Gackle, ND

District #28 voters from the region enjoyed beautiful weather Saturday, July 26^th when Gackle’s A.F. Lehr Park became the setting for an open-air “open conversation” about political possibilities and alternatives. Over thirty residents from Gackle, Jud and Fredonia, plus several from Lehr, turned out for the 5:00-6:30 PM get-together under the trees. The event was sponsored and co-hosted by Mary Jo Fries, Marilyn Entzminger and Mary Conrad.

April Fairfield, formerly of Eldridge and now living in Bismarck, served as guest facilitator for the unprecedented discussion among local Democrats, Republicans and Independents. The group focused on the most important issues legislators need to address during the coming four years.

Ms. Fairfield launched the conversation by asking participants how they would use a “Willie Wonka golden ticket”–if they had one–to improve what our government is doing for us. Her ten years of experience in the North Dakota House and Senate were an extremely helpful backdrop for the Q&A that followed. Participants were introduced to Senate candidate Alan Bergman from Jud, and House candidates Kristen Vetter from Linton and Isadore Gross from Kintyre, all running on the 2008 Dem-NPL ticket. Along with Ms. Fairfield, they fielded questions and then mingled with participants.

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During the final half hour, everyone enjoyed refreshments of meat, cheese and crackers, fresh fruit and veggies. Guests and many residents lingered for an extra half hour to continue their conversations with candidates and enjoy chatting with friends and neighbors from the region.

At the end of the evening there was general agreement among participants that this type of conversation about issues can be both enjoyable and productive, especially as it offers opportunities to listen and engage each other in the political process. Candidates Bergman, Vetter and Gross joined the three hostesses and guest facilitator at Dani’s Place afterwards to end the evening with conversation over delicious grilled steak dinners.

If you would have told me I could get more than 20 people to come to a drawing classon a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Gackle, North Dakota I would have said-”dream-on.” But Gackle proved me wrong and that was my hope! They said they wanted arts opportunities and cultural activities and thanks to a North Dakota Council on the Arts grant some Gackle “artists” enjoyed a drawing lesson with Linda Whitney from Valley City State University. Here are some photos.

I can’t wait till next week!

During the Art in the Park orientation many people commented, “I’m not and artist, I couldn’t do that!” But you don’t have to be an artist to do any of these activities. It’s about people of all ages getting together to have some fun, maybe learn something new and collectively working to develop attractive projects to beautify Gackle’s Main Street (see illustration at right below).

Next week, July 26, 3-5 pm, Linda Whitney, art teacher from Valley City State University will be teaching drawing. Since the idea is to Capture the Coteau - there will be many collected wildflowers, bugs, butterflies, bird and fish decoys to sketch. If you would like to bring something to sketch, appropriate to the theme, particularly if you have a decoy, please do!

The following week, August 2, 3-5 pm, people can use their new drawing skills to go sketching, as the French say, en plein air. We’ll take our sketchbooks and head “into the wild” to sketch the plants and animals where they live. We won’t go far, just south of town a couple blocks.

Download the Coteau Flyer. We will need to know if you are planning to participate in the August 9th photography workshop or 16th sketching in clay, both these activities will require some preparation so knowing how many people plan to participate will be helpful. Look for more information on these and the other activities in upcoming Blog posts.

September is the Planning Phase of this project. During the Farmers Market meetings we will combine different aspects of our artworks into designs to “decorate” Main Street projects (see illustration at right). During this phase we will need “idea” people, “builder/carpenter” people, and “artists (painters, stencilers, seamstresses, etc.)” to make this happen. So if you want to bring a little “color” to Main Street your help is needed.

All materials (lumber, paint etc.) for the final projects will paid for with a grant from the North Dakota Council on the Arts. The North Dakota Council on the Arts is the state agency responsible for the support and development of the arts throughout North Dakota, and is funded by the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

If you have questions or would like more information please call Sally Jeppson, 701-485-3454, or email sjepp@daktel.com.

The 2008, 2nd Annual Gackle Farmers Market kicked off with an “official” whistle by Mayor Ritchie Jacobson. There were eight vendors present and despite the short growing season there were many fresh selections, tasty baked goods and delicious jams. The just-picked onions, spinach, lettuce, and new potatoes drew enthusiastic buyers. There were also fruits available, cherries, grapes, peaches and other selections.

Some vendors specialized in baked goods–kuchen, buns, sweet breads and cookies galore, and canned goods–jams and preserves of all kinds. There were also handmade items for sale.

