Montrose, SD

Corwin and Christian had smiles on their faces this past Sunday as Montrose celebrated the fact that we had a Strategic Plan written and specific objectives to make their community a better place for their future.

These two young men attended all three of our Vision Plan writing sessions. Their area of interest? Goal #3: Providing Opportunities for All Montrose Area Residents. They took an active role in discussions and had some great ideas to share. And they were on hand when we presented the plan to the public on Sunday. Needless to say, they were most interested in developing a skating park in our park–but they definitely contributed to our other objectives, as well. I’m proud of them, and their parents, for understanding the importance of this entire process–and the need to get our young people involved. It is their future! Thanks to all community members who took time out to participate in any or all parts to date. Thanks, too, to Martha for serving as our community coordinator over these many months, and Kari for being there watching over us and attending our celebration event on Sunday–even if the roads weren’t the best. We appreciate the support of the Horizons’ Community.

Now the work begins as we start the action plan. Wish us luck!!

If you weren’t able to attend Sunday’s event, copies of the Strategic Plan are available at the General Store. Just ask them. There’s no charge for the booklet–just asking that you take time to read it over and decide how best to become involved. And then call anyone listed on the back cover of the publication to find out more.

I’m sure the woman from Montrose who called me last night isn’t alone. She’s older and still in her own home, but incapable of handling certain house-related jobs–specifically cleaning leaves out of her eaves. Or, it may be cleaning her walks in the winter, mowing lawn in the summer, or fixing a leaking faucet anytime of the year. She would like to have a way that people with needs can match up those with skills. She’s willing to pay people for their services, but doesn’t know how to find them.

 What’s great is that developing a community job pool was one of our initial objectives during our strategic planning meeting.  But when we began writing our implementation steps, we decided to leave it out for now for security reasons. Our concern? How would we build in security to protect children who might answer a job pool request and then be exploited or harmed?

I’d like to know, is any other community trying to match up skills with needs? If so, could you provide some tips on how to establish such a program and keep it safe? How could you manage it? Who would manage it? Where could you publish a skill-to-need list (paper, blog, web site, posters…) Thanks for any input someone might have. Perhaps we need to put it back into our objective list. Martha, I also remember that you provided us with a web site to check out on this topic. I’ll find it and take a look! Thanks.

I had a pleasant surprise last night. I had put an article in this week’s Montrose Herald (town weekly paper) about our blogging site, inviting people to check out the site and enter the discussion. I also reminded those that didn’t have access to the Internet to call Amy or I and we’d get their ideas expressed.

Lo and behold, an older Montrose resident called. She had seen the article and wanted to share one of her concerns–and needs–as a part of this community. She doesn’t have a computer, but she did have a phone and the desire to enter into the conversation. It was wonderful to see the community network alive–and it’s because of the Horizon’s program. Now, we hope others will join in–and log on.

I’m going to bring up her idea–and it’s a good one–in another post. And, I’ll be checking on the blogs of other communities to see if they’ve tackled this particular need. Another exciting aspect is that what she needs is something we discussed in our  strategic planning sessions, but put on a back burner. Perhaps we’ll have to move it up to a higher action item.

Remember those “FUN” pre and post surveys that the Horizons Staff had you take during Study Circles and LeadershipPLENTY?

Believe it or not - it was for a purpose!  Those pre and post surveys help us to understand how much your community learned about poverty and about leadership by your participation in those specified curriculums.

As a result, we have assembled a community profile with the results of the pre and post surveys for both Study Circles and LeadershipPLENTY.  Check out your community results by clicking on the links found under “Survey Data” on the right hand side of your community blog.    

It’s been great to have some new faces–and new ideas–attending our strategic planning meetings. We need their input and fresh perspective. An example, Betty G. came and provided great input from the perspective of the school board. She also shared her passion for establishing a Montrose Community Foundation. That’s a wonderful idea that had not yet been shared. Kandi W. has information on possible funding assistance for a skate park. We’ll need that as we put down specific implementation steps for our community plan. And we had young people come to share their ideas of what they’d like to see in our community, and voice some of their concerns. We’re pleased that Horizons has provided a forum to share those dreams. Our next step is to come up with practical ways to implement them. Again, a thank you to everyone who is taking the time to contribute to this effort.

I have always been one to try to find the positive in every situation.  In my mind, having a negative attitude didn’t make sense - it just made the situation worse.  I found out differently yesterday.

In speaking with a fellow Montrose-area resident about our Horizons project and the changes that we would like to see, some comments came up that really got me “fired up”.  When discussing the changes that I (and many others from the community) would like to see, I was told “that will never happen - not in my lifetime, and not in yours.  Too many people like this town just the way it is, why change things?  We never had that before, why do we need that now?” 

At first I was thinking that an attitude like that is part of the problem.  But after some thought it occurred to me - that may be just the thing to get us moving!  I know it gave me more determination to get things done.  It showed me that we need ALL types of people and attitudes to keep “Montrose On The Move”!

It was great to see more than 80 people show up this Sunday for the Kick-off Event of our last phase of Horizons. We had a great meal (thanks Irish Pub crew!!), an update on the Horizons project to date in Montrose, reports from our four action areas following the study circles, and an explanation of where we go from here.

 Better yet, we saw some new faces at the meeting and had some great new people sign up for the planning meetings coming up in October and November. It will be great to get the insight from a great mix of people. Thanks to everyone who came and helped make it successful. Thanks, too, to Martha, our Community Coordinator, for giving a good rundown of what’s to take place next and helping us stay on track!

 A big ‘thanks’ to our steering committee for their willingness to dig in and get this done, and to Dean, our school superintendent, for chipping in and helping set up and take down. As someone famous once said: “It takes a community….”

Amy was busy taking photos of the event with our new Horizons camera, so check back soon to see the Kick-off in action.