Gackle, ND

On March 13, 2008 community members attended a presentation by Kevin Dvorak on how the North Dakota Community Foundation (NDCF) might help Gackle develop its own endowment. While you haven’t heard anything since the initial meeting (click on Tri-County News below) I thought I’d bring you up-to-date on what’s happening.

Everyone left the meeting with great feelings of hope and everyone who attended felt that starting a permanent endowment would be good thing for Gackle. Such a fundraising vehicle would be a way for people to INVEST in the community for its long-term future. The invested “principle” can NEVER be spent, only the interest is used to make grants to benefit the community. This type of investment can be very attractive to individuals who want to make sure their contribution will ALWAYS make a difference to Gackle.

The initial investment to get a the endowment started is $25,000. North Dakota Community Foundation will match that with $5000. There are then future opportunities for dollar-for-dollar matches making the investment grow quickly. Of course, until the principle grows, the grants will remain small, but that can change with just a few large contributions.

During April and May, further discussions with NDCF have occurred. They are willing to help us get started developing “ask-strategies” for raising our first $25,000. They will also help us with putting together the Gackle Community Endowment board. The consensus is to wait until the Horizon’s program is complete before launching the endowment.

Gackle’s Horizon program has resulted in an atmosphere of change, a surge of community activism and an understanding of community needs. Some of these needs will be addressed this summer–clean-up, providing healthy, locally grown food/produce for the residents and providing cultural & social opportunities. All these activities will show that effort is being made to improve the town–we hope this will be an attractive incentive to investors in Gackle’s future.

Hopefully you were able to catch the ad in last week’s Tri-County News and saved the date on your calendar, if not, you better get to it! We may not have the same catchy title as last year’s “Rock the Park,” because miraculously, the park got completely rocked. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t repeat the great time we had! This year’s goal is to make Gackle the 4th of July “Destination of Choice.” And why shouldn’t it be? Haven’t you ever gone on vacation and were glad to return home? We have it all here with great parks, swimming pool, RV park, nearby lake area, and don’t forget the wonderful people! With gas prices so high, lets take advantage of what’s local and celebrate!

So here we go…I’m just getting started with all the organizing, but what I do know is that I need help! The day of the event will need the most help with set up, serving, and clean up, but I am also looking for a couple of people to take charge of the kids activities. We are also looking for donations to cover the cost of the event. As you may remember, last year was all donations and volunteers. So if you can help in anyway, please contact me at 485-3385 or mail donations to me at 205 Spruce St E, Gackle, ND 58442. We already have some great entertainment lined up with the group “Raw Sugar” coming from Lisbon, ND to perform for us. I also hear that our finally of fireworks is going to be “bigger and better.” If you saw last years show, it’s hard to imagine how they are going to do that. Gail has been hard at work getting things together and he also has an account set up at Dakota Heritage Bank for any donations.

We can’t forget that Horizon’s is what “sparked” our energy last year and continues to be a positive charge for change in our community. The Horizon’s project will be ending in June and deserves some celebration for all of the motivation and direction it will leave us with. Stay tuned for updates and I expect to hear from you all!

We have a new strategic plan, we have ideas and we have dreams but we seem to have lost the energy. Where did it go?

Recent blog entries and local newspaper articles have shown the realities of Gackle’s woes. What is not apparent on the surface is that many basic services have been propped up over the years or have had benefactors to support their continuation. Those means are drying up. The cafe is struggling, the pool might not open, the sewers are failing and lots of other major issues. Everybody who is currently volunteering is overburdened and there doesn’t seem to be any new “troops.” It’s hard to get excited about the strategic goals of beautifying the town or continuing education when we have such large concerns.

Reacting to the situation a core group of concerned Horizons volunteers met recently to discuss the situation. Jodi Bruns from NDSU extension also attended. What we learned is that we are not alone and the situation is similar in most small towns. It seems there are ebbs and flows in the process of revitalization and we are experiencing the ebb. Jodi suggested prioritizing the major issues, identifying local leaders best able to “rally-the-troops” and asking them personally to take leadership for the tasks ahead. The reality is that people won’t respond to a simple “call to volunteer” printed in the newspaper. So a personal call based on a complementary marriage of leader and task is the best option.

But a thing we realized during the course of discussion was that we have done a lot and the Horizons process has fomented positive changes within our community. So while we all wish things would move more forward quickly we now understand that a “pat-on-the-back” is also in order and patience and dedication will win the battle ahead.

We would like to hear from other communities out there who are experiencing similar ebbing energy and we would like to hear if anybody has any ideas about keeping the energy and enthusiasm flowing during this process. Any comments would be appreciated!

The Gackle Park Board is seeking dedications for the “Tree of Life”. For a minimum $25 donation, a plaque will be placed on the tree in honor or memory of loved ones and for a $500 donation, a gold leaf will used. A ceremony will be held on Arbor Day, May 2, 2008 at 1:00pm in the park to place any new plaques on the tree. Donations are also being taken for the bridge and plaques will also be placed on there. The donations go toward care of the parks and baseball field. You can contact any board member for more information: Darla Reed, Sandi Rivinius, Percy Schlecht, or Bonnie Denning. A clean up day will be held in the park on Wednesday, April 23, 2008 from 5:00pm to whenever finished to get the parks ready for the season. So come with rakes, mowers, trimmers, or just yourself to help out. Food and refreshments will also be available for those workers.

