Aurora, a village of 147 residents in north central Kansas, was the focus of a 1978 investigation of the community development potential for Kansas rural villages. Students and staff from the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare worked with community residents to identify three programs the village wanted (a recreation program, a community library, and a grocery store project). During the summer, the recreation committee began its operations with youth activities, a community dance, fund raising and plans for a youth center. The library committee established a library of 900 volumes loaned by the Central Kansas Library System. The grocery store committee developed a plan in which a local resident could own and manage a grocery store and local residents could buy shares in the store. When staff involvement was high, the level of citizen participation was also high, but it was not sustained. The youth programs continued aided by agricultural extension staff; the library struggled during the year without adequate volunteers; and the grocery store and youth center never materialized. However, certain positive factors did emerge from the Aurora experience. It did demonstrate what can be initiated in a community development process. In addition, Aurora's statewide conference on rural villages presented community development to 150 participants from 37 Kansas communities. (DS)