Steele, ND

The Steele Senior Center is in the process of getting an new coat of paint! Kathy Oster has been busy since last week scraping, priming and painting the outside of the senior center. A cool gray with dark gray accents give this building, that sees a lot of comings and goings, an updated look.

The center is owned by the Active Seniors Club and houses such businesses as Sandi’s Hair and Nail Salon, Kidder County Food Pantry and the Kidder Emmons Senior Services.

Sandi’s is open three days a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Sandi also does hair at the Golden Manor on Monday mornings.

The Kidder County Food Pantry is open by appointment only. Appointments may be made by calling Brends Schultz, coordinator. They also organize and distribute senior commodities and regular commodities.

Kidder Emmons Senior Serivies (KESS) provides the aging population in the are with great hot meals five days a week and meals on wheels to homebound people. Frozen meals are available to out of towners and Outreach is a service that helps connect people to needed services, And last but certainly not least is the adult bus service. Going to Bismarck twice weekly and to Jamestown twice a month allows many to get to doctor appointments with very little effort. Cost for the bus is just $7.00 round trip. Consider the cost of a priovate vehicle. Lets say that your car gets 25 miles to the gallon. It is 84 miles round trip to Bismarck from Steele (this does not include any in town driving). The price of gas is $4.00 a gallon. So, roughly, it will cost you at least $13.00+ to drive to Bismarck. Add the price of the fuel to your grocery bill and see if you really have “saved” by driving to Bismarck. This is definetly a plus to shopping
at home! No only is it extremely economical it is a real treat to be dropped off and picked up at the door to the clinic or shoppiong mall. No looking for parking or braving the cold or wind to find your vehicle. Any one may ride the bus by making reservation at the senior center. Children that must be in car or booster seats must have seats provided by the parent.

During a recent visit to the Kidder County Community Health Clinic in Steele, I asked a waiting patient what it meant to her to have the clinic.  “I love it and I’m glad we have the clinic.  It is very much needed and it saves in time and travel,” said Dora.  Since I had heard the great story of how the community came together to open the clinic I wanted to see the clinic first-hand.  Both patients and clinic staff talk about the benefits of having the clinic.  According to Anna, the clinic receptionist, “The clinic offers a service that really benefits the community.  From our elderly population to our young families, the clinic provides access to basic health care.  It’s also about being convenient, keeping jobs in the community, and saving long distance travel expenses for our patients.”  The Clinic opened in December of 2006 and the people of Kidder County will tell you it was a true Christmas present.         

If you are looking for a fun family sport try disc golf.  I found a new twelve-hole disc golf course nestled in Steele’s Four Seasons Community Park.  The twelve hole disc golf course is designed for a novice beginner like me and the most avid Frisbee golfers.  Named after the heritage of many local area residents and funded in part by the Horizon Program, the ‘Norse Course Disc Golf Santuary’ is also becoming a popular spot for birding information.  I found information on 48 different birds that can be found and heard around the Steele area.  At first, the word ’sanctuary’ seemed a odd word for a place to throw a flying disc into a basket.  However, the more I tried to get the fewest number of disc throws into the baskets throughout the course, the more I was also learning about birds.  The combined challenges of improving my Frisbee skills and expanding my knowledge of birds brought about a new appreciation for the the word ’sanctuary.’   I could have spent the entire day in Steele at the Norse Course Disc Golf Sanctuary.  It’s free to the public.  Bring your own discs, family and friends and enjoy a great day of golfing and birding in Steele. 

Congratulations to the community of Steele on your recent selection as one of the top three finalist for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines’ Capital Community Award.  This award recongizes Steele’s strong commitment to economic development and their efforts to creating innovative solutions to small community challenges and building a lasting future for their residents.  It is exciting to hear that Steele was selected from a five state nomination list that included the states of Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota.  More details on the award are available at www.fhlbdm.com

The Kidder County Fair Days are just around the corner.  You don’t want to miss them, so mark your calendars right now for July 9-12. The fair is one of those family events that build memories.

But I want to focus on one event that ladies seem to particularly enjoy; the annual flower show sponsored by the Kidder County Historical Society.  It’s held in the basement of the Steele Community Center on Friday and Saturday of the fair and is “open class”, meaning anyone one can enter their flowers. You can pick up more information types of enteries  at the Kidder County Extension office.

Last year, Alva entered some of her yellow tiger lilies and won reserved grand champion.  She was thrilled because her theory of gardening is “I Plant you…give you water….and I hope you can grow because now you are on your own here.”  Plants must be tough to live in her garden.  No sissies there. (As you know, if you have been keeping up with the blog, she was recently charged with plant abuse.  She did plead innocent and I am happy to report that the plant lives and thrives again.)

I think the ladies enjoy this event so much because of the chance to share their beautiful flowers is so rewarding. Everyone gets a ribbon.  The men enjoy the show too.  But they tend to focus more on the great bars and cookies rather than the flowers. 