It has been almost five years since the Community Development took over ownership of the Gackle Cafe. The cafe has had many struggles during this time to keep the doors open. Currently, the cafe is being leased to Carolyn Zacher. She took over running the cafe last fall and really enjoys being apart of our community and wants to stay. So what’s the problem? Hard to pinpoint one thing so lets just get to the point. The lease has been changed so that Carolyn will be paying a monthly rent for the building and the community will be in charge of the rest. The rest (water, propane, electricity, insurance) is estimated to cost $1200.00 per month. I urge the community of Gackle to take ownership in this. If you want the cafe to remain open, we all need to support it in any way we can (donating, volunteering, eating, etc.). The cafe board, consisting of Mary Jo Fries, Barb Schmidt, and Sandi Rivinius, have been working hard to generate ideas to raise money. In addition to local fundraising efforts, the board has received grants from the North Dakota Community Foundation to help support the cafe.

A Pancake, French Toast, and Sausage buffet is scheduled to be held on April 20, 2008. There is a list of items that can be donated for this, which includes: syrup, eggs, butter, and orange juice. Any donations can be taken to the cafe. A raffle drawing will also be held on this day. Items on the raffle include a $150 Reister Meats bundle, $100 savings bond, $50 gift certificate for the Gackle Coop, and gift certificates for the cafe. Tickets can be purchased from any board member, at the bank, or the cafe for $1 per ticket or 6 for $5. Our main street needs a cafe!

Constant problems due to age and obsolescence have plagued the Gackle’s sewers. Quick fixes and costly repairs have town maintenance workers, volunteers and city leaders wondering if the sewer problems will ever end. It has become a problem that won’t go away and a major obstacle to the future growth of the town. Streets have been torn up and left unpaved and that’s not the worst of it…

Our Strategic Plan, which developed out of the Horizons Project, outlines Infrastructure Repair and Maintenance as key to Gackle’s Financial Stability. City leaders have worked hard to find a way to repair the sewer that is cost effective and fair to all residents. The plan was outlined by the mayor and contracted engineer in a town meeting on February 28.

The repairs will be paid for with Federal grants coupled with a resident infrastructure fee of $25 - $30 added to everyone’s water bill. While nobody wants an added fee, everyone who attended the meeting seemed to understand that it was a necessary step and an investment in the town’s future.

Check out the article that was in Tri-County News by clicking on the mini-newspaper for details of the plan.

This plan appears to have broad public support unlike plans outlined in the past. In my opinion, this is due to the transparency of the process and the willingness of the city to work with residents to come up with a “workable” solution. Giving everyone a “voice” is a big part of what the Horizons process has taught us.

Community Arts Access…..Attention: GAAG - Gackle Arts Advisory Group

As a community-based grant program, Community Arts Access is designed to benefit nonprofit organizations that present arts programming in small and rural communities in North Dakota. It also supports nonprofit organizations in communities of all sizes whose arts programming makes a deliberate and focused effort to serve a special constituency or an under-served audience in that community.

Maximum Grant: $2,000
Deadline Dates: November 1 and April 1 (submitted electronically or postmarked)

Examples of Supported Activities. Can include, but is not limited to:

• Creation of a public work of art, such as a mural or installment piece, that incorporates talent within the community.
• Public performances of music, dance, or theatre.
• An exhibition.
• Arts festival or performance series.
• To book a touring performance or exhibit.

Complete information: North Dakota Council on the Arts Community Access Grant

KEEP OUR AMBULANCE SERVICE IN OPERATION!

The Gackle Ambulance needs local help to continue operation and service. “The only way that is going to happen is to add more people to the Squad. The Squad needs EMTs, Divers, and EMT Assistants.”

Some time ago you may have heard that the Gackle Ambulance Service received a grant to provide training and pay for Squad staff. Receiving this grant was a huge achievement and a tremendous amount of work for all who worked so hard to receive this funding. (See Tri-County article at left).

Thanks to this funding, a training series is scheduled to start on March 24, 2008 and we need people participate. The details are in the attached Tri-County article. Please contact James or Melody Owen at 485-3238.

Yes, it’s a big commitment to train and then serve on the Squad but it is worthy one that everyone should appreciate. I can say from experience, that having a well-trained local ambulance service can mean life or death to someone who is injured.

There is no greater calling than to serve your fellow men. There is no greater contribution than to help the weak. There is no greater satisfaction than to have done it well - Walter Philip Reuther

As you plan your gardens for 2008, please plant extra so YOU can participate in Gackle’s Farmers Market as both a buyer and a vendor. We have big hopes for this year’s market, and we want the whole community to join in. Let’s start by joining the conversation that gets the ball rolling.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008
7:00 PM - Carolyn’s Café
(snacks provided)

• What did you like about last year’s markets?
• What can we do more of?
• What can we do less of?
• What new ideas can we try?
• What will draw regional shoppers to our market?
• What do we need for promotion and setup?

Come one, come all…See you there!!!

Want some ideas? Want to dream big? Go to this link and read about my alma mater’s Farmers Market in Davis, California, one of the premier markets in the country. And for even more depth, check out this Case Study.

Patti Patrie and Laurel Jones from Bowdon, North Dakota, a fellow Horizons community, attended last night’s presentation by Miner County at the Gackle Legion Hall. Despite the last blast of winter on a -15° evening, they made the journey and joined us to dream and become inspired with Howard, South Dakota’s rags-to-riches story.

I didn’t get a chance to visit with them too much, but the fact that they were present is evidence that a network of relationships is building and a web of activity is taking place between and amongst the Horizons communities. We can only do so much and we have much to learn and share with each other. We have similar problems and keeping up with each other might generate a solution to our issues.

We appreciate their participation in our program and hopefully soon we can participate in one of theirs. The presentation below would be great for those of us who are going to be active with our farmers market.

Sunday, March 30 at 1 p.m. Dwight Duke will be speaking in Bowdon
on Growing Organic Vegetables/Fruit and Marketing at Farmers Markets!