Kendrick and Juliaetta, ID

Just one week until the firm community newsletter deadline of May 15, 2008. Any news items to be included for the June-July-August newsletter must be here at kjand7r@gmail.com by midnight May 15, or news items may be mailed to arrive by May 15 in PO Box 54, Kendrick, Idaho 83537.

Thank you,

Community Communications Action Team  

Guidelines for submission of articles to “What’s Happening”, our community newsletter: 

This newsletter is meant to provide a stronger sense of community through the sharing of information.  Appropriate articles are upcoming events, current community needs and services and new activities of organizations.  The newsletter is written and edited entirely by volunteers so to get it out on time and in a readable format we need your help.  Please submit articles using these guidelines: Submit articles by May 15th to kjand7r@gmail.com

Please supply your own title and byline (author’s name)Articles should be about 500 words (a single typewritten page) or less.Articles may be shortened by editors depending on space available.Please use a common, standard font such as Times New Roman.When submitting by email, if you send an article as an attachment, also please paste the article into the newsletter in case it does not open.

Reflective Questions:

• What’s next in Horizons for your community? Are your Action Teams planning activities in the next 2 months? How do those activities relate to the 3 legs of Horizons: Poverty reduction, Leadership Development and Community Mobilization?

mountainmama: Our community is going to keep up the good work that has been started through the push Horizons has given us.

The Community Communications Action Team will publish their 4th newsletter that is mailed to every postal customer in the Kendrick-Juliaetta and 7 Ridges community. The response has been good to the newsletter from people wanting to include information for it. This time we are going to make a concerted effort to get feedback on what those receiving it think about it. We are going to take personal polls and report back to the Team what we find out. We are also checking with businesses to see if they think it is valuable enough to support through sponsorship. We are determined to continue it if it is viewed as a good communication tool.

The Bridge Builders are starting to step back from Pug Marks CSI a little and let it operate with its new Board of Directors (adults) and Advisory Board (youth). Pug Marks CSI applyed for and received non profit status from the State of Idaho. We are finalizing our by laws in preparation for filing for 501(c)(3) status. Without the help of the Bridge Builders Action Team this community service group would still just be a dream of mine. Bridge Builders has plans to do a Foxfire type project of having youth interview people in the community and publish in some form the resulting stories. They are also currently partnering with ACTION to bring training to our community on intergenerational communication and on how established groups in the community can make youth a part of their program.

The Leadership Development Action Team has also been instrumental in the start up of Pug Marks Community Service Incorporated. The service projects and random acts of kindness planned by the group all need a project leader. Leadership Development is helping to insure that those leaders have the skills they need.

The Economic Development Action Team has been very active in promoting our community by organizing monthly sales highlighting our antique stores, the Grange sale, and new bakery. They are attempting to feature artists in the future. They are also working with the established Farmer’s Market to provide more on Saturdays starting on May 10. They are looking for people or groups interested in providing an activity or demonstration during market hours. Musicians would be welcomed. Buying some banners and signs is on the agenda for the very near future.

Through the efforts of each of these Action Teams people in the community are being kept better informed and better served. The Community Newsletter lets everyone know what is going on and what is new in the community. The Bridge Builders continue to work at bridging the gap between young and old and through them Pug Marks CSI was made possible. Pug Marks’ latest service project had 6 adults and approximately 14 youth working together sweeping the sidewalks of Kendrick. (Juliaetta had 3 adults and 2 youth sweep there last month.) By advertising in the Money Saver, the Economic Development Team has brought traffic into town. And Leadership Development is making it possible for those who have never taken a leadership role to have the skills and support to make them successful.

Communicating Beyond Men are from Mars & Women are from Venus

      In addition to males and females having unique communication requirements it is now recognized that each generation has a preferred “communication package style”.  By being informed and sensitive to what makes each generation unique, people of all ages can more effectively contribute as they work happily side by side to accomplish their common goals.  

     On Thursday April 17^th beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Kendrick Senior Center, the Kendrick-Juliaetta and the 7 Ridges community is invited to a free meal, a training session titled “Bridging the Generational Gap” which will then be followed by community sharing and planning time. Multiple levels of communication will occur in this fast paced two and a half hour block of time.

