Photo: Peter Larson
Thenicest place in Americais a small Midwest town with a thriving park, generous residents and a local theater that gives people with special needs the chance to be stars.
The magazine said its goal in launching the effort was to “uncover places where people are kind and treat each other with respect” — and that’s just what they found in Columbiana.
Peter Larson
“He’s a great guy and a great-grandson, but he has some disabilities,” Wilson toldReader’s Digest. “After the play — it was pure, unadulterated joy. These kids change. And I saw the change in my grandson.”
The theater is the centerpiece of the town, and was revamped in 2007 after sitting abandoned for years. Thanks to a collaboration withCrown Theater Productions, a nonprofit theater company, it puts on several plays each year, two of which use only actors with special needs.
Ryan Houck, an actor at the Main Street Theater.Peter Larson
Meanwhile, other highlights from the town, that sits between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, include a bakery owner who donates goodies to local fundraisers, brewery owners who donate their tips to different charities, and a woman who used a portion of her retirement money to help rebuild Firestone Park, a beloved local green space.
“A certain morale, an ethic, is instilled in everyone here from a young age,” Mayor Bryan Blakeman toldReader’s Digest. “It’s a pay-it-forward mentality.”
Columbiana was one of 50 finalists to make the cut.
Reader’s Digestmade the trip out to Ohio on Thursday night to surprise residents with news of their win at — where else? — the Main Street Theater.
Other special places in the U.S. that were highlighted include the Fugees Academy in Clarkston, Georgia, a private school for refugees, and Pembroke, New Hampshire, whose residents raised $20,000 for a local family after their home was lost in a fire.
source: people.com
