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.

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”).

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

•  Of all the things you have done during the last 18 months in the Horizons program, of what are you most proud? 

Scavenger Hunt Question:·         Which Idaho Horizons community is working with the University of Idaho to help with their vision to “rebuild a community center to assist local families fight back against the ravages of poverty. They are looking to the future when they will have a center that provides central business offices for the city, a town library and public computers with Internet accessibility, expanded recreational facilities for youth and adults, a hall for future leadership and life skills training.”The winner will receive a copy of the book: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People will Follow You by John C. Maxwell.

Thank you all for the interesting responses about your community and what makes it ‘unique’ to you compared to other rural communities in Idaho.

I grew up in a small farming community in Idaho near the Utah border and I still think about it every day, the views and colors and smells and intense farm work we did (pulling rye, driving around and around in a tractor for 12 hours a day, herding cattle, etc) helped shape my life and world view. It’s that sense of place that helps define who we are and how we relate to the world around us.

I hope you’re all getting comfortable and familiar with the blogging process. Mary, MJ and I thank you for all the time and hard work you’ve devoted to this part of Horizons and know it’s just a small part of what you are all doing in your communities.

Please let MJ (merijoz@uidaho.edu) or me (dgray@uidaho.edu) know if we can help you with any questions you might have about blogging.

A ‘how to blog’ handbook is now available on our Horizons website at http://extension.ag.uidaho.edu/horizons/coaches.htm at the very top of the page…

Reflective Questions:

As we near the ‘end’ of this phase of Horizons, take a moment to look back on the past 18 months to answer these questions.

Has your community sought any additional resources outside of Horizons for your projects? 

How has your community partnered with communities and/or organizations beyond Horizons?

Scavenger Hunt Question:  Which Horizons community has an organization sponsoring a ‘Volcano Breakfast’ and what IS a Volcano Breakfast?

This week’s winner will receive a copy of:

One Nation, Underprivileged: Why American Poverty Affects Us All / Mark Robert Rank

Rules: Post your answers on your blogsite by May 20 (midnight) and be entered in the drawing for one of our book titles…

NOTE: Please enter your answers as either a comment to the original question OR as a brand new entry on your blog so that the answers are easy for people to find.

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.

May is the perfect time to see the planet Mercury in the evening sky. All you need to do is look west-northwest through binoculars about an hour after sunset, you’ll see a lovely tapestry of the Pleiades (a cluster of stars in the constellation of Taurus), Mercury, and the V-shaped Hyades cluster with the orange star Aldebaran woven low above the horizon.

On Tuesday night, May 6, the 1.5-day old crescent Moon will sit a couple of degrees above and slightly to Mercury’s right.

During the first three weeks of May, this reddish planet is easy to see with the naked eye, beginning the month brilliant, then gradually fading. However, its setting time improves to just under two hours after the Sun on the 14th, when the planet reaches greatest elongation, 22-degrees almost directly above the Sun’s setting point, and is visible – albeit briefly – in a completely dark sky.

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.

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?

Thank you to all the staff at JES and others who helped make it a fun night. And a thank you to Josi, a member of the advisory board of Pug Marks CSI, for painting pug marks on the faces of anyone who wanted one while board members Jana and Laura explained our new community service group to anyone that wanted to know more about it.

Please let MJ or me know if we can help you with any questions you might have about blogging.

Reminder: MJ has created a ‘how to blog’ handbook that is now available on our Horizons website at http://extension.ag.uidaho.edu/horizons/coaches.htm at the very top of the page… Thanks MJ!

Also, for those communities that may be looking for a little more training, please contact MJ at merijoz@uidaho.edu / 208-885-8949 to see how she can help you.

Rules: Post your answers on your blogsite by May 6 by midnight and be entered in the drawing for one of our book titles…
NOTE: Please enter your answers as either a comment to the original question OR as a brand new entry on your blog so that the answers are easy for people to find.

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…

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.

This week’s winner will receive:
The working poor: invisible in America by David K. Shipler
And
Building Communities From the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets by John P. Kretzmann and John L. McKnight.

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

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.

Pug Marks Community Service Incorporated is open to all to join and there is NO COST to be a member. Most service projects are appropriate for children as young as 5. Although,children younger than 6th grade may only join as a part of a family membership, we welcome their participation. One is never too young to give themselves the gift of giving.

For more information about Pug Marks CSI check out our web site at www.freewebs.com/pugmarkscsi or email us at pugmarkscsi@gmail.com . We will be at the Academic Night on May 1 at JES. Come and talk to us!

A huge thanks to our guests Wayne Rausch-Latah County Sheriff, William Thompson, Jr-Latah County Prosecuting Attorney and Nez Perce County Prosecutor Daniel Spickler without whom this event would not have been possible.

Another huge thanks to those residents of Kendrick, Lapwai, Juliaetta and the surrounding communities who attended, asked questions and made this event possible for the future.

A special thanks goes to those who helped to set up and greet our guests:  Chris Kowrach from Latah County Youth Advocacy Council; Josi McConnell-Soong wearing two hats, Latah County Youth Ambassador & Pug Marks, CSI; Laura McConnell wearing several hats from ACTION, Latah County Youth Advocacy Council and Pug Marks, CSI. 

