Check Out Our New Blogs

We've officially moved from our home at Blogspot to the new blogs created for us by the Northwest Area Foundation. Go to:

http://southdakota.communityblogs.us/

New Blogs Coming Soon!

For the Community Visioning & Strategic Planning portion of the Horizons project, communities will be asked to blog on individual community blogs as part of the evaluation process. Watch for more details to come...for a sneak peak, go to http://conde.communityblogs.us

Hot Springs Horizons Holds Kids' Fun Fair

HOT SPRINGS – The Children & Youth Task Force of the Hot Springs Horizons project recently held a Kids’ Fun Fair where several children and their parents participated in a wide variety of arts and crafts projects, as well as fun games and relay races.

The event, held in cooperation with the Hot Springs Area Chamber of Commerce’s Ultra Crazy Days celebration on Aug. 25, served as a fundraiser for the Children & Youth Task Force while also addressing the needs of area youth based on a survey the task force performed earlier in the spring.

The survey gained input from 174 school aged youth in Hot Springs and found that they were most interested in learning and participating in games/sports as well as arts and crafts activities. Those top-2 areas of interest then laid the basis for the activities available at the Kids’ Fun Fair.

A moderate, but successful, number of children attended the fair where they participated in free games, including a spoon race, puzzle race, and sponge race.

The majority of the children who attended however spent most of their time creating arts and crafts projects, which were made available for a nominal fee, from .50 cents to $2. These projects included the construction of wooden bird houses, dream catchers, God’s Eyes, sponge balls, finger painting, ceramics and face painting. Cookies and refreshments were also made available.

To help entice people to the Centennial Park area, where the event was held, task force member Gerald Colligan set up a Lakota tipi on one end of the park where children were able to enter and also listen to storytelling. A puppet show and live musical entertainment by a youth band was also performed during the four-hour event.

The event raised more the $200 for the Children & Youth Task Force through ticket sales for the arts and crafts projects. Business Sponsors were also solicited where the All Star Sports Grill donated funds for start-up monies, Pamida Discount Store provided much needed materials for the games, and the Hot Springs Star provided free advertising for the event.

The Kids’ Fun Fair also served as a contact point for the Horizon’s Steering Committee to distribute cameras to community members for the Horizons photo project.

Sanborn Central Financial Fitness Seminar

Sanborn Central Horizons II sponsored a free financial education seminar on August 8th. Monte Tschetter from Consumer Credit Counseling Service presented a Financial Fitness seminar that provided tools for responsible money management. Participants learned how to set financial goals and priorities, create a workable spending plan, track expenses and save to avoid a financial crisis. A big thanks goes to Monte for a great presentation and to his dad, Clifford, for all of his help!

Estelline Completes LeadershipPlenty!

The Estelline Horizons group has completed LeadershipPlenty! Pictured here with their VERY bright shirts--the Can Do Crew has been working on some great ideas.


One of the projects they have been pursuing is a community garden. Use of the lot has been donated and now they are working on purchasing supplies, creating a water source and designing the space. They will be ready to plant by Spring. Pictured to the left is a drawing of the project and possible plans for input from community members.

Great job!

Great Things Happening in Frederick

Frederick has successfully completed LeadershipPlenty! Over the summer the group has been working on clean up/fix up of the local park and plan to hold a potluck picnic/movie night on August 5th.

Below is a recent news release of a really creative project they have been working on in Frederick.

FIRST MOVIE NIGHT IN FREDERICK
Sunday - AUGUST 5th with community Potluck

Frederick will host its first movie night on Sunday, August 5th in Simmons Park. With many thanks to the community Horizons program, Frederick will have its own "movie theater". While it may be a bit different then traditional theaters, this one will have character, family appeal and will provide a unique entertainment outlet for the community. Horizons is a community development program designed to stimulate growth and leadership development and diminish poverty in the participating communities and is sponsored by the Northwest Area Foundation (NWAF) and facilitated by the South Dakota Extension Service.

While details are still being worked on regarding what movie will show, we do know that the inflatable theater system will arrive in Frederick in time for the first showing. It is also fact that the showing will be preceded by a community potluck supper. Horizons will provide pork sandwiches and rest is up to the community. The potluck will begin around 7:00 pm.

