Parker Eshelman photo

Kyle Allinson of Ashland, right, helps friends stock wagons with pumpkins during the Hartsburg Pumpkin festival in October. The event brings thousands of people to town each year. Now, Hartsburg and other river communities are getting some help to expand economic development in their areas by taking advantage of their river heritage.

Hartsburg might be best known as the self-proclaimed "pumpkin capital of the world," but Mayor Nancy Grant says there is far more to the small Missouri River town than its garden heritage.

Hartsburg grew up with the railroad. Historic cemeteries are located there, rich with stories about the people who farmed the land and settled the community. Grant would like to drive economic development by taking advantage of her town’s history.

"We have the yearly pumpkin festival, but we would like something more permanent," she said. "There are so many areas to explore."

Grant is about to get some help.

This summer, 11 VISTA employees will begin working with six Missouri communities to create small businesses and jobs that are based on recreation, heritage and agriculture tourism. The selected sites are Columbia, Hartsburg, Rocheport, Boonville, Jefferson City and Hermann.

The Missouri River Communities Network in Columbia will administer the federal program, which was an economic development project started by the President Lyndon Johnson administration to help people get out of poverty.

Today, the main goal of VISTA - which stands for Volunteers in Service to America - remains the same: to promote economic development by creating jobs.

"The VISTA workers will help with creating festivals, events and heritage tourism opportunities along the river," said Steve Johnson, executive director of Missouri River Communities Network. "The nice thing about the VISTA workers is they can do grant writing and fundraising as well."

Each VISTA worker will have a one-year appointment and receive a monthly stipend of $830 to cover his or her living expenses. When they have completed their service, each worker will receive $4,725 toward his or her education. Johnson still is interviewing candidates and still is accepting applications for workers in Boonville, Jefferson City and Hermann.

One catch to the project is the federal government does not provide money to the organizations selected to administer the VISTA project, Johnson said. He estimated it would cost his not-for-profit about $110,000 to administer the program.

"We are trying to raise that money now," Johnson said.

"Rollin’ for the River" on Saturday is a fundraiser for the Missouri River Communities Network, which was formed in 1994 to help reconnect citizens and communities to the region’s river heritage. For $25 a person or $50 for a family, participants can bike the Katy Trail or navigate the river in canoe or kayak between Rocheport and Cooper’s Landing near Easley, where food, drink and live music will be waiting.

Grant is looking forward to the opportunity to better explore Hartsburg’s history and to begin developing a plan to boost the community’s economic future.

"I’ve always had this dream of a farm museum here, for example" she said. "That’s just one of the ideas that we can begin to look at."

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