People living in Auburn have often viewed the strife in the nearby village of Aurora over Pleasant Rowland's philanthropic mission there with wonder. If people in Aurora don't want Rowland's money there, Auburnians have said, tell her she'd be welcome in the Prison City.

Well, it looks like Auburn might have its own version of Rowland.

But unlike the Wells College graduate who has managed to alienate so many in the village by Cayuga Lake, Jack Bisgrove and the Stardust Foundation of Central New York are making it clear they plan to look toward the community to drive the vision of a better Auburn.

Bisgrove stunned attendees at a Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce dinner last week by announcing a plan to invest $15 million in Auburn and the surrounding area over the next five to seven years.

But take note that Bisgrove made this announcement a day after his foundation unveiled a long list of grants for community organizations. Health-care, theater, education, city government, senior citizen services ... the list of recipient groups was incredibly varied.

The foundation is showing that it wants these organizations to thrive - it doesn't want to take them over and tell them what to do.

By handing out $1.6 million right at the beginning, the foundation is also showing that it is more than just big talk.

Those calling all of this a pipedream simply aren't paying attention.

The key to any revitalization plan is to have community buy-in. Bisgrove clearly understands this concept, and he has a track record of achievement in Arizona to show for it.

Now it's up to the community - elected officials, nonprofit agencies, business people and residents - to build off of this tremendous momentum toward the bright future that everyone knows can be attained.