The theater is not completely paid for, but the Horizons participants are confident that securing the remaining funding will not be a problem. While sponsorships are still being sought, there is enough support and interest for the idea that it won't be long before the entire system is paid in full. Part of the system was paid for through Horizons community money that was contributed by the NWAF. Group fund raising efforts including t-shirt sales, pancake feeds, a ice cream sundaes following the community melodrama and other events. Sales of t-shirts continue at the Community Store in Frederick. These successful activities allowed the group to secure another good portion of funding. Recently a sponsorship invitation letter was sent to several businesses and organizations and response has been good.

The theater idea was spawned from a group consisting of 10 juniors and seniors from the high school and five adults in brainstorming sessions about community activities and development. The idea was to show free movies throughout the summer in the park on designated evenings. While there would be no charge for the movies, there would be free will offerings and concessions available. Advertising revenue will also be obtained in the future. Additionally, the system will be rented to other businesses and organizations for their events like post-prom parties, company parties, and community events. Funds raised by this theater and supporting activities will be put back into the community for updates and community development.

In addition to a quality projector system, there is also a premium sound system included. This sound system can be used for other community activities like baseball tournaments, community theater, and other events independent of the movie. They system also includes a Wii game system which makes it very attractive for rental for more than just a movie. This system will be great or outdoor events and has proven to be a great attraction! If you have interest in renting this system or would like more information, email theater@fredericksd.com.

Great Job Frederick!

Finding Community Direction Workshop

Mark your calendars to attend this workshop, designed for communities to network with other communities and connect with South Dakota resources.

Featured speaker will be John Kretzmann, co author of "Building Communities from the Inside Out."

This workshop is free to all Horizons community members, registration includes lunch, snacks and materials and mileage will be reimbursed. Plan to attend at one of two locations:

Monday, September 17 - Rapid City, Ramkota

Wednesday, September 19 - Huron, Crossroads

Registration materials coming soon...

Sisseton Finishes LeadershipPlenty

Sisseton celebrated the completion of the LeadershipPlenty portion of the Horizons project with ice cream cake and a lot of momentum for future projects. The group is working on marketing the Horizons project and getting input from community members at the upcoming Horse and Buggy Days, an annual summer event. Volunteers will be handing out free bottles of water to people who are willing to take a few minutes to fill out a survey about poverty/needs in their community. The water bottles will have a specially printed Horizons label. What a fun idea!

Sisseton is also planning on educating more people about how poverty affects everyone in their community. They are purchasing several copies of the Ruby Payne books about poverty and are planning a symposium/conference later this fall for both youth and adults. It is exciting to see some new projects getting underway in Sisseton!

Iroquois Update

Iroquois has completed the LeadershipPlenty portion of Horizons! They held a Community Picnic on July 8 in an effort to inform community members about the progress of several community projects including volleyball and horseshoe pits improvements to the city park, food pantry and a community bulletin board.

There are lots of great things happening in Iroquois!

Fun Marketing Idea from Conde

Conde community members had a clever way of sharing the message about Horizons. We've all seen jars like the one pictured at right, of layered brownie mixes. Bev Wright made a few jars and added the following as a way to explain the Horizons Project:

HOW ARE BLONDE BROWNIES LIKE THE HORIZONS II PROGRAM?

Brownie Ingredients/Explanation

Flour, baking powder, salt

The foundation for brownie mix is dry ingredients. The foundation of Horizons II is to find leadership within ourselves. We are all different and we all have different attributes and we all can do something well.

White sugar

Sugar adds sweetness to the brownies. The “sweet” thing about our community is that we have Horizons II help us identify our community assets.

Brown sugar

When measured, brown sugar sticks together, it packs well. This is how it can be with groups within our community, awarded through Horizons II, we have been able to measure our activities and results.

Walnuts

We can get along without nuts in our brownies but they are necessary for a complete product. Meetings can be worked well when we have an agenda, things are talked about and we get to the bottom of any conflict.

Chocolate Chips

Chocolate Chips add so much to our product, just as managing conflict helps us focus on the issues and get things done. When we know how to manage conflict, it just adds so much to our work just as chocolate chips add so much to our brownies.

The Cover

The ingredients won’t hold together in the jar until we really need them without a cover just as building strategies will help us work together to get the job done. You can’t do it all yourself and there are plenty of people and support to help.

Decorative Fabric

This is the real attraction, the attention getter that makes us feel we are getting close to the finished product; a finished product that comes with planning.

Instruction Tag

We are looking to make this product work so we plan and evaluate to make sure we have instructions to guide us.

