ASHLAND – United Way of Ashland County, Ashland Public Library, Ashland Main Street and Ashland Young Professionals are joining forces to host “Lattes and IPAs,” a series of informal gatherings designed to bring people together and build community connections.
“Lattes” will be a book club that meets 9-10 a.m. the last Friday of each month at Downtown Perk. “IPAs” will be a discussion group that meets 5-7 p.m. the last Thursday of each month at Joan’s Tavern or Taproom on Main.
The idea for the events came from United Way executive director Stacy Schiemann, who pulled in other organizations she felt naturally fit with her vision.
“We have been looking internally at the question of, ‘How do we engage a younger donor, and not necessarily just with money? How do we connect people with the causes they care about the most?'” Schiemann said.
Schiemann hopes Lattes and IPAs will help United Way become a more effective conduit to connect people to one another as well as to community organizations and causes.
The events will have no age restrictions, but Schiemann believes they may attractive to people who want to increase their community engagement without necessarily making an ongoing commitment of time or attending formal meetings.
At the first “Lattes” meeting July 26, attendees will be introduced to the first book, “Where the Crawdads Sing,” and hear about the club’s format. The first ten people to attend will receive their copy of the book free.
Subsequent meetings will feature a book discussion followed by the assignment of a new book for the following month.
“IPAs” will meet 5-7 p.m. the last Thursday of each month and likely will have a featured topic and/or speaker each month. Schiemann hopes the group will organize organically based on feedback received at the meetups.
“We really want to hear from the community what they want,” Schiemann said.
The group will meet at Joan’s Tavern July 25 and Sept. 26 and at Taproom on Main August 29 and Oct. 31.
