Steele, ND

Please mark these dates in April on your calendar and attend the meetings if possible.

April 4th…Safe Night for Kids…5:00 pm to 10:30 pm Steele Community Center…Volunteers still needed.

April 8th…SBA…Pirate Cafe at 11:00 am.  Call Alva at 701-475-2133 or e-mail her at steelecc@bektel.comif you would like an appointment in the afternoon.  This is an Economic Development project and SBA is here to help area businesses with any concerns.

April 10th…Steele is hosting a Regional Housing Round-table…12:00 noon until 3:00 pm at the Community Center.  Free lunch will be provided.  Call or e-mail Alva for a reservation by April 3rd.

April 21…Annual City Council Town Hall meeting…report on the current affairs of the city…7:00 pm …Steele Community Center.  Refreshments will be served.

   NDSU Extension, Birding Guide, Floramay Miller

It is now 250 cookbooks, 78 books by Dr. Kenneth Johnson, and countless birding drive booklets, later.  The March 29 and 30 Home and Garden Show, is past.  As is the wonderful aroma of brats being cooked by the Edgeley Meat Plant.

But

The 2008 Great Birding Experience is just beginning.  The World’s Largest Sandhill Crane Foundation is challenging everyone who reads this blog to go “birding” at least one time in 2008! They kicked off the promotion at the Jamestown Home and Garden show last week end by giving away some of their cookbooks, some of Dr. Johnson’s birding books and Steele Birding Drive booklets. 

Floramay Miller will be guiding a Birding Drive tour on Saturday, May 3rd, 2008.  The back-road safari will start on the north side of the Kidder County Courthouse, in Steele, at 7:30 am then take a meandering route around the Steele Birding Drives and be back at the Courthouse at 11:30 am.

Please dress in layers according to the weather.  Bring sun screen and bug repellent as needed.  Wear good walking shoes. And most important…plan on having fun!  If you need binoculars let Floramay know ahead of time.

You can register by calling 701-457-2632 and selecting the NDSU extension line.

Kidder County Health Unit along with the Kidder County Tobacco Prevention Coordinator are sponsoring a safe night for kids.

This will be a night for students of Kidder County area in the 5th grade to the 8th grade of school. There will be presentations from 3 different information avenues.

1.National Guard will have a presentation on team building

2. Bek Communication will have a presentation on Internet Safety

3. Nurse Mary Ellen Strand will have a presentation on Safe Dating

There will be a light meal at 5pm and activities and prize drawings through out the night, Starting at about 7:45 CW Thunder will have music and dancing. Free T-Shirts for all the kids.We have many local Business sponsors.All ending by 10:30 pm.

The Goal is to help kids make better choices and know adults they can ask help from.

Parents their will be a parent or guardian permision form to sign that can be gotten from all the schools or contact Kidder County Dist Health Unit or Bob Schoepp at 701-475-2582–701-202-1276

published by Bob Schoepp KCTPC

Because I am a very fortunate person I live in a small town of under 800 people.  Because I live a small town I know everyone, their Moms and Dads, kids and dogs.  Because I live in a small town I know in the afternoon that someone sneezed at the Coffee Cup in the morning.  So because I live in a small town it was my privilege to know Edna.

I say “was” because this good, gentle lady lost a battle to cancer yesterday and just before lunchtime she slipped away to be with Jesus.

Edna was 80 years old physically but in her heart she was still 21; looking forward to many grand adventures.  This summer we planned on taking her to the Mandan Speedway so she could watch a stock car race.  She had a little trouble understanding why anyone would sit and watch cars drive around in a circle. (The Daytona 500)  But Bob assured her once she saw a real race the sound of cars thundering around the turns, shaking the bleachers, would be in her blood forever.

If a word could personify her it would be Compassion.  That was what moved her to start a little food pantry in her own kitchen…even if she had nine healthy children of her own to feed.  Although it had long since moved out of her home, the Food Pantry and volunteers helped give away over a 100 food baskets to the needy at Christmas time this year. Later when her children were grown, Compassion said “Edna, the folks in Steele need a Senior Center.”  So she worked tirelessly with her friend Arlene and many other volunteers on the project. Today, many years later, we have a beautiful center that provides congreate dining to the elderly and meals on wheels for the shut ins.  Not so very long ago, she was only 78 then, she received her CNA license so she could help take care of other people who needed care in their own home.  Last year she helped facilitate a Horizon study circle.

I learned some valuable life lessons by watching her.

She took the time to bake me a birthday cake and I learned that little things in life make it special.

I listened to her pray and learned that, God not only hears, but answers every prayer, even if it wasn’t the way we thought it  should be answered.

I saw her give time and money to people who had nothing and I learned we must always give to those in need. 

I saw tears in her eyes when she heard others share their pain and I learned we are responsible to bear each other’s burdens.