Other ingredients

These are the final components in our plan for a complete product that we all can enjoy. Other ingredients of people, planning and communication to others in what we are doing for a successful commitment with support from Horizons II. YOU are the integral part of this to take action for Conde and for it to be the best that it can be.

A few jars are being placed around the community as a way to let people know what great things are happening with the Horizons project in Conde. How creative!

Idea for Community Websites

Krysti Mikkonen from Frederick shared this information for communities that may be interested in establishing a website:

I know that many of these small communities either don't have a newspaper, don't have a website or both. Frederick's website serves as both. Many of the communities I would suspect would like a website. I know this is a discussion with many communities in SD, I assume in ND too and probably many of the other communities in the participating eight states.

Frederick does not have a local paper and this project began three years ago with only an e-news which was emailed weekly to all subscribers. The site was built at cost and paid for in part by community donations about 1.5 years ago and is currently updated and maintained free of charge. We have A LOT of people that visit our site and from out of town too. Since Sat. of last week 479 visitors have been to the Frederick website.

I don't know if your communities are interested, but I am working to develop a complete web solution packaged especially for communities that will be similar in function and design to www.fredericksd.com, but with added features and benefits. This site would have a scrolling news feature similar the one on www.MikkonenOrganic.com. It will also have the following:

• each site will have an original look with colors and design of the communities choice
  a news page that can be archived and searched www.fredericksd.com (Frederick's can't be searched or archived yet)
• classified section for people to sell cars, furniture, promote their skills, hire people, etc... (Frederick just added this page)
• document manager to upload important documents
• calendar feature that be viewed by list or by a full month calendar
• polling wizard to find out what the residents of a community think
• dynamic image rotation - like on www.Fredericksd.com
• a very nice content editor so that communities can hire or get a volunteer to keep the site updated. Worker will only need knowledge of using a program like Word
  ability to add unlimited main pages and subpages
• e-mail marketing program that will allow residents to sign up to for notifications and announcements and communications, news updates can be sent with the push of a button. (Frederick news has this feature)

In the school year the news for the www.Fredericksd.com website is written largely by students from the journalism class at FHS.


CONTACT:
Krysti Mikkonen

Internet Consultant Frederick, South Dakota
Tel: 605-329-2027 fax: 605-329-2027
kmikkonen@activewsiwebdesign.com
Visit us online at http://www.activewsiwebdesign.com

Resource for Community Clean-Up's

Carolyn Hendricks our Community Coordinator in the northwest part of South Dakota found this Extension publication from K-State that may be help for our communities trying to coordinate a community-wide clean up effort. It has lots of great hints about how to get started and a checklist of things your committees may find helpful in implementing this type of project. You can find the link on our webpage at http://sdces.sdstate.edu/cld under the "Tools for Communities" section on the Horizons page. I have also included the link for you here: http://sdces.sdstate.edu/cld/files/Conducting_a_Community_Clean_Up.pdf

Keep up the great work in your communities!

Friday Findings from Kari Online

Horizons Project Director Kari Fruechte sends occasional updates to communities with lots of helpful information. You can find copies of the Friday Findings on our website at http://sdces.sdstate.edu/cld. Look under the "Tools for Communities" section near the bottom of the Horizons page. Be sure to share this information with everyone involved in the Horizons project.

Letcher's 125th Anniversary Celebration

The town of Letcher will be celebrating its 125th Anniversary from June 8th through June 10th. Many events are planned for the weekend, including a parade on Saturday (For a complete Schedule of Events go to www.letchersd.com). We invite all the Horizons communities to join us in celebrating this important milestone in Letcher’s history!

Murdo Horizons Module 2

Murdo Community Garden

Work has begun on the first community garden project, located at the corner of Washington Avenue and Second Street. Around 20 community members began work on Thursday, May 10 by cleaning up the area, tilling and mowing the space in order to lay out plots for planting.

The project is one of the many suggestions from the Horizons group meetings that were held throughout the winter. It is one of the first projects to come together based on those meetings.

The land is being donated for use and the city is only charging the group for the cost of the water needed. All the time and labor has been donated. The garden is for everyone who would like to be involved, who otherwise is not physically able, or doesn’t have the space or time for a garden themselves.

There is still time for you to get involved in this community project. It isn't limited to Murdo residents, Anyone in the county who doesn't have the space for their own garden is welcome to participate in the project. This is a great opportunity for the community to work together and make new friendships. Its more than just a garden! For more information contact: Michelle McNeely, Jill Venard and Cheryl McMillan.

