Farm Bureau, Ag department to finance building

Documents obtained by The Dawson News show city officials are proposing to balance the budget through a transfer from the Public Utilities Fund while simultaneously seeking authority to borrow as much as $420,000 from a private financial institution to continue meeting payroll and other operating expenses as Dawson works to complete financial audits that have remained unfinished since 2023.

For months, Marchbanks said she had been asking God for an opportunity to serve others. “I just kept praying, ‘God, use me as a servant,'” she recalled. “I didn’t care what it was. I just wanted to be used to help people.”

Beyond the pristinely curated lunch spot, owner Sheri Smith has created a small hub of health and wellness services, retail and local partnerships — an example of the type of multi-use business model many small communities are increasingly embracing as they reinvest in historic downtown properties.