In March, the K-J Arts commission and K-J Horizons organized a community meeting with Two Degrees Northwest: Where Art Meets the Land, a program with the University of Idaho Extension that seeks to support local artists, craftspeople, and small ag producers in the region of northcentral Idaho and southeastern Washington–folks who are making unique local products. This support will most likely take the form of an artisan trail and/or a regional distribution network. Our goal is to help create and sustain a locally-based economy where dollars stay within communities and people do not have to leave home to make a living.

About a dozen community members came to that first meeting and helped 2DNW Program Coordinator, Elizabeth Carney, come up with a list of the assets that the K-J and 7 Ridges area would like to share and those they would not like to share. Since then, Two Degrees has been moving forward, developing its website (currently under construction) at 2dnw.org, compiling lists of assets in our region, hosting entrepreneurship trainings, and planning for a trail guide they hope to launch in the spring.

If you would like to find out more and/or be included in a trail guide, contact Elizabeth Carney at ecarney@uidaho.edu or 596-5975.

Has everyone noticed the gorgeous green stuff growing in the plot near the Zion church in Juliaetta? Congratulations to the Pug Marks Service organization and all the youth and adults who have planted, watered, and cared for the vegetable garden. Looks like the corn will indeed be knee-high by the Fourth of July!

Some of the produce will go to the Food Bank. This is a great example not only of youth and adults working together and gaining new skills and relationships, but also of celebrating Juliaetta’s heritage as a superb location for growing vegetables (those famous “Juliaetta tomatoes”).

Kendrick-Juliaetta and the 7 Ridges Horizons partnered with Troy Horizons to host this three-day workshop (details below) with about 26 participants. Alana Sneve from the Harvest Lighthouse Cornerstone catered dinner for three nights - and it was delicious.

Workshops participants made valuable connections with residents of other communities and with the Small Business Development Center and other resource providers. They expressed the need for a regional vision of the economic future and they want to maintain a regional network of entrepreneurs.

Would you like to see another workshop like this one in the area? (If so, please comment on this blog and/or contact the Two Degrees Northwest folks –see info below)

Entrepreneurial Training Series
Introduction to Entrepreneurship: Starting a business, marketing, finance and networking to support entrepreneurship in our region.Format–A series of 3 workshop sessions to be held in 3 separate locations. You may attend any or all sessions at each location. See below for session descriptions.

Kamiah, ID
Kamiah Welcome Center
518 Main Street April 29 Session 1 6pm-9pm (PST)
May 1 Session 2 6pm-9pm (PST)
May 6 Session 3 6pm-9pm (PST)

Kendrick, ID
Kendrick Fire Hall
518 Main Street

April 8 Session 1 6pm-9pm (PST)
April 21 Session 2 6pm-9pm (PST)
April 28 Session 3 6pm-9pm (PST)

Plummer ID
Coeur d’Alene Tribal Wellness Center
1100 A Street

April 9 Session 1 5pm-8pm (PST)
April 14 Session 2 5pm-8pm (PST)
April 23 Session 3 5pm-8pm (PST)Session 1) Business start-upSession 2)

Marketing (with specialized breakouts for arts, farm-related, and hospitality businesses)Session 3) Financial management. (with a focus on resources to help small businesses, establishing mentoring relationships for new entrepreneurs and creating networks/mechanisms for fostering an entrepreneurial environment)

The emphasis of this training is not to teach every detail of starting or growing a business, but rather to foster relationships that will support small business start-up and help existing businesses become more successful. Therefore, identifying the existing resources in your communities/area is going to be important to the success of this effort!

Contacts:
Two Degrees Northwest
Lorie Higgins higgins@uidaho.edu or 885-9717
Elizabeth Carney ecarney@uidaho.edu

Reflective Questions:
What is something unique about your Horizons community that you’d like to share with the rest of the world? What makes your community different from the one right down the road? Is it a strength your community can capitalize on or a burden you have to bear? Or both? For example, Sun Valley has the beautiful landscape, ski resorts, etc. but the tourism industry has also left behind many local people who are now unable to afford to live in the town they work in…

sheldondenier - The unique thing about our community is that it is actually two communities and they have not always seen eye-to-eye. If you are not a long-time member of the community, you never know when you will be stepping on someone’s toes or potentially opening an old can of worms.