Hey Horizons Communities--We Want Your Pictures!

Hey Horizons Communities,

Do you like some of the slide shows you've seen here on the Horizons Blog? Add your own! We'd love to see what your communities are doing--maybe it's a LeadershipPlenty meeting or a group working on one of your Action Forum ideas.

For those of you who are tech savvy, you can go to www.slide.com to create a super easy slide show. It only takes a few minutes and it's lots of fun! You can even use the same log in information as the blog to create it, or if you want you can create your own account.

For those of you who need some extra help where technology is concerned, never fear--help is here! Just contact me, Cheryl at jacobs.cheryl@ces.sdtate.edu and I will help you get your pictures added.

We'd love to see the great things happening in your community!

LeadershipPlenty Starts in Conde

Conde is off to a great start with LeadershipPlenty Module 1. Take a look at the pictures below. Great job Conde!

Estelline Holds Action Forum

Estelline held their Action Forum on Monday, April 30th. Lots of great ideas and group reports! Some of the top ideas from the Action Forum included:

• Community Marketing (web, tv, etc.)
• Community Clean Up
• Family Centered Events (Summer/Fall Festival)
• After School Program
• Community Center

Great job Estelline!

Sanborn Central is on a roll!

Sanborn Central met on Wednesday and Saturday of this week to complete Modules 3 and 4. The participants really seemed to enjoy these two sessions. We have 26 people participating and they are becoming more engaged and excited each session. Hopefully, we will be done by Memorial Weekend (we are pushing hard but still having fun!). Has anyone else started yet? I hope it goes well for you!
Marci

Hot Springs Action Task Forces

The Hot Springs Action Forum resulted in five areas to address first: Jobs & Economic Development, Community Information & Resource Coordination, Extended Community Education, Children and Youth, and Strategic Planning.

The groups have all met at least three times and are in the process of setting goals and sub-goals. The Children and Youth group has developed a questionnaire, one for adults and one for youth, to determine what areas the youth are interested in and to find adults with expertise in those areas to volunteer with the youth.

Strategic Planning invited the other task forces to an education session where a city planner explained how important it is to do the research, then more research, then tear it apart, then put it together again in order to come up with a plan that will work in whatever area they are working in.

Jobs & Economic Development started with "Who are our clients? Who are we trying to reach/help? It was noted that basic job skills are lacking in high school youth. They are contemplating a two-day workshop on job skills and hospitality training, combined with a job fair. They are also looking at entrepreneurs’ workshops and micro-loans.

The Community Information and Resource Coordination task force has obtained the most up-to-date resource guide from DSS and had it scanned so each member has a copy to work with. They plan to update and add to the guide and explore ways to reach the people who need it the most. It will be on a website, but most people in poverty don't have computers. The group is also looking at resources that could be enhanced in the community to help more people.

The Extended Community ATF has not reported.

Sisseton Holds Action Forum

Sisseton held their Action Forum on Thursday, April 19. Major themes that emerged from the Study Circles included:

• Community Clean Up/Beautification
• Cross Cultural Projects
• Curfew Issues/Teens
• Resources/Making People Aware of What's Available
• Job Training

Over 20 people expressed an interest in LeadershipPlenty. The next step in Sisseton is completing the SDRDC Community Assessment on April 24-26. There are lots of great things happening in Sisseton.

Welcome New Bloggers!

Hello Dawna & Julie,

Please note that I moved your posts from the comments section to the front, so more people could read them.

Just a reminder for the rest of our Horizons folks, if you are new to blogging, here are the step by step instructions: http://sdces.sdstate.edu/cld/files/blog_instructions.pdf. Or you can also find it through our webpage at http://sdces.sdstate.edu/cld.

Thanks for taking the time to post your comments!

Cheryl J.

Hello Fellow Leadership Plenty Trainers

Anyone started the Leadership Plenty Program yet? If so how is it going? We are in the planning stages right now. We are in the process if getting the word out about Horizons and Leadership Plenty, so we can get more people involved. We hope to have 35 people signed up by the end of April. I would love to hear how it is going for everyone. Let's get this Blog rockin!!!!

Julie

LeadershipPlenty-Sanborn Central

We had our first Leadership Plenty training session on April 21st at Sanborn Central. We did have to knock off a little early because of tornado warnings, but the presenters did an excellent job. I am looking forward to the next session!

Dawna v.o.