Extra kudos to Alec Henson of Pug Marks, CSI whose attendance represented concerned community youth, Don Chrystal of Bridge Builders and Pug Marks, CSI whose attendance represented concerned community adults, Connie Reid representing concerned businesses and Dale Lisher from the Kendrick City Council who was the sole representation for concerned local Kendrick & Juliaetta community governments.   

We missed our many community members from our Horizon’s Action Committees, local organizations and concerned businesses, hopefully they may be able to attend next year.
 

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.

I am very happy to be the proud blogger to be able to bring the Kendrick-Juliaetta and 7 Ridges Horizons some excellent resources through my persistence. Or maybe it was a bit of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). And, then again, it could have been just plain stupidity for not having read the question correctly in the first place. Whatever made it possible, I will gladly receive the books for our community.

I will now have to quit blogging, because my identity has been revealed to all…..Oh, well…… I am willing to stand behind my words. And honestly, you will have to do more than reveal my identity to get me to go away, like maybe convince the other trained bloggers to blog?

MJ has created a ‘how to blog’ handbook that is now available on our Horizons website at http://extension.ag.uidaho.edu/horizons/coaches.htm at the very top of the page… Thanks MJ!

Also, for those communities that may be looking for a little more training, please contact MJ at merijoz@uidaho.edu / 208-885-8949 to see how she can help you.

Rules: Post your answers on your blogsite by Tuesday, April 29 by midnight and be entered in the drawing for one of our book titles…

NOTE: Please enter your answers as either a comment to the original question OR as a brand new entry on your blog so that the answers are easy for people to find.

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!!)

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.

The winner will receive:

Getting Ahead in a Just-Gettin’-By World: Building Your Resources for a Better Life by Philip E. DeVol
And

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High by Kerry Patterson, et al

• Meet the Sheriff
  • Express  your community concerns
  • Learn the reality of the law
  • Develop a partnership
• Refreshments

Meet Your Sheriff at an informal question and answer forum.  The Latah County Sheriff and prosecuting attorney as well as the Nez Perce County Sheriff will be available to listen to your concerns and share the realities of crime and punishment with you TONIGHT!, April 23, 2008 at 7:00 pm at the Kendrick Grange Hall.  Learn how safe we can make our community.  Refreshments will be served. The event is being provided by the Kendrick Grange.

• 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.

• Let’s broaden our scavenger hunt world a little… Of the other Horizons states, which one has interesting information about using Chicken Tractors to help maintain community gardens? Check out the link section of the Idaho Horizons Blog that lists the blog addresses for Montana, NorthDakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa Horizons. Feel free to explore and be inspired by other community groups just like yours!

mountainmama: So, upon finally getting to South Dakota, I reread the question and saw that possibly there was a hint in the phrase “Of the other Horizons states, which one“. But then the assignment ends with “explore and be inspired by other community groups just like yours” making me think the answer would be within one of the community blogs. I spent 4 hours and 15 minutes last night on the search, hence my less than sweet post (see below) in the wee hours of the day. This morning I started the search again, using the methodical method of starting at the top of the list under Idaho on the www.communityblog.us site. So I went from Allerton, IA, to Alta, IA, and then on to Bedford. Instead of waiting for each site to s—–l——-o———–w————–l———-y load while doing nothing, I brought up another page and started to work on Minnesota Horizons communities alternately. As slow as last night was, it was a dream compared to today. My computer crashed 4 times in the first hour and a half, then as I found interesting entries I was putting them on a word document. When I tried to save them my computer decided for the first time ever not to let me save. I couldn’t even ”save as” and put it on a thumb drive. Well, after more than 6 more hours of searching I had finally finished looking at Wolf Point, MT (which has actually never blogged) and was already on Rolette, ND (their 3rd post was titled “Pictures! I rmember how to do it!” I can relate even this many months later). I knew my search was almost over!!! I then clicked on South Dakota, and right there at the top of the state blog site was the answer. I decided to check to see what Estelline, SD had to say about “chicken tractors”. Guess what? Nowhere in the Estelline blog is there any mention of chicken tractors. The assignment seems to me to have been a little misleading.

The short answer: SD

I am in hour 5 of my search. I am not, I repeat,  NOT giving up (period) .

The hunt has so far only served to remind me of how unresponsive our U of I folks have been to the requests for help in such things as making our blog more friendly. I remember asking how to get a “counter” at the top of the right hand column so as to keep the site visit count in sight. No one even bothered to tell me tough luck, you can’t do that in Idaho. I also wanted one of the nifty calendars just below with the ability to highlight days with special community events. NO SUCH LUCK.

Thanks for very little to those of you at the U of I when it comes to blogging help.  Why do I continue to do this? I think the blog can be a great tool, but it could be so! much better than it is if anyone besides those in the trenches gave a bleepity bleep bleep!

And, again, I dare you to do any of this on dial-up.

(Added note: There is no department updating our computers either. I am lucky to have my nieces old computer that came without working sound, but it does have powerpoint, which was a huge step up from the old computer that the lightning fried along with my new phone 2 summers ago.)