Horizons Winding Down…Gackle Moving Full Speed Ahead
Gackle’s adventure with Horizons may be winding down, but you’d never know it from all that’s happening in town: weekly Farmers Markets scheduled from July through October, arts-in-the-park summer series running for 9 weeks, the landmark 1906 Haut Building recently purchased for restoration and commercial use, summer movie season starting June 27 with the new Indiana Jones movie at the Krieger Theatre, and our second annual Fourth of July picnic and fireworks just around the corner.
We’ll be showcasing Gackle’s renewal efforts at a celebration in Bismarck on July 9 for all 21 Horizons communities statewide. Volunteers met Wednesday, June 18, to discuss what kind of skit could demonstrate—in 5 minutes or less!—all we have accomplished. If you saw “Gackle’s Horizons Story” in last week’s Tri-County News, you can imagine how creative we’ll have to be to squeeze the past 18 months into a 5-minute “show-and-tell.” To read the story about our journey since October 2006, click on the image of the newspaper clipping dated Wednesday, June 11, 2008.
At their recent meeting, volunteers considered how best to spend the dollars left for expenses during this final phase of Horizons. They also discussed possible uses of the remaining grant funds totaling $8,500 from the Northwest Area Foundation. Our coaches say our “Shoot for the Stars” blogging effort is looking good, and some freebie equipment may be thrown into the deal for good measure. Thanks, “salgal,” for all your hard work keeping our blog current! Check back here after July 9 for “Page Two, and the rest of the story” about our Bismarck trip and what we brought back.
As Horizons volunteers get ready to share with colleagues the good things going on in Gackle, we hope community members are as proud of our town as we are. Do you remember the theme on our banner at last year’s “Rock the Park” Fourth of July event? “Building on What We Already Are…Celebrating What We Are Already Becoming!” One year later, with so many good things already achieved or in the works—and others still ahead of us in our strategic plan—let’s all give ourselves and each other a big hand. We did it! We made it to the Horizons finish line—with flying colors! 
June 19th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Yeah! Mary –you did it, you’ll soon be taking over my blogging role!
Thanks for the post – we will all be looking forward to Gackle’s future.
Thanks for all your hard work on getting the Gackle Horizons process going and leading the town in learning how to renew, define, and re-focus its energy on new goals. It was a “tough” sell but I think you already see the rewards. Great job!
June 19th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Couldn’t have done it without you, “salgal!” Glad to join our blogging process, here at the tail end.
You’re too kind with your words about my role in the Gackle effort. The joy of all these new connections has made it worth every minute I’ve invested.
Just think…you and I hardly knew each other before this project started. And the same is true for lots of other volunteers who’ve participated. Now I feel lost when you all aren’t around. Along with all the good things happening in our town, this must be one of the rewards Horizons foresaw from the beginning. Hooray for them!…and hooray for our home team!