We are very like the communities “right down the road”. The things that fed our community in the past - saw mills, railroad, orchards, etc. - are no longer here. Farms cannot support the farm families like they once did. We are in great measure bedroom communities. We struggle with the lack of local jobs for experienced workers and those just entering the job force. We are not a destination spot, but we are on the road to destination locations. There are a few key people in our community working to encourage traffic to stop in our communities. Or make it an outing to check out our local antique shops, special sales, and unique businesses such as The Cornerstone Harvest Lighthouse Bakery.

As the old addage goes “Divided we fall; together we stand.” As our community (actually two communities) continues to work together we will find a way to battle poverty in all its faces.

Scavenger Hunt Question: This week the scavenger hunt is a simple assignment. Find an entry on one of the Horizons community blogs (or even your own blog) and leave a comment to the author. It’s fun to give and get feedback about things we’re doing and talking about.

sheldondenier - I left a comment to vintagerose’s Kudos to Those Who Attended The “Meet Your Sheriff” Forum. I also left the comment - Just a suggestion - Have an administrator go to “Options” and under there click on “Reading”. The second main topic down is “Blog Pages”. In the box following “Show at most:” change the number to something higher - at least 15. I think Couer d’Alene Reservation uses 20, we use 25. Almost no-one clicks “previous” when scrolling down your page to see what is posted. It would improve your opportunities to have someone stop, read, and become interested enough to return to view the blog again. This is one of the few easy fixes for the blog site. - on Bonners Ferry Summer Hours set for the NIC Center, Bovill Going Beautiful, Kooskia A REALLY great forum for homesteading lifestyles, Stites Stites News May 2008, and Up River EVENTS!–U R Invited!!!  These were all sites with the # ten blog (the preset number to show at once) less than one month old. I felt they could possibly benefit from more showing posts. The communities of Couer d’Alene and Kendrick/Juliaetta already show more posts. Cascade, Cottonwood, Grangeville, Riggins, Silver Valley, St.Maries, and Troy had a # ten blog more than one month old. I felt they are not blogging enough to make it worth my while to make my suggestion to them.

It has been over a year that members of our community have been working in the Northwest Area Foundation’s Horizons program locally. There are a very few people that have been involved from the very beginning of the Horizons program here in Kendrick/Juliaetta. Even though the person I write about wasn’t involved in the very first step, she is one member of our community that has been actively involved more fully and deeply than any other member of the program. This person has attended Facilitator Training and been a Facilitator. She was one of three from our community to go to a three day Leadership Plenty Training while traveling back and forth to Lewiston one of the evenings, where the others stayed, to keep a prior commitment to her “job”. She helped lead local Leadership Development classes. This person was very active in the preparations for the Vision Rally and was honored to be able to introduce the Rally speaker/facilitator, Davie Buerle, to officers at her place of work. She did not disappear when it was time to have the vision launch. She stepped right in to help and was named a co-chair of an action team. She was unable to fulfill that position, but it did not keep her from being active in relation to that action team. She was instrumental in developing their most successful project - Pug Marks CSI and is the newly formed advisory board vice president. She has also made herself available to help the action team responsible for getting out the community newsletter. And, at times has sat in on meetings dealing with leadership development.

All the while she has been involved in Horizons, she has held a full time and part-time job. She has also found time to further her knowledge with workshops offered by Horizons and other groups such the Clarkston School District’s offering of Ruby Payne’s Framework for Understanding Poverty. She has mentored at an afterschool mentoring program for grade school students, participated in a scholarship program that required a large committment of time, and helped plan, cook and serve meals at the Salvation Army Meal Site in Lewiston four times in this past year. She was involved in after “work” athletic programs from August until February. She is an active member of A.C.T.I.O.N. (Advisory Council to Improve Our Neighborhood) serving as it’s vice-president, an Ambassador for LCYAC (Latah County Youth Advocacy Council), and participated in the U of I’s Humanities Outreach Program. She is an officer in her “department” at work and has been noted as doing her “job” very well. 

I am sure I have forgotten some of her services to her community, but I have never failed to notice that she almost always has a smile on her face and a can-do attitude. Her part-time job is as a janitor at her church. Her full-time job depends on the time of year. In the summers she works as a lifeguard and swim instuctor assistant in Moscow. The rest of the year she is a student in the junior class at Kendrick High School.  Do you know who she is? Has any one other person done more for Horizons in Kendrick/Juliaetta?

Someone told me it was my turn again to answer the weekly question when I had time. (I have no time.) 