It take real commitment on the part of the Historical Society to sponsor this event each year so I hope you will take few minutes out of your busy days to stop in at the show. The museum will be open for tours on that days also.  If you would like to volunteer to help with the show or the tours call Verla DeKrey.

I have enjoyed the whole experience of the Horizons project.  It has not only challenged me to totally re-evaluate my thinking about the definition of poverty but it has challenged me to grow as a person.  So I must admit that at times I feel a bit dazed.

Think what this program has done for our community. 

Over 40 people, young and old, took part in a six week study circles.  27 people took the LeadershipPlenty Training.  Over 200 people took part in the community survey.  Our library is stocked with some of the best self help books in the country. These are marvelous resources. We have an extremely efficient, user friendly, digital camera to take pictures for the blog, which I plan on mastering in my life time.

The Kidder County Food Pantry stepped out from under the umbrella of the Ministerial Association to create their own board to better serve those in need.

Last fall we reached beyond our own comfort levels  nearly a hundred people listed to Carrie Gross describe her role in keeping homeless kids in school in Bismarck.

We have a gorgeous new disc golf course and the school will be helping us sell the Frisbees here in Steele.  This course is at one of our most beautiful parks.  What a great way to utilize the park!  What a great way to spend family time! 

The Ministerial Association is planning to start a SADD chapter to give kids the tools to make better life choices.

And the movie theatre project is slowly moving along in spite of various challenges.  We will be holding a town hall meeting in the near future to get volunteer input.  So watch for ads in the Ozone on times and dates.

Many thanks to all of you who have made Horizons happen.  July 9th will be the wrap up meeting in Bismarck at the Ramkota so please let me know if you would like to attend.  We can all be proud of the hard work that has taken place!

During a recent community rural forum, representatives from Steele discussed what it took to keep medical services available in the community.  The partnerships formed and the combined efforts of individuals and businesses to open a medical clinic to ensure access to basic medical care deserve applause.  Their story is an inspiration for those who want to learn what it takes to retain basic services in a rural community.

Hi Kathy,

Thanks for the post. 

We are very proud of our community clinic and we were one of the first cities in ND to earmark 1% of our city sales tax for health care.  I’m not sure if you are of aware of this but the repayment of medicare and medicaid do not keep up with today’s cost of medical care.  Health care facilities are only reimbursed a percentage of the actual billing.  So having this little cushion of tax money every quarter is most helpful.  Plus being able to use our sales tax money like this lets everyone in the community support the clinic.  Each time we fill gas, buy groceries or eat at the cafe we can say we have “donated” to the clinic.

Alva

I have long been a great fan of rural communities.  I was born in one.  Raised in one. And when our children were old enough to start school my wife, Alva, and I made a decision that we wanted our children to receive their education in one.

At first the transition to rural living from city life was a little difficult.   But I became ingrained in the slower pace of rural living. Over the years my joy in living here has continued to grow until, now, I find it hard to picture myself living anywhere else. 

On Friday June 13th Alva and I attended a rural community forum in Bismarck sponsored by the ND Community Foundation and facilitated by Cher Hursrud.  The purpose was, not only to give rural communities a chance to share their success stories, but to encourage us to network and problem solve. The room at the Heritage Center was infused with the kind of positive energy that successful adventure always brings. 

We heard how Reeder, population 150, has renovated their old school into a multi purpose building that houses rental rooms for hunters, a first class work out room, commercial kitchen, and a gym.  It is the gathering place for the community.  We were cheered by the success of New England in starting a community owned store.   We marveled at the creativity of North Dakota folks as Annette Schilling from ND Tourism, shared information on learning based vacations now offered in the state.  We were challenged by Cheryl Planert of Beach and her quest to  organize organic farmers and spread the word about the benefits of knowing where our food is grown.  (Consider this fact: most of the potatoes we buy are sprayed 10 times before they find their way to our local grocery stores.)  Patti Pettri inspired us with her report the Bowdon Development Group who are working on keeping their meat locker plant and grocery store open since the owner suddenly died this spring. And, lastly, we were given pertinent information about starting a community Foundation by Patricia Bowen of Ellendale.

Yes, Friday was a refreshing day.  A day that was spent with great people who have great vision.  I am more certain than ever that the future is bright for rural communities who will accept the challenge of finding new ways to grow.

We would like to share our community vision with you.  It is a combination of the 1999 Steele Strategtic plan and the Horizon community surveys you completed last fall.  Please blog your comments and suggestions.  Also about how consider volunteering for one of the committees?  Many hands make light work.

Steele, North Dakota

Strategic Plan Summary 

Vision Statement:   

An ideal place to shop, live, and raise a family and a clean, safe, prosperous, and growing community that welcomes new residents provides excellent shopping and leisure-time activities, offers choices of quality employment and housing, and maintains the highest level of services, including health, education, and public infrastructure to all its citizens.   