LeadershipPlenty Training - Watertown

Friday Findings Added to Web Page

Friday Findings is a weekly e-mail sent by Horizons Project Director Kari Fruechte with information for communities. Find the archive of these e-mails on the SDSU Community Leadership Development website on the Horizons Page under Tools for Communities.

Click Here to go to the SDSU Horizons page.

Murdo Action Forum Meeting & Meal

On Tuesday April 3, 2007 the City of Murdo had there action forum meeting & meal at the Murdo Auditorium. All of the facilitators made a very good presentation of there study circles, and there were many good projects ideas that came out of the study circles. We had around 55 people at the meeting, and a lot of them signed up, 12 for leadership plenty, 10 for adult education, 17 for a volunteer program, 3 for a community web site, 4 for the north dam project, 15 for the town clean up, and 9 for senior center activity's. The word is still going around the community and people people are still wanting to sign up for one or more action ideas. This is just a start and it is going to keep getting better.

LeadershipPlenty Training - Rapid City

Hot Springs Action Forum

There are lots of great conversations happening around the state, including the Action Forum recently held in Hot Springs.

Sisseton Gets Things Started with Kick Off

Sisseton held their Kick Off Event on Thursday, March 22 and also started the night with their first Study Circle session. The night included a meal with a variety of foods from several local restaurants, an overview of the Horizons project and the Study Circle.

Sisseton will be working quickly to complete Study Circles prior to participating in South Dakota Rural Development Council's (SDRDC) Community Assessment in April.

They are off to a great start!

Small Town...Big Dreams in Iroquois

All of the participants in the Iroquois Study Circles celebrated their success at the Action Forum held on Friday March 23. Everyone received a bright blue t-shirt with "Small Town, Big Dreams - Iroquois" on the front, and "Taking Action for the Future" on the back. What a fun way to mark the end of Study Circles and begin the work in their community by marketing their message!

Top action ideas in Iroquois included:

• Daycare/Afterschool Program
• Improving the Appearance of the Community
• Business Day/Community Showcase
  

Action Forum in Frederick

Wow! What great ideas are being generated from our communities. Frederick held their Action Forum on Tuesday, March 20th with nearly 60 people in attendance. They are ready to tackle some great ideas in their town including:

Park Improvements
Community Information Center
Auditorium/Secret Garden Project

Those are just a few of the broad ideas, with lots of great, very achievable projects within each area. They are a highly motivated, enthusiastic group and are ready for ACTION!

Great Job Frederick!

Murdo Action Forum

Action Forum for the city of Murdo will be on April 3rd 2007 at 6:30 pm at the Murdo auditorium.

To the person who posted this message for Murdo...Thanks for posting! I moved it into the main blog page for you, instead of in its own place. If you have questions please contact Cheryl or find the instructions at http://sdces.sdstate.edu/cld/files/blog_instructions.pdf Thanks!

Martin Holds Colorful Kick Off Event

Martin's Kick Off included a colorful mix of culture and community. The night included supper, Native American dancing and a presentation from Horizons I participant Mark Stevens.

Action Forum at Conde

Conde held their Action Forum on Thursday, March 8 with a great turn out for a potluck supper and lots of great ideas brought forward from the Study Circles. They worked hard to get down to the top ideas to work on. Here are their top ideas:

• Playground Equipment
• Clean Up the Town
• Fall Festival
• Fitness Center
• Life Skills Classes
• Teen Center

Great work Conde!

Buffalo Gap Holds First Action Forum

Buffalo Gap was the first to hold their Action Forum here in South Dakota. They have already done some great work within their Study Circles and are ready to put some ideas into action. Here are the top ideas generated from their Study Circle groups:

• Community Clean-up – This will be an organized clean up to allow ALL residents access to yard work and fix-up be community volunteers. This will increase pride in the community and be a draw for new people coming through.


• Auditorium – This is a large project for a historic community building. People will begin research and move this project into the next phase of Horizons.


• Community History/Web Site – This will be on ongoing project, but will include graphic art work by youth, stories and history that can promote the community, and an opportunity to connect with Sr. Citizens for town history.


• Employment Barter Board – This board will be located in a prominent town location and will be an opportunity for community residents to post their skills and availability, and to then trade labor and resources.


• A local man has started a Flea Market, and will encourage others to participate as consignors and workers.

Great work Buffalo Gap!