Reflective Questions:
• Looking back, what is one (or more) skill or leadership trait you have developed from participating in Horizons (maybe from Study Circles or LeadershipPlenty or from the hands on work going on in your communities right now)? How has participation in the program changed you? What about your community? Are there specific examples of things happening in your community that wouldn’t have happened without Horizons?
• Bonus reflective question: How has the blogging experienced affected you? (please edit any inappropriate language, hahaha trust me, I feel your pain!!)

pineappleprincess - I already answered most of this question months ago. As for what would not have happened without Horizons - my mom’s dream of Pug Marks may have always remained a dream. Bonus Answer: The blogging experience  has affected me in a couple of ways. I have started a new blog (Tiger Talk) for youth or anyone else who wants to blog. I also know enough to teach people how to blog.

Here is the old post -

It Has Broadened My Horizons! 

January 19th, 2008 by pineappleprincess

~ by Josi K. McConnell-Soong When the Horizons program, which focuses on poverty and how to help eliminate it from our community, first came to  Kendrick-Juliaetta, I volunteered to be a facilitator for the study circles. That had me going to St. Marie’s to a training on how to facilitate in a productive way. I helped facilitate a study circle group that was a mix of adults and teens. It was great hearing everyone’s ideas and opinions on what is good (a lot!) and what needs to be improved in our community to help eliminate poverty.A few months after the facilitator training I had an opportunity to be one of three people sent to a three day leadership training provided by Horizons. It was an awesome training. I made a lot of new friends from other communities in our area , a few even my age. I came away from that training a certified Leadership Plenty Trainer and feeling that Connie Reid and Amy Lynne are two awesome ladies and I am glad to consider them friends.  We were able to train new leaders in our community with the skills we learned.My involvement in Horizons has given me an opportunity to meet some of the most active and caring citizens of our community and to get to know better the great citizens I already knew. When given the chance to work with caring, motivated adults it is not at all boring as some teens might think. It is really great to have people want to know my opinion and really care what it is. I would encourage any teen or young adult to try to become more involved in our community. The “Live News Letter” meetings at 6:00pm the third Thursday of the month would be a good place to start. At the “Live News Letter” an overview of what is happening in the community is given and a chance to find out what projects are being developed to help make our community even better.

There are more trainings coming up that may be of interest. Trainings are usually intended for anyone in our community that is interested. Most of the trainings are free of charge, and the expenses of the ones that cost can often be paid or partially paid by funds available through the Horizons program.

In addition to Facilitator Training and Leadership Plenty Training, I have also been trained to blog and to teach others how to blog. I can help others set up their own blog and learn to navigate through their blog site. And of course, this blog is always looking for anyone that would like to add articles of community interest.

On February 9th I will attend another training. This one is Ruby Payne Framework for Understanding Poverty. This workshop discusses how individuals in poverty think and act differently than those people in the middle and upper economic classes.

I would also like to attend a workshop on Feb 5th - New Board Member Orientation - understand the fundamentals of operating as an effective governing body. I hope to be an active participant in our new community service group “Pug Marks” and the information from this workshop could help me be better prepared.

 All these opportunities are available to anyone in our community. You just need the interest in increasing your knowledge. Hopefully that new knowledge can be used to help others and I am sure what I have learned will help me not only now, but in my future.

Scavenger Hunt Question:
• Which of the Idaho Horizons community blogs has information about April being Child Abuse Awareness month? This website also provides information about Youth Suicide Prevention.

pineappleprincess - The community is… Silver Valley

Our new counter that is static makes me ecstatic. But, I want to know where our calendar is??? And how about the ability to put pictures in the header that are personal to our actual community? If other states within the Horizons program funded by the Northwest Area Foundation can do it, why can’t we? Different rules? Laziness on the part of those in charge of the blogs? Or just poor training of the bloggers?

I am still convinced that the blog can become a wonderful communication tool for those who have internet access. It can be a place to find out what is, and was, happening in the community. But, we need the ability to make it ours.

Economic Development has been quite active in our community for some months sponsoring monthly community wide sales events that bring in outside customers and repeat business for our community which = more money spent locally.  We offer a low advertising rate by combining participating businesses in one advertisement which has pleased all concerned.  We also feature breakfast cooked and served for participants who wish it. 

