Julie Gemmill and Karen Linstad are shown with Lynette Flage of NDSU Extension with the $10,000 check Fordville received for completing the Horizons program. This money will be used to continue the work from the strategic plan developed as part of the project.
North Dakota Housing and Finance Agency hosted a Housing Roundtable on May 19th in Devils Lake. Paul Boe, Bob Sobolik, and Julie Gemmill were in attendance to learn about housing finanace options and funding sources. They were able to discuss Fordville’s housing needs and meet with agency representatives from across the state following the meeting. A reporter from WDAZ was in attendance to do a feature story on the Roundtable discussion and Bob was seen on the 6:00 news!
Members from the Fordville Horizons program recently attended the Horizons Celebration Gala in Bismarck on Tuesday, May 4th. ND Governor John Hoeven presented the Fordville group with a beautiful picture to celebrate Fordville’s successful completion of the Horizons Community Leadership to Reduce Poverty project. Horizons members attending the celebration were Fordville Mayor Bob Sobolik, Tami Omdahl, Karen Linstad, Julie Gemmill, Blaine Novak, Chelsea Babb, Mariah Dalbey and Taylor Dalbey. The group representing Fordville was asked to present a five minute overview of Fordville’s participation in the Horizons project. A Power Point presentation was shown using many pictures that have been taken over the course of the project.
Horizons is a community leadership program aimed at reducing poverty in small rural and reservation communities (populations less than 5,000) faced with economic decline and demographic change. Horizons explores perceptions about poverty, builds stronger community leadership and embraces the entire community. Horizons is funded by the Northwest Area Foundation, whose mission is to reduce poverty in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. The North Dakota State University Extension Service facilitated the Horizons program. Fordville’s coach for the Horizons project is Lynette Flage, Horizon Project Director.
Horizons is an 18-month program with four required segments. Communities must meet the thresholds for each segment within a defined time frame before they can move forward. Each threshold is connected to skills and achievement that help strengthen a community. The Fordville community has been involved in the Horizons project since Fall 2008 beginning with Study Circles. LeadershipPlenty training was completed from Jan through May in 2009. The next phase was Community Visioning where members from the community identified goals for the future. These goals include Housing, Health and Wellness, Youth, Community Services, and Main Street “Make Over.” The final phase is Community Action to Reduce Poverty. Committees have been formed for each of the goal areas and community members will continue to work on the Key areas identified during Community Visioning. All community members are welcome to participate on these committees.
Booklets were also provided describing the actions and projects of the 2008-2010 Communities Involved in Horizons Project. Copies of the booklet can be found at the Bremer Bank, Northern Plains Railroad, Fordville Coop office, Fordville-Lankin School and the Ness Press. Please stop by one of these locations to read about our Fordville community as well as the other 14 communities who participated in the Horizons project. The Horizon picture is currently on display at the Bremer Bank.
The Fordville Community has done amazing work throughout the past eighteen months. While many items still are a work in progress, the momentum is here, and thanks to many leaders and volunteers, this will be a thriving place for decades to come!
HORIZONS Planning Meeting04/22/2010
PRESENT: Karen Linstad, Julie Gemmill, Tami Omdahl, Taylor Dalbey, Mariah Dalbey, Blaine Novak, Chelsea Babb Gemmill, Dorothy Smestad, Judy Dahlen, Kathleen Sobolik, Marvin Sobolik, Carol Offerdahl, Denise Sluke, Joanne Sluke, Marilyn Linstad
Sub-committees were established to work on identified project areas, with project leaders identified (*):
WELLNESS:
*Julie Gemmill
Daphne Sobolik
Judy Dahlen
Dorothy Smestad
YOUTH PROGRAMS/ACTIVITIES:
*Tami Omdahl
Cindy Johnson
Blaine Novak
Mariah Dalbey
Taylor Dalbey
Chelsea Babb Gemmill
HELPING HANDS/VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS:
*Denise Sluke
Joann Sluke
Mariah Dalbey
Mike O”Brien
WELCOME WAGON:
*Marilyn Linstad
Dana Skorheim
Jenny Hunt
Carol Offerdahl
MAIN STREET MAKE-OVER:
*Robin Carlson
Marilyn Linstad
Yvonne Linstad
HOUSING:
Julie Gemmill
Karen Linstad
Bob Sobolik
Marvin Sobolik
Dorothy Smestad
TASKS ASSIGNED: Committee/Project Leader needs to gather their committee, discuss projects, plans, proposals, ideas, etc. Can be short term or long term projects in the area, just get discussions going. Can add other interested citizens to Committee as desired. A meeting will be set up first week of June for project leaders to bring their discussions/ideas back to the HORIZONS Steering Committee.
NEXT MEETING: To be scheduled first week of June 2010.
Any questions? Don’t hesitate to call me - Thank you for all of your help in making things happen and ultimately making “Fordville rock!!”
Karen K. Linstad
The week before last the Fordville-Lankin-Park River Flyers girls basketball team took 3rd place in the Region 2 tournament, beating North Border in that game. They defeated Hatton-Northwood in the opening round but lost to Grafton in the semi-final putting them in the 3rd place game. Grafton lost to Thompson in the championship. Congratulations FLPR girls in a great season.
This week the Park River-Fordville-Lankin Aggies boys basketball team plays in the Region 2 tournament, facing Thompson Monday afternoon in the first round, after taking 3rd place in the District 4 tournament. Good luck to the boys in the regional tournament.
SAVE THE DATE!There will be a community wellness fair on Thursday March 25th at the Fordville gymnasium from 2:00-7:00 PM. The fair will coincide with parent teacher conferences in hopes to have a good turnout! There will be a variety of educational booths representing all the areas of wellness. The subcommitte is busy making plans to include something for everyone! Check back at this site for more details in the near future.
Fordville-Lankin-Park River girls basketball team won the District 4 championship Monday, beating North Borde by 4 points. Next Monday they play in the Region 2 tournament. FLPR has won the region tournament the last 2 years. If they win this time they would be in the state tournament 3 years in a row. Good Luck Flyers!
Larry Jamieson has joined our Horizon’s Program Steering Committee. He is Vice President of Operations with Northern Plains Railroad based out of Fordville. It will be good to have Larry on board as NPR is the largest employer in our city. He stated that his employees are excited about the potential of a housing unit with a wellness center being built in Fordville.
The Fordville Wellness Committee began planning a wellness fair for their community this spring. This sounds like an exciting event to include booths on various health and wellness issues. We hope the Fordville School will be host to this event - watch for many details to come! I love health and wellness fairs - there is always so much to learn!
Thank you to those of you who attended the Wellness Committee meeting tonight held in the Fordville School lunch room. Your input is greatly appreciated! Thanks to Lynette for coming and for teaching several people how to access this BLOG site. It will be great to have new posts on this site. Thanks also to the school for allowing us to use the computer lab. It is wonderful to have such great community partners!