LeadershipPlenty Sample Module

This may be helpful to communities as they recruit potential LeadershipPlenty facilitators. A sample copy of the modules is available from the Pew Partnership for Civic Change. This may give your potential recruits a better understanding of the materials they will be asked to teach. Find it at:

http://www.pew-partnership.org/pdf/lp_sample_module_2.pdf.

Conde and Iroquois Ready for Action Forum

Two communities are just about to complete their Study Circles and ready to hold their Action Forums:

Conde - March 8
Iroquois - March 23

It will be great to see what kind of ideas are generated from the Action Forums and what their projects will be in the near future! Great job Conde and Iroquois!

Cheryl J.

Sisseton Sets Date for Kick Off Event

Sisseton will hold their Kick Off on March 22, more details to come...

Estelline Holds Kick Off

Estelline held their Kick Off Event on Tuesday, December 20th at the Estelline School. Community members enjoyed barbeques served by the Student Council members.

Over 50 people learned more about the Horizons project and also listened to a presentation from Larry Swain about the 7 Characteristics of Sustainable Communities.

29 people signed up for Study Circles by the end of the evening, so with a little more recruitment, Estelline is off to a great start!

Cheryl J.

Sisseton Moving Ahead

Sisseton is in a unique position to be doing an SDRDC Community Assessment during the same time frame as the Horizons project. They got things started on a positive note on February 15th with a joint meeting between SDRDC and SDSU Cooperative Extension to create a plan for how the two projects can complement each other. Next up is the Kick Off Event...more details to come.

Cheryl J.

Martin Sets Kick Off Date

Martin has chosen February 26th for their Kick Off Date, more details to come...

Study Circles Facilitators Trainings

Just for fun, here are the photos from the Study Circles Facilitator Trainings that were held in Rapid City, Mitchell and Watertown in Fall 2006.

Estelline Kick Off Date Set

Estelline will hold their Kick Off Event on February 20th at 6:00 PM. More details to come!

Great Start in Frederick

The community of Frederick is off to a great start with their Kick Off that was held on Tuesday, January 30th. 86 people from the town of 250 came to Little John's for social hour, supper and the Kick Off program. Nearly half of those in attendance signed up for Study Circles.

Jerome Ferson, publisher of the Aberdeen American News was the guest speaker for the evening. He spoke about the importance of communities working together to tackle tough issues like population decline, jobs and quality housing.

Great job Frederick! Good luck as you begin your Study Circles!

Cheryl J.

Upcoming Kick Off Events

January 28 – Montrose
January 30 – Frederick
January 31 – Scotland
February 8 – Hot Springs

Remaining Communities:
Estelline
Sisseton
Sanborn Central (Artesian/Letcher)
Philip
Martin
Presho

Please get your dates to Dan, Martha or Cheryl as soon as possible!

Luck of the Irish in Montrose

Montrose, South Dakota, known for it's Irish pride, will be in full celtic swing on Sunday, January 28th and that's no blarney. They are inviting the entire community to attend their Irish Pride Kick Off for Horizons II study circles. The event will take place at 12:00 with a free roast Beef dinner. There will be door prizes, Irish Music by the Dakota Pipe and Drums, kids activities, and motivational speaker - Charlotte Denny Henley. Of course there will be ample information about the upcoming Study Circles. You won't want to miss this event if you live in the Montrose area (or if you love green).

Oldham Kick Off a Success!

Oldham, a town with under 200 in population, had an amazing turn out of 85 community members at their Study Circles Kick Off on Sunday, January 21st. Catered by the Oldham Saloon, people enjoyed delicious sandwiches, macaroni salad and home made brownies and cookies. Along with fellowship, they learned about Horizons II from Roger Eide and Kari Fruechte. Charlotte Denny Henley made a rousing motivational speech.
45 people signed up for study circles and the town is very excited to start to make some changes for the better in their community.
Check back soon for pictures of this event. Go Oldham!

Martha L.

Conde & Iroquois Start Their Study Circles

The communities of Conde & Iroquois are off to a great start. Both communities met for Study Circles Session 1: How Are We Connected to Our Community and to Poverty? on January 17th & 19th respectively. Great job!

Cheryl J.

Blog Instructions

Just in case you don't remember where to find the Blog Instructions...here's a link to the document. http://sdces.sdstate.edu/cld/files/blog_instructions.pdf.

Or you can also find it through our webpage at http://sdces.sdstate.edu/cld.

Happy Blogging!

Cheryl J.

Successful Buffalo Gap Kick Off

Buffalo Gap had a great turn out for thier Kick Off on January 13th...more details to come!