The orientation for the Capture the Coteau – Art in the Park project gave visitors to the Market a glimpse of what’s coming throughout the summer. These art activities and classes are free and open to all ages. They will take place in the park every week during Farmers Market.

Thanks to all the hard work, A.F. Lehr Park was in tip-top shape and everyone appreciated the attractive and shady setting. If you didn’t have a chance to visit Saturday – don’t miss the Market next week – word’s out that the snow peas and sugar snap peas will be available!

On July 9, Horizons volunteers from Gackle joined colleagues from 20 other small communities across the state to celebrate their successful completion of the 18-month program at the end of June. The luncheon in the towns’ honor at the Ramkota Hotel in Bismarck was attended by the governor and other state officials. The program included remarks by guests, presentations of certificates and grant checks, and photos with the governor and NDSU coaches.

Each town had been asked to present a five-minute summary of program highlights: audio-visual screen projections, individual speeches, panel interviews, skits, tabletop displays of program photos with descriptions, etc.

Gackle opted to do a little skit involving nine of the thirteen volunteers attending. Mayor Ritchie Jacobson and Horizons Coordinator Mary Conrad introduced themselves to the audience and began to dialogue about what exactly they were supposed to be doing up there. While this was going on, the other seven individuals slipped onto the stage behind them, all carrying “props” like a rock, cucumber, community calendar, broom, welcome mat, toilet plunger, and artist’s brush and palette.

As Ritchie and Mary questioned each volunteer in turn about “what in the world they were doing” with those objects, they explained which piece of Gackle’s story each object represented: “Rock the Park” 4th of July 2007, farmers market, business directory in community calendar, clean-up months, three new welcome signs, sewer replacement project, and arts-in-the-park series at this year’s farmers markets.

The final prop was the wooden arm volunteers gave Mary at this year’s Fourth of July. After “all the arms she twisted” to meet participation thresholds and deadlines, folks thought she might not know what to do with herself when the program ended. So they gave her a painted, wooden arm so she’d still have one to twist! Based on the applause and comments afterwards, the skit was quite a “hit” and pretty much guaranteed no one would soon be forgetting the town of Gackle!

The seven “actors” besides the mayor and coordinator were Greg Ells, Russ Pollock, Mary Jo Fries, Dean Entzminger, James Owen, Chad Williams and Sally Jeppson, with four other volunteers providing moral support: Carol Entzminger, Andrew Owen, Loren Schroeder and Tim Blackman.

Representatives of NDSU and the Northwest Area Foundation praised volunteers from all 21 communities, not only for completing the program but also for their excellence in already implementing many strategic plan goals beyond the requirements for conversation circles, leadership training and visioning activities.

I wouldn’t have believed it if I had not been there! What a fantastic turn out we had for our 4th of July Celebration! It is just so wonderful to see our town full of enthusiasm and enjoying our local surroundings. We served around 300+ people and celebrated with some great music and fireworks. Our Mayor, Ritchie Jacobson, started the evening out with a warm welcome and thank you to all those volunteers who have been involved in Horizons. Each of those volunteers were recognized with ten ‘Gackle dollars’ to be used only at Gackle merchants within the next thirty days. Our own Gackle ’stimulus’ money. Mary Conrad will be in contact with anyone on her list she wasn’t able to get them to.
‘Raw Sugar’ from Lisbon turned out some great tunes and kept the crowd entertained. They definitely put on a great show with their musical talent. Marci Neis, Sheila Metz, and JoLynn Dewald were able to keep the kids busy with games, hunts, and water balloons. It looked to me like they had a great time and a few got a little wet. We unfortunately were unable to have the face painting, as our painter was very ill this past week. It wasn’t much later, that darkness came and the real banging started! Gale and his crew put on a wonderful show with some beautiful displays.

I cannot go on without thanking all of the donors and volunteers that help events like this happen. It is so nice to see the real ‘fireworks’ in the people of our community coming out, supporting, and having fun. Make sure to thank our Mayor and all those who have been helping to keep our parks looking great too! I also heard that there was a great turnout for the special $1 showing of Iron Man and the Kreiger Theater. Few empty seats and lots of popcorn!

Could we be starting a trend? Gackle’s Annual Big Bang? More details to come next year! Thanks again everyone and hope you had a safe and happy 4th of July weekend!

Pictures courtesy of James Owen–thank you for the batteries and great pics!