 Goal #1:  Mobilize local assets in business and tourism development to help ourselves and each other and to provide access to services for everyone living and working in the community.  

Action Steps:      

Develop a ‘Shop Steele Campaign” to keep money and jobs in the community and demonstrate other benefits to the community when shopping is done locally.       

Develop promotional material, advertisements, brochures, and presentations to be distributed to surrounding communities and used at local and special community events.       

Partner and work with the North Dakota State University Extension Services, the Tourism Committee, and the Economic Development Business Sector Committee to identify needed services and retail business to meet the needs of citizens and to help build and retain community assets.        

Study the feasibility to develop a small industrial park that would serve the needs of new industries and businesses.          

Partner with the North Dakota Department of Commerce, Lewis and Clark Regional Development Council, North Dakota State University Extension Services, and the Community Economic Development-Ag Committee to discuss agricultural-related and value-added expansion and development opportunities from dairy operations and irrigating to organic farming.        

 Coordinate and partner with available resources in developing a business-to-business training program to help people be successful and to build leadership potential among all ages and income levels.       

Offer adults education classes in partnership with the Department of Public Instruction and the North Dakota University System to help people obtain computer skills for job placement or retrain to ensure skills are meeting job requirements.        

Get the word out about the quality of birding in the community so more people will travel to Steele.       

Communicate to potentially new businesses the benefits the community offers to help facilitate the creation of more and better jobs.     

Goal Responsibility: 

 Community Promotion Committee in coordination with the Economic Development Business Sector Committee, the Economic Development-Ag Sector Committee and the Tourism Committee. Expected Goal Outcome(s):      

Our economy is diversified and we have quality jobs and a trained and educated work force.        

Shopping and buying opportunities have expanded and essential services are readily available to everyone living and working in the community.      

Keeping money in the community is helping everyone and people and business are benefitting from the development of leadership and technology skills.      

The community has teamed up to get the word out about local business and services and more people are buying at home.  

More leaders are stepping to the plate and new people are getting involved in recruiting and training leaders in business development.     

Business owners are mentoring new business owners and passing on important skills to be successful.  

 Goal #2:  Provide safe and affordable housing choices for all residents to ensure basic needs are met at all income levels. 

 Action Steps:       

Develop a housing study and work with state and local resources to identify immediate housing needs and to create affordable housing for low-income people.  

Explore the development of affordable single-and multi-family housing so shelter is available for everyone living and working in the community.     

Capitalize on expanding community assets to include available housing for people choosing to live in Steele and commute to work in surrounding communities. 

 Goal Responsibility:  Housing Committee Expected Goal Outcome(s):  

Available housing in Steele is meeting the needs of all families at all income levels. Ø      More people are building and owning their own homes. 

Federal, state, and local officials are working with the community to develop a basic resource in meeting shelter and housing needs for the well being of everyone.     

Goal #3:  Provide and maintain safe, adequate, and efficient public services, activities, and facilities to ensure basic resources are available for all people living and working in the community.                                           Action Steps:       

Explore options to develop and expand the Community Center as a community asset and facility that provides space for businesses, special activities and public services for everyone.       

Develop an in-door movie theatre and disc golf course to ensure different activities are available for all ages and income levels. 

Partner with local, state, and federal entities, from our local schools to the State Historical Society and USDA to leverage resources in providing and maintaining public access to services and facilities. 

Develop and structure the local food pantry to maintain continued operation and help people meet their urgent needs.  

Start a local ‘Students Against Destructive Decision’ (SADD) Chapter to help youth and families deal with conflict and to face hard issues. 

Form a welcome committee to greet and welcome new families of all different cultures to the community and to provide a list of resources where people can go to get help if needed.  

Goal Responsibility: 

Community and City Coordination Committee  

Expected Goal Outcome(s): 

Community assets are strengthened and the historical value of the Community Center is maintained. 

More people are donating food and other basic essentials to the food pantry. 

Access to services and assistance is available to everyone in the community.

Poverty is being addressed at the grass roots level and the number of partnerships, volunteers, and leaders continues to grow through comprehensive effort to provide basic services.  

Everyone has access to affordable leisure activities and entertainment which helps maintain the well being of every community member at every age and income level.    

The atmosphere at Cottonwood Golf Course was relaxed last Friday as three members from the North Dakota Department of Commerce, Laura Willard, Gordon La France and Eric Icard presented a brief overview of what they can do to help smaller rural communities continue to thrive.  Laura was instrumental  in helping Steele bring Verety,  a work from home remote order service company, to the community several years ago. 

After lunch a small group of people toured DeVore Custom Meats, Zimmerman Manufacturing, BEK Communications and KIDCO Farms in Dawson.  For more information on the Department of Commerce go to their web site at www.growingnd.com .

Steele Area Economic Development and the Horizons steering committee partnered together to provide this working lunch for interested area leaders.