The Reeths Puffer Neighborhood Improvement Association - Together since 1968

A month or so ago, we welcomed Padnos Lakeshore Recycling to Positively Muskegon and offered a challenge to readers and viewers to tell us about their community programs going on and how Padnos could be involved.  We had hoped for a story or two about a scrap drive but it would seem that there are not a ton of them going on at the moment, but that's not stopping Padnos from shining a light on something great!




I got an e-mail saying I should go meet the Reeths Puffer Neighborhood Improvement Association.  Having never heard of them, I took the opportunity to make a little contact and was I ever surprised at what I found.  How about a little history to start it off?

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Founded back in 1967 and Incorporated in 1968 as a 501c3 the Reeths Puffer Neighborhood Improvement Association was organized to give the community a voice in their development, to educate and motivate youth and among other things to improve the community one person at a time.  Since 1968 the group has become so much more than your typical association.  I was blown away at the close knit family atmosphere I found and more than that the life long dedication that some of the members have put in.  They host events, they have educational opportunities, reunions, dinners, parades, community picnics, of course a fund raiser or two over the course of the year....a lot of the things you expect, but under it all there is a very distinct undercurrent of unity.  Stronger than I have felt in most any other story I have done this far.

The Family and Friends reunion is coming up August 12th and it's going to be a big one.  As people come and go from the area, one of the key focuses for the RPNIA is to bring everyone back together once a year.  They will celebrate with food, friendship, vendors on hand and community resource tables offering information about what's out there for people.  They also have a giant school supply giveaway for kids in the neighborhood so they can get back to school with all they need to get the year started off on the right foot.

I got a chance to sit down with Mother Oakes, Joan Betts, Priscilla Agnew and Peggy Watkins to learn a little more about the organization and the history and some of their upcoming events over the rest of the summer and on in to the fall.  There is a lot coming up with these wonderful women and let me tell you...they are not short on character one bit.  I loved meeting this group.  Take a listen.

Back to Padnos.  Padnos Shoreline Recycling is committed to making all of Muskegon a better place, and  since we couldn't find a scrap drive, Padnos is going to donate a very healthy supply of back to school stuff to the Reeths Puffer Neighborhood Improvement Assocaition for their dedication to making their community a better place.  I can't thank Padnos enough for introducing me to these remarkable hero's here in Muskegon and as I packed up to go...I assured these ladies...if they had need to get the word out again..I was only a phone call away.  Loved every minute of this, I really did.