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.

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.

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!

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.

Comments on my post, “Feeling the Weight of the World? Advice Sought for Ebbing Energy,” asked this question. Yeah, we’re tired. I personally enjoy writing the blog, but, this spring, life got in the way, and I had to do a reality check. Priorities needed to shift. I wish I could have encouraged more folks to take up this blogging task so we could “Shoot for the Stars” and win a computer for the town. But the reality is that our community is not yet plugged-in. The “prize” was just not a priority with everything else occupying residents (and volunteers) time.

Choices and priorities shifted and time was spent on grant writing and the result is we have Art in the Park during this summer’s Farmers Market!

At this point, the blog brings Gackle’s stories to the larger world and that’s a good thing.

I don’t want to abandon getting Gackle on-board with using computers. Its too important a “tool” to leave unused. We are brainstorming on how to get more people to see the value of cyber-world. With Gackle’s access to highspeed internet, residents could be using the resources of the world-wide-web to get education, information, entertainment, and much more. These are all “poverties” - resources/ opportunities that are lacking in our rural communities.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the blog and everyone who has been supportive of the effort. If anyone wants to become a Gackle “blogger” please send me a “comment” on this post.

Summer Arts Programming – The “Capture the Coteau” Program series will occur in association with this Summer’s Farmers Market. Programs will start July 19th. Like the title, the idea is to look at all the wildlife and flora which surrounds Gackle, study it, draw it, sculpt it, photograph it and then use those designs, drawings, and pottery tiles to create or adorn banners, planters, benches or whatever we can think of to help beautify the town. A naturalist will tell us about local wildflowers and wildlife. An art historian will talk about the history of botanical illustration. Local and regional artists will assist us with drawing lessons and photography lessons. These artists will also bring their artwork to Gackle for an exhibition. The artwork created by Gackle artists will also be displayed.

We received a Community Access Grant from the North Dakota Council on the Arts for $1275 which will cover materials costs (lumber, paint, clay, film, drawing pencils), mileage and small artist honorariums for the out-of-town artists. $500 dollars will need to raised locally in matching money.

This program is for all ages, young and old. The only cost is the purchase of a $5 sketch book which will be used throughout the 9 week series of activities. This project is designed to be multifaceted, non-cumulative and accessible to everyone. Different sessions will attract different folks–would-be artists, collectors, nature lovers, designers and builders will all find something of interest during the series.

Look for more information here on the blog as well as in the Tri-County News. Image at right from the web page: www.answers.com/topic/echinacea

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!

After years of enjoyment by many, the Gackle City Pool is in threat of not openning this year. For many years, the pool has been able to run off of a sum of money that was donated. This money has run out. The cost to keep the pool open during the last year totalled close to $9000. We are estimating costs this year at $10000.00 and likely more each year. The park board has been busy during the past year making renovations and updates to the city parks and this all comes at a cost. The total income from the pool last year was only $1955.00 and this doesn’t even come close to covering the chemicals used for the pool($3250.00). So if you have any ideas on what to do, please contact a park board member–Darla Reed, Bonnie Denning, Sandi Rivinius, or Percy Schlecht.

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.