Potter

“Our town, our people” is a weekly Q&A with a local resident who is active in the community. Have a suggestion for someone we should talk to? Email T-R news editor Emily Barske at ebarske@timesrepublican.com. 

Andrew Potter is the communication director for the Marshalltown Community School District and has lived here for 12 years.

Q: What are you passionate about?

“Being neighborly is something that I’m passionate about. We’re all living in this time and going through the same things. Why not be supportive and neighborly toward each other (instead of) tearing each other down? One of things I started on my road is a block party to bring our neighbors together.”

Q: What community activities do you participate in?

“I’m on the United Way board of directors; I volunteer with Junior Achievement; I’m on the community auditorium board; I’m also in an improv comedy group called ‘Instant Comedy-Just Add Spam.’ Junior Achievement is where volunteers go in the classroom and present a five-week program to students where (volunteers) talk about their business background. So, it’s meant to provide a person from the business world into the classroom to talk about real world applications to someone’s curriculum.”

Q: What do you enjoy about this community?

“You get to know your neighbors here, and it’s a real sense of community that you don’t find many other places. Our size is small enough where we can be a community, yet big enough to have lots of offerings.”

Q: What changes do you feel need to be made in the community?

“I think we need more cheerleaders for our community, and by cheerleaders, I mean people who are willing to promote the good things about our community, because so many people think it’s easy to tear it down. But we have a great community here, and I think we need to tell more people about it because some people build their own perceptions … They don’t realize what a great thing we have here in Marshalltown.”

Q: What advice would you pass on to young people?

“Get involved in as many things as you can because you’ll never know where you’ll find your passion. So, get involved and don’t say no to opportunities that arise. Say yes and take advantage of opportunities because you never know where they’ll lead you.”

Q: What is your favorite Marshalltown activity?

“The Central Iowa Fair is a big one. We go there every year and see the animals, and they always have a great country concert.”

Q: What social activity or event would you like to see come to Marshalltown and why?

“It’s coming but it’s years away — the Iowa River Trail. I’d love to see that progress to Steamboat Rock. That’s just going to be an awesome thing for our community, and I just can’t wait to see it come to fruition. It’s going to be a beautiful trail.”