Sometimes she would call and miss me at home or work and leave a message on the answering machine that always ended with “It’s just Edna”.  I will miss Edna’s voice and smile but I rejoice knowing she’s safe at home.  One can only imagine what adventures she will experience as she explores Heaven.

 I received this request as an e-mail on free cycle so if you are able to help the Ruth Miers House, please contact Mike Wilson.  His e-mail address is mikew@rmhh.org .  Your donations will be greatly appreciated.

We at Ruth Meiers Hospitality House have various programs to help Men,
Women and Children who are in a transition stage. We have programs that
assist individuals either move into one of our apartments with
furnishings or into an apartment with our assistance. We are finding that we are running low on living room and kitchen
furniture. The types of items we are in need of are couches, (not hid-a-
beds) living room chairs and tables, lamps, Kitchen tables and chairs,
and bedroom chest of drawers.These items will be used to assist individuals in their new living
arrangements.

A couple years ago when an article by Julie Zickfoose about birding in North Dakota was published in Bird Watcher’s Digest, Ann Hoffert, president of Birding Drives Dakota, would often make the comment “You just can’t buy advertising like that.”  I have to admit I was a little sceptical.  After all Julie’s husband owned the magazine so why wouldn’t he want to publish her great article? 

But when a friend recently dropped off a book in my office by Chris Santella entitled FIFTY PLACES TO GO BIRDING BEFORE YOU DIE.  I had to admidt Ann has been right all along.  Because right there in the middle of that easy to read, hard cover, leave-it-on-the-coffee table book…was Julie’s birding article. 

This incredible little book isn’t talking just about North America.  This is 50 places in the  world to go birding.  And Kidder County, North Dakota listed as one of the 50 places.  To be selected for this book is a huge honor that continues to validate our claim that we are, indeed, one of the top ten birding hot spots in the world.

Now some people rate birding up there with watching wet paint dry but this might be because they have never actually spent the day out in the field with an experienced birder.  From beating the bushes I can personally assure you that there is an intangible feeling  that overwhelms you as you watch the elusive Baird’s sparrow singing on stem grass in the middle of a prairie grassland. Or stand on the edge of a quiet lake and watch Black Terns dipping and diving for minnows. Or stand in a meadow and watch a Swainson Hawk sail in the clear blue sky above you.

Thanks to Floramay Miller you can check out birding for yourself.  Although she hasn’t officially set a date for her annual birding tour of the county it will be coming up sometime in May or April.  I’ll keep you posted.  

 Ever wondered how come those “other” communties always seem to have sucessful community based projects and fundraisers?   If so, then please join us for this workshop and find out how to put some fun in your fundraiser and how you can help your community tap into the “great transfer of welath” that is taking place. 

Free Workshop Offered on Fundraising and Endowment Development

Concerned about your community and its long term viability?  A community endowment fund is a permanent fund that generates interest to be used for community benefit; the fund itself is never used.  A community endowment fund allows communities to access the benefits of a community foundation, without the overhead expense.

The North Dakota Community Foundation will offer a workshop for area residents on Thursday, March 20 from 6:30 am to 8:30 pm at the Pirate Cafe in Steele. 

Led by Foundation President Kevin Dvorak, the workshop will begin with an overview of endowment funds, the process for developing a fund for a community or area, and the matching funds and resources that are available from the North Dakota Community Foundation.  This is purely an informational session.

Cher Hersrud, Resource Center Director will speak on fundraising mechanisms, including samples and examples.  Fundraising information will include planning and implementation of fundraising efforts, examples of successful fundraising projects, and resource information.

The North Dakota Community Foundation has been awarded an RBOG grant from USDA Rural Development to undertake a year long process to provide information and help to expand the number of community endowment funds within North Dakota.  The grant includes funds to support the workshop, which is free.

More than thirty Community Endowment Funds are managed by the North Dakota Community Foundation, benefiting both nonprofit and community programs and services.  The North Dakota Community Foundation was one of the first community foundations in the country to develop this program of ongoing community support.

The workshop is free; however e-mail or telephone registration by Tuesday, March 18^th is needed, to ensure adequate food and handout materials. To register, send an e-mail to Cher Hersrud at cher@ndcf.net or call toll-free 1-866-889-8265.

Over the last couple of years, thanks to Betty Smokov, I have helped plant hundreds of flowers at the World’s Largest Sandhill Crane site.  I now can tell a weed from a flower and get great delight in yanking them out of the ground. 

But I have never had the chance to plant a pinwheel.  However, on March 29th at 10:00 a.m. I plan to change that because Kidder County Social Worker, Jacey Hanson, will be planting a pinwheel garden during the 4-H SpringFest.

North Dakota has declared the month of April to be Child Abuse and Prevention month.  Jacey plans to gather enough volunteers to plant one pinwheel for each child in Kidder County in the Veterans Memorial Park.

As we drive by those colorful pinwheels let’s remember to call Jacey and find out what we can do help prevent crimes against children.  Her number is 475-2632.