    Mauri Knott, a University of Idaho 4-H Program Coordinator will present at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 17th a dynamic one hour “family friendly” informational training titled “Bridging the Generational Gap”.  In addition to exposing the generational communication styles, Mauri will share what drives each generation to succeed and how all the generations can effectively share their rich mixture of skills and experiences. One can daily use the relevant information that will be presented.

    This session’s format and new partnership between A.C.T.I.O. N. and the Kendrick-Juliaetta & 7 Ridges Live Newsletter group has come out of the re-scheduled mid-March day-long Saturday session. The Third Thursday of each month will continue to be the time to attend diverse community-wide trainings which will be sandwiched between a meal ( 5:30 – 6:00 p.m.) and the Live Newsletter organization sharing time and Horizon’s committee breakout group meetings (7:00 – 8:00 p.m.).    All events are free at this time because of contributions from the Latah County Youth Advocacy Council and Horizons.  For more information, suggestions for speakers or topics and child care options, contact Polly Taylor Dennler at 276-4302 or Chris Kowrach at 289-4799.

Our blogging troubles today were undoubtably due to the fact that we were all on our blog at the same time. So… don’t dispair if you can only write in code. Try again later, and things should be better, with color and everything! Good luck to our new community bloggers. Thank you so much for training and your willingness to help out. If you have any questions, or if anyone reading this would like to blog, I am always willing to meet at the Juliaetta Library and help you out. Just leave a comment here. (To find out how to leave comment, check out the blog below titled “Using the Blog”.

Want to learn to blog?

It is a wonderful way to keep connected to friends and family, to keep each other up on the latest news.

Lillian Howerton and Elizabeth Carney are planning a blogging training for our community. The proposed date is February 11, time and place to be announced.   The training date has been set for 3:30pm, Feb. 12, at the Elementary School Library. If you would like to learn how to blog, get in touch with Lillian Howerton.

Everyone trained will be encouraged to blog on this blog site, but it is not a requirement to take the training. You will find it a great way to share information with others, and it can be fun, and is not at all hard.

We hope there is a lot of interest in this opportunity to learn to blog. If the day/time do not work for you let Lillian know, as it is possible for another training to be held at a later date.

(If you would rather learn to blog in a one-on-one setting, leave a comment here*, as the current bloggers are more than willing to set up individual blogging training during Juliaetta Library hours of operation. If you haven’t heard this already, I am sure it is because we haven’t talked to you in the last couple of months, or it was merely an oversight.) *see post (that’s what they call these articles seen here) below titled “Using the Blog” to learn how to do this

Personal note: I am currently following the pregnancy of my son and daughter-in-law, along with the rest of the family and friends of these two wonderful people. We all get the excitement of the first sharing of exciting developments, because they haven’t had to tell the story a million times already. It is awesome!

Remember, click on pictures to see them larger.  = )

Under “pages”, in the right hand column, find a quick way to check out what is happening in our community at Activity Quick Date/Time Check.  Also under “pages” information about the new community service group, Pug Marks, can be found.

Two of the most handy items recently added to “blogroll”, which are links to other sites, are Map and Weather Forecast. They are just what they sound like. At map find an interactive map, and at Weather Forecast find the forecast for today, tonight, tomorrow, the next 10 days, etc. They are both great sites to visit.

If you want to leave a comment on an article, just look for the small gray writing under the article. The last item you will see there is “no comments” or “1 comment“, something like that. Just click on the the “no comments” and you will be able to  leave a comment. It is through leaving a comment, or emailing the bloggers at www.kjand7r@gmail.com that you can give input on the blog, ask questions, and find out how to become a blogger. If you have a general question, just leave a “comment” on any article and someone will get back to you.

The most important things to know about the blog are:

1. It is a community resource, which means it is yours.
2. Anyone is welcome to share information on the blog.
3. It is your responsibility to help make it better, either by becoming a blogger or giving helpful suggestions to those already blogging.

