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i---R Sr ; r1,_.,(Ci 1:2)IS‘)Q- • • Aitkin teen crusades to get residents to shop in town JODIE TWEED Staff Writer AITKIN--Find something you don't like in society and change it. That's the assignment teacher Scott Miller gave to his American Government students last month at Aitkin High School.They were then required to give presentations about what they did to make the world a better place. Some students chose subjects such as smoking,littering or getting new coaches at the high school. But for senior Erin Catlin, 17,the assignment has evolved into a personal campaign to revitalize the economy of her hometown. Catlin is the reigning Miss Aitkin,a title she won during Riverboat Days in July. "I decided to run because I wanted to get closer to my town before I went off to college," she said.Next year she plans to attend the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities and become a chemical engineer. Catlin has lived in Aitkin her whole life,she said.For the most part,so have her parents,Tim and Gretchen Catlin,who own the Aitkin Flower Shop.Her dad is also an Aitkin police officer. For her classroom assignment,Catlin said she wanted to do"something really different."After struggling over ideas,her 19- year-old sister Amanda suggested that she figure out a way to keep businesses in Aitkin. That idea spilled over into a personal crusade.Catlin took a poll of students and discovered that on average per month,55 percent of students she talked to said they traveled to Brainerd to shop; 17 percent shop in Duluth;and only 14 percent shop in Aitkin. Seven percent said they shop in St.Cloud, and 7 percent shop in the Twin Cities. Many students told her it was more fun to shop elsewhere. tually,I knew we had a problem,but I didn't know it was this much," she said. in also sent 43 questionnaires to Aitkin businesses and received 30 back.Many reported a 40 percent decline in revenue from the summer months to winter months,she said. They used the questionnaire to express their frustrations in losing business to area communities. Some said Aitkin residents don't seem to understand how important it is to shop locally. "I could tell business owners were upset," she said. "Their feelings really came through." Catlin compiled a list of Aitkin stores that she knows have gone out of business in her lifetime. There are 12,she said.She then went to work,trying to come up with ideas on how to encourage people--and their wallets--to remain in Aitkin. She wrote a column in the Aitkin Independent Age about how people need to shop locally. She also put posters up around her high school to get her peers to stay in Aitkin,too. "Look up,down and all around before you get your needs from out of town,"read one of her posters. Catlin wanted to take out a full-page newspaper ad and buy a billboard,but the high school senior couldn't afford it. Even though she's turned in her assignment,Catlin said her work isn't done yet.She hopes to continue her campaign until she heads off to college. She said she will continue to shop in Aitkin and will only go to other neighboring communities if she can't get it back home. "I know I can't force people to shop in Aitkin,but hopefully they'll do it on their own," said Catlin. "I want my town to be here when I come back from college. I don't want Aitkin to become a ghost town." • III