EVANS CITY — Installing an electronic message board for community events, building a motel and finding activities for youth and senior citizens were some ideas pitched Saturday to make Evans City an even better place to live.

A dozen residents and business owners talked about what they like about the borough and shared ideas about how to improve the quality of life for residents and attract tourists. The meeting was the first of what organizers said will be quarterly “Community Conversations” meetings.

The Rev. Lisa Griffin of St. John's United Church of Christ and Michelina Stickney, director of the Evans City Public Library, organized the first meeting that was held in the library.

Public safety, a small grocery store, a drugstore, churches, EDCO Park, access to Interstate 79 and churches are what make the borough a nice place to live, group members said.

More tourists would come to town for the annual festival to celebrate the 1968 filming of “Night of the Living Dead” if there was lodging in the borough, said Rick Reifenstein, a member of the borough's Historical Society who attended the meeting.

Part of the movie was filmed in the Evans City Cemetery and a festival is held annually to celebrate it.

“We get thousands of people for (it) and there's nowhere for them to stay,” Reifenstein said.

Evans City's slogan should reflect the filming of the movie, he added. The old slogan “City of Black Gold” no longer applies, he said.

Another resident said homes used to have oil wells in their yards in the early 1900s, but the oil boom only lasted a couple years.

The slogan and a listing of community events could be displayed on an electronic message board sign placed in a highly visible location, others said.

Another resident said the borough should have more news and information about upcoming events on its website.

Business owner Pam Greenawalt suggested having social events or mixers with music on Main Street on a regular basis.

Griffin said having a music series in the park might be a good idea and Reifenstein said an amphitheater could be built in the park to host events.

Greenawalt also suggested finding activities to bring youth and senior citizens together so they can learn from each other.

Children could show seniors how to use technology and seniors can tell kids about their lives and discuss history, she said.

Others suggested allowing residents and businesses to adopt flower planters or streets to help beautify the borough.

“If more of us get together and say let's make this town shine, we can make it better,” said Sue Ellen Pollock, who was raised in the borough, left for a teaching job and recently returned after retiring.

“Positivity creates more positivity,” Greenawalt said.