You can find the entire newsletter under pages in the right hand column. Look for “Newsletter”. This is where we will keep archives of entire newsletter news. I personally suggest you keep a file of them at home for their historical value, but that is just me. : )

The newsletter contains many articles on community organizations, volunteer opportunities, and upcoming events.

How to Get Articles Into This Newsletter

Our next publication is scheduled for March 1 and will cover news and coming events for March through May. The deadline for submitting articles is February 15. Send them by email to www.kjand7r@gmail.com or mail to P.O. Box 204, Kendrick ID 83537.

Ray Shoulders and the other senior design students gave their final presentation at the University of Idaho. All Horizons community members were invited to attend. For those that came, it was a wonderful and full afternoon. Although only five of the Horizons communities were selected to receive the special input of senior design students on community center designs, the information shared was interesting to all. It is absolutely amazing what they are capable of doing. With a short window of opportunity to take on this project, the instructor and students did a terrific job.

For more information on this project, please see related article below.

photo: Josi McConnell-Soong (K-J and 7 Ridges Horizons participant) and Ray Shoulders with his design boards.

Thursday, December 20 is the date for the newest edition of the Live Newsletter. It will be held at the Senior Center at 6-8pm. If you want to know what is going on in our Kendrick-Juliaetta community, this is the place to be. If you want to share important upcoming events with involved citizens to help get the word out, this is the place to be. If you want to become one of those involved citizens, working to strenghten our community, this is the place to be.

All are welcome. If you are unable to commit for the entire meeting, but would like to come and share information, we can accommodate you. For more information, please contact Lillian Howerton (kjcda1@kendrick-juliaetta.org).

The design boards and book developed by Ray Shoulders with his ideas for a community center will available to view at this meeting. It was a learning process for Ray and has good ideas to help us talk about what we want in a community center, when and if we decide to make it a priority.

Food will be served.

If you have any upcoming events, we would like to tell about them here and in our Community Newsletter which is mailed to every residence in our Kendrick-Juliaetta and 7 Ridges community.

Are you having special services, events, celebrations, etc. that you would like to invite the community members to attend. The quarterly newsletter and this blog site are great places to help get the word out.

So, don’t wait a minute more. Send your information to kjand7r@gmail.com today.

Josi Kahukulani McConnell-Soong will give a presentation about her trip to China. Josi traveled with a People to People Student Ambassador group of 36 students and 4 adults in July 2007. She will share some of her pictures, memories, and some of the items she brought back.

A soup supper will be served.

Date: Thursday, November 15, 2007
Time: 6:00 pm
Place: Senior Center, Kendrick, Idaho

A short report will be given by each of our Action Teams after Josi’s presentation.

Our monthly Live Newsletter is held on the third Thursday of the month at the Senior Center from 6:00-8:00pm. It is a place to keep up on what is happening in our community. It also serves as an opportunity to work on some of the needs we have. It is a great communication resource. Everyone is invited.

October 28, 2007 found a group of actively concerned and involved citizens gathered at the Senior Center in Kendrick for our Vision Launch.

Elizabeth Carney, who is our link to the resources available to Kendrick-Juliaetta and the 7 Ridges through the U of I, led us through the Launch.

We broke into 4 major areas of concern identified by the 211 participants at the Visioning Rally held October 17, 2007.

All community members and concerned citizens are invited to join one (or more) of the formed groups. Any of the groups would welcome new faces and ideas.

The groups have specific focuses and have set their first, and in one instance even their second, meeting time and place.

group focus — meeting time — meeting place — co-chairs

Community Communication
Nov 6, 11:30 am, Battles & Ells, PA
co-chairs: Connie Reid

Community Center
Nov 1, 6:00pm, KHS library
co-chairs: Kristina Alexander
Josi McConnell-Soong

Leadership Developement
Nov 6, 7pm, Grange
co-chairs: Bob Hassoldt
Jana Townsend

Economic Developement
Nov 14, 6:00pm, Senior Center
co-chairs: Burt Brocke
Robert Blair

To find out more about the Action Teams, such as their Work Plan and Latest Info, look under “Pages” in the right hand column.

If you would like more information, you may contact any of the above named individuals, or leave a comment here or write to our email address kjand7r@gmail.com