09-04-2025
Former community center returns with Easter egg hunt
FAIRMONT — After years in disrepair, a community center will resurrect for an Easter egg hunt with the help of a group of community youth organizers.
The Fairmont Community Development Center hopes the Howard Center, as the building is known, will be a home for Fairmont's youth. Brad Merrifield, who sits on the organization's board of directors, hopes children who are outcast or bullied will find a place to belong at the Howard Center.
"We can't resolve all the problems of the world," Merrifield said. "But if we can reach one child that is struggling with anything, and give them a place they can come find somebody to talk to and learn things, see kids grow and smile, we hope we can make a difference."
The building is still under renovation but the 1st floor, where the hunt will take place, is finished. Jessica Shaffer, fellow board member, came up with the idea of the Easter egg hunt to show off the building and reintroduce the Howard Center to the community. With spring right around the corner as well as Easter, the timing to open partially to the community came together perfectly. The hunt will also be a good way to make that important first contact with the community while taking place outside, she said.
Shaffer said the goal of the Youth Center will be to teach life skills to youth all over the county and be a bridge between childhood and adulthood. Shaffer envisions kids learning skills in banking and gardening, etiquette, electrical safety, energy efficiency and other skills.
"Sometimes young folks may not have someone in their life that can teach them these skills maybe because their friends or family members aren't familiar with these types of things," Shaffer said. "So it just gives the youth an opportunity to learn things from a wide range of people that they might not have access to in school or in their home life."
Nancy Bickerstaff, who oversaw the renovation of Woodlawn Cemetery and other historic homes in Fairmont, was crucial in restoring the building. The house itself is of some prominence. A renowned doctor who was responsible for delivering many of the children of the region used to own the house before it became a community center. However, in 2014 the building was abandoned.
In 2021, the Fairmont Youth Development Center took over and set to work reviving the old community center. Bickerstaff said floors, plumbing, furnaces, electric and other work had to be done to restore the building to its former stature. The first two floors stand completed, and work continues on the third floor.
Bickerstaff was responsible for securing grants for the project. One of the funds she said she obtained was some of the County's opioid settlement money last year from the Marion County Commission. She said drugs don't respect family or status.
"Our goal is to prevent drug addiction, is what we're going to work on," she said.
Shafer said they plan to hold drug prevention classes, the form of which is currently being discussed. While there are plans for traditional drug prevention classes, some other ideas are classes designed around showing kids other ways to have fun.
The Easter egg hunt will take place from 12-2 p.m. on Saturday, April 12. Parking at the location is limited, but Mount Zion Baptist Church at 135 Maple Ave. has agreed to allow people to park there. The Easter egg hunt is for ages 7 and under. Shaffer said the center doesn't have a large yard and there aren't very many hiding spots, so it won't be as fun for older kids. However, if parents with older children with special needs want to bring their child, Shaffer encouraged them to do so, as the center will their best to accommodate them.
Merrifield hopes to have the center fully open in a couple of months.
"If one child finds their way by either having activities or learning experiences or just a place to go," Merrifield said. "To me that's success."