Hot Springs Kick Off

Hot Springs Horizons kickoff is a catered meal of BBQ Beef, Potato Salad, and Dessert at 5:30 pm., Thursday, Feb 8 at the American Legion. Don DeVries, steering committee member, former mayor, and long-time community leader and volunteer, is M.C. Sandstone singers will entertain. SD Extension Service Horizons staff -- Kari Fruechte, Dan Oedekoven, and our local Sally Park-Hageman, are honored guests. The entire community is invited, of course. The level of awareness of Horizons is beginning to rise sharply here in Hot Springs. People are excited about the project as they learn more about it.

Updated Kick Off Dates

• January 13 - Buffalo Gap
• January 15 - Wagner
• January 17 - Tyndall
• January 21 - Oldham
• January 22 - Murdo
• January 24 - Tripp
• February 8 - Hot Springs

Good Luck to all these communites! Great work!

Kick Off Date Set For Murdo

The Murdo Kick Off will be January 22nd at 6:30 PM Central Time at the Mickelson Center. Good luck with your event!

Cheryl J.

News coverage

Yahoo! Jan Kaus from the Rapid City Journal really gave us print in the Monday, 8 Jan 07, issue of the RCJ (front page of the Local section).

Rea Weyrich
Whitewood Steering Commitee

A Note from Cheryl:
Great job in including the media in your plans! See the article at http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2007/01/08/news/local/news06.txt

Iroquois Kick Off

Iroquois held their Kick Off on Sunday, January 7, 2007 with their theme of Small Towns...Big Dreams. About 40 people were in attendance and enjoyed a great Roast Pork Supper. The highlight of the evening was Motivational Speaker, Charlotte Henley, pictured here. Her talk fit perfectly with Horizons II..."What you think is what you get" - all about asset based thinking in communities. Several people signed up at the end of the night and Iroquois is ready to start their circles in mid January! Great work!

P.S. If communities are interested in inviting Charlotte to your Kick Off she can be contacted at chenley@hur.midco.net

Technical Difficulties with Blogspot

For those of you have have posted, you may have noticed a few technical difficulties with Blogspot. These are occasional and usually are remedied quickly. Sorry for any inconvenience. Hopefully you can work around these temporary glitches.

- Cheryl J.

Conde Kick Off

Conde had a great Kick Off on Friday, January 5, 2007. They had approximately 100 people in attendance--almost half the population of Conde! They had a BBQ supper, guest speakers from Horizons I and they did a practice Study Circle. They have nearly 40 people signed up for Study Circles, which will begin in mid-January. Great job!

Updated List of Kick-Off Dates

Jan. 2 – Bison
Jan. 5 – Conde
Jan. 7 – Iroquois
Jan. 10 – Armour
Jan. 11 – Whitewood
Jan. 13 – Buffalo Gap
Jan. 15 – Wagner

Great Idea!

I think Whitewood has come up with a creative way to introduce the topic and get people thinking. Good luck, hope you have a great kick-off! -Cheryl J.

Kick Off

Whitewood Kick-Off

11 January 7:00 at the Senior Citizen's building.

Pizza and pop served - daycare provided

We are still working on an inspirational speaker otherwise the steering committee will each have 5 minutes to speak. We broke down what needed to be put out then each took a section.

One of our facilitators suggested to have a role playing exercise.

The 'main' speaker (M) would sets up the scene (S).

(M) Our community is growing and we need to grow with it. What is the diretion that we need to go? What do we as community members feel needs to be added or updated? yadda yadda yadda (Mary is writing out a scenerio for us and she is much better than I am. I just wanted to get the idea out to all of you)

(S) 'XYZ' Coorporation ask a city representative what our city needs. "Well we could use a new this and that and someone else suggested this" is the response.

(M) This dialog represents our community that has excitement but not a focus. Now in this next scene we have another coorporation with $ to donate ask another city rep after Horizons has been in the community.

(S) Big Corp guy asks what our city needs. City rep is prepared with facts and figures. (ie how many people attended Study groups, projects identified, those projects prioritized, what it would take to complete the project, smaller projects we have already accomplished along the way, etc)

We feel this may get our audience all on the same level of thinking and answer questions before they are asked.

What else is everyone doing?

Reata Weyrich
Whitewood Horizons Steering Commitee
269-2616
reaweyrich@sdln.net

More Kick Off's Scheduled

Bison - January 2nd
Buffalo Gap - January 13th

Conde Kick Off Event Scheduled

Conde will be holding its Study Circles Kick Off Event on January 5th.