Starting on May 10th, the Kendrick/Juliaetta Area Farmer’s Market will gear up and add to the community’s economic, social, educational and recreational diversity by providing a place for local residents to buy and sell fresh produce, plants & handiwork, feature musical entertainment, educational interactive workshops such as flower arranging & plant pot painting, food & recipe information, etc.  We will participate in the Idaho Preferred program and have an onsite food handler certification.   

Our last sale which occurred on Saturday, April 19th was a huge success with participants reporting brisk business.  Our participating organizations & businesses at the moment are:

Kendrick Grange #413, Kendrick Hardware, That Place, The WhatNot Shop, Culpepper’s, Aunie’s Antieks and the Lighthouse Bakery & Coffee Shop.

We are actively looking to add other organizations and businesses.  If you or anyone that you know would like to join in the fun please email jana_townsend@yahoo.com or call 208-289-5313.     

We are working on brochures, signs and banners to promote our community.

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.

Pug Marks CSI has a web

site.  Thanks to Alec

Henson, everyone can

now see what service

projects are on the

calendar without stopping

at JES, KHS, or the 

Juliaetta Library. 

 Those are all nice places, but this is much better! Great job, Alec!

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.

The Pug Marks kick-off event was a success. There was chili provided by Amber Brocke (our CEO), Aunie Ouderkerken, Peggy Fiske, Sharon Harris, and Laura McConnell. Cornbread was provided by Connie Reid, Esther Chrystal, Polly Taylor-Dennler, Mellissa Eichner, Mary Abitz, Hermy Meyer, Amber Brocke, and Ann Taylor. Rose Norris provided the punch. The food was great. But there was something better than the food.

   Dakoda White and Dylan Curry (with a special treat of Pepper Curry on tenor sax for one song) provided everyone with music while they ate. And they were more than great! Even the “old folks” liked it.

   The first sign up sheets for service activities are available at the Jr/Sr High School, 6th grade classroom at JES, and at the Juliaetta Library. Membership applications are available at all those places also.

   If anyone has questions about Pug Marks Community Service Incorporated just email us at pugmarkscsi@gmail.com or you can call and leave a message at 208.476.0783 and someone will promptly get back to you.

Pug Marks CSI is having its kick-off event on Monday, March 10, 2008 at the Kendrick High School Cafeteria.

There will be a chili feed starting at 6:30pm with an informational meeting starting at 7:00pm. The chili feed is free, but donations will be accepted and ear-marked for t-shirts for dedicated youth volunteers.

Dakoda White and Dylan Curry will be providing music from 6:30-7:00pm.

There is no cost to joining Pug Marks, yet there are many benefits gained by being an active member. Come find out more about Pug Marks Community Service Incorporated. We will have youth, family, and adult applications for membership available. You will also have an opportunity to sign up to volunteer for one of our upcoming service projects and learn about some others that are coming up later this spring. Ideas for service projects are always welcome; just drop suggestions in the “suggestion box” which will be available Monday.

Pug Marks CSI (Community Service Incorporated) will host a kick-off event on Monday, March 10 at the Kendrick High School cafeteria.

The evening will start out with a chili feed starting at 6:30pm and the informational part of the kick-off will be at 7:00pm. We will have more information on the entire event in about a week. So, be sure to check back here for all you will need to know about the evening.

Put the date on your calendar now! We want you all there.

A pug mark (or pugmark) is what the print of a tiger paw is called. So, if you were out in the jungle and saw the tracks of a tiger, to appear oh-so-smart!, you would say “Hey, look! Pugmarks.”

In Kendrick, Juliaetta, and the surrounding 7 ridges there is now a new addition to the meaning of Pug Marks. It is a new service club geared to providing youth opportunities for service alongside adults from the community.

When a teen is asked, even jokingly or by other youth, when doing something good for the community, if they have gotten in trouble and are doing court-ordered community service, it is a very sad statement about how we see our young people and how they view doing something for no material reward. We want to change those perceptions.

You can help Pug Marks Community Service Incorporated, or Pug Marks CSI for short, by joining. We will be having a Pug Marks kick-off event in the evening of March 10th. Please reserve that evening to attend and learn more about how everyone can be a part of a new wave of good deeds in our community.

Article provided by Lillian Howerton 

The K-J Community Development Assoc. Board of Directors has joined with the K-J Horizons Steering Committee in exercising authority on decisions made during the process of fulfilling the NWAF Horizons program and are functioning as one unit.  The K-JCDA is the Fiscal Agent for the finances involved in the Horizons Program.

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