities that have shone above the rest. They may have overcome immense tragedy, or they have simply excelled beyond expectations for a town of their size. These are example communities that are role models for those who strive to be better. This year, Glencoe, Minnesota was deemed a Star Community for overcoming the moniker of “ugliest city in Minnesota”. Glencoe isn’t letting the internet trolls win.

Rural Resurrection also continued a series of posts that started in 2024 about Destination Towns. Destination Towns are those that are unique and boldly different. They don’t think that they’re the needle in the haystack, they are the random sunflower standing up amongst all the hay. Successful destination towns can find what is unique about them and make them stand out. In each type of Destination Town you are about to see each town has taken something unique and snowballed it into something much bigger, grander.

This year we kicked it into high gear with Destination Towns as we highlighted Lindsborg, Kansas, and its dedication to the community’s Swedish heritage. We also took a look at the Destination Town of Cottonwood Falls, Kansas. A town once deemed the “Coolest Town in the Midwest”.

We also talked about how being different is a good thing for your community and how embracing remote workers can have a positive impact as well.

On the Move

What’s a year on Rural Resurrection without RAGBRAI or bicycle tourism? This year RAGBRAI took a decidedly northern route. All of the communities along the route rolled out the red carpet. But there were some towns that excelled in their efforts. Stops on RAGBRAI also inspired two posts about Adaptive Reuse. Carnegie libraries in Estherville and Cedar Falls drew my interest. I also went on a great tour of the Summit Center in Bancroft, an adaptive reuse project of a former elementary school in the community.

Another regular series has been National Preparedness Month. Each year, I point out the need to focus on disaster preparedness for communities. Often, this series includes a few posts in relation to disaster preparedness. This year, we learned from history with the Great Peshtigo Fire. However, we also took a look at the concept of Nine Meals from Anarchy concept and discussed Emergency Action Plans for community events.

A new series that started in 2024 was continued in 2025 with my second summer road trip. This year’s road trip had stops throughout central Missouri. Though the trip had its hiccups, the overall experience was impactful in relation to future content on Rural Resurrection. It has resulted in a couple of new articles already, but there are more posts on the way from this excursion.

Reaching 400 in 2026

In 2026 Rural Resurrection will be publishing its 400th post. A pretty sizable feat. This blog has come a long way since 2018. Hopefully, it has been helpful to small towns throughout the Midwest. I look forward to many more posts! Good luck to everyone in the new year!