• BBQ’s supper cooked by the Jr. and Sr. classes with a free will offering that will be donated to their spring trip to NY and DC.
• Guest Speakers Sister Pegge and Sister Darlene, participants in the first Horizons Project in Timber Lake, Isabel and Dupree

Ice Breaker Ideas for Groups

During the Study Circles Facilitator Trainings, some groups asked about using ice breakers with groups to help them get started and to throw in a little fun. Here is a worksheet that your SC Facilitators may find helpful when working with groups.

Ice Breaker Ideas (768 M .pdf)

Community Guide Useful Tool for Communities

The Northwest Area Foundation has created a Community Guide that explains the Horizons II process. Download your copy here.

Community Guide (608K .pdf)

This is a "must-have" for communities. It includes background information about the Horizons project, descriptions of each component of the project (Spotlights, Study Circles, LeadershipPlenty, etc.) and resources that communities may find helpful.

Don't forget to visit the SDSU Community Leadership Development web site for other tools and information.

Upcoming Study Circles Facilitator Trainings

Just a reminder of the upcoming Study Circle Facilitator Training Meetings:

• Monday Dec. 4th – Ramkota Hotel, Pactola Room, Rapid City – 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. MST
• Wed. Dec. 6th – Davison County Extension Complex, Mitchell – 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. CST
• Thurs. Dec. 7th – Ramkota Convention Center, Watertown – 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. CST

Communities should be working on recruiting a minimum of 6 people to serve as Study Circle Facilitators. Questions or to sign up your team, contact Kari at kari.fruechte@sdstate.edu.

What Makes a Good Facilitator?

Communites are working on recruiting Study Circles facilitators. Here are a few suggestions about what skills a good facilitator possesses:

• Has good people skills – good listener, well organized, connects with people
• Can remain neutral
• Can help a group set and keep ground rules
• Can help the group focus on the discussion
• Can bring in new and different points of view
• Creates opportunities for everyone to participate
• Able to put the group first
• Appreciates all kinds of people
• Has a passion for the group process

Source: A Guide for Training Study Circles Facilitators, Topsfield Foundation, Inc., 1998. www.studycircles.com

FAQ's for Communities

Here are some questions recently asked by a community member that the whole group may benefit from knowing the answers to:

1. Will you need names and addresses of all those attending the Study Circle Facilitator training sessions in Watertown, Mitchell or Rapid City? We do not need the specifics, just a head count and which location you plan on attending so we can plan for space/lunch.


2. Should we be trying to bring the high-schoolers to that training or do we just make sure we get them at our “kick off? We think that it would be better to include high school students in other aspects—not as facilitators. So be sure to include them on the planning committee, in the kick-off events, and certainly in the study circles.


3. We have decided to have the kickoff...the night of a local basketball game...the kickoff in the book it says to have a speaker and if there needs to be a reimbursement for them do we as a planning committee just pay for that or do we get the city to pay for it? Northwest Area Foundation (NWAF) has provided some money for program costs which may include such things as kick off events. Kari will be looking at the budget to determine what might be available to communities. But let me also say that NWAF encourages communities to look for ways they can use their own community assets as a way to encourage buy-in of the program and commitment to future projects. So my best answer is to plan to fund things from within but realize that there may be some reimbursements later.


4. When do we get the money and how much? I know this is a valid question for communities! Northwest Area Foundation provides funds in several ways to Horizons communities at different points throughout the process such as: Funding the trainings such the Study Circles trainings in Pierre and Watertown—attendees will be reimbursed for travel expenses, provided meals, and materials etc. as these events occur. But the real question is “when do we get the potential $2000-$10,000 incentive money?” NWAF will create Poverty Reduction Accounts (PRA’s) for each community that completes the entire Horizons process. So you are right in assuming that those funds will not be given until the project is completed in 2008. Those funds will be given to the community through a 501c3 organization capable of receiving and administering the funds in your community—such as a local community foundation. The better a community does throughout the process the more money that may be given. For instance, there are several thresholds to be met, such as getting 30 people to attend Study Circles—if a community can get 60 people to attend, that will be a potential to “earn” more of the incentive money by showing NWAF the commitment from the community.

Welcome to The Horizons Blog!

This blog is one way your community can network with other Horizons communities. Use this blog to share news, ideas or ask questions.