A conference review will be held on April 30th at the 4-H Building in Forestburg with supper at 6:30 p.m. Tony Armagno and his wife, Irma, from Montrose, along with our own Leona Klinkner, will talk about the Hometown Competitiveness Conference they attended in Lincoln, Nebraska. Other Horizons members will also give presentations on the different conferences that they have attended.
Our Sanborn Central communities are known for pheasant hunting. Recently, there was an article in the Daily Republic listing Mitchell as No. 78 on a list of 200 of the best places in the U. S. for hunters and anglers, according to Outdoor Life magazine. This list also included several other South Dakota towns. Mobridge tied at No. 62, Aberdeen was listed as No. 81, and Spearfish came in at No. 82.
How did they determine the rankings? Outdoor Life examined every population center in the U.S. with more than 4,000 people. They gathered data on the quality of life that the towns offered. They considered factors such as growth rate of the local economy, unemployment rate, degree of taxation, the time it takes to commute to work, crime rate, housing prices, median household income, and the variety of cultural opportunities. Then they took into consideration each town’s hunting and fishing opportunites. This research was put into a database to develop a formula that gives slightly heavier emphasis (60/40) to sporting opportunities than to quality of life rankings.
If you think your hometown should be on next year’s list, Outdoor Life wants to hear from you. Just click here to enter your favorite hunting/fishing paradise. Winning towns have the chance to be featured in the magazine and online.
Here’s Tiffany with our youngest Horizons member, who has attended quite a few of our meetings lately I might add!
Horizons will be holding a seminar to prepare our communities to provide top-notch quality of life for people as they age. The seminar in our area is scheduled for Wednesday, April 23rd at Mitchell Technical Institute’s Technology Center, Room 111. Supper will be at 6:30 p.m. followed by remarks from three speakers:
Jim Seeber, Northern State University, NE Regional Aging Council - Economic & Social Aspects Welcoming Communities
Renee Oscarson, SDSU, Extension Specialist Gerentology - Meeting the Needs of the Elderly
Linda Nussbaumer, SDSU, Prof. of Interior Design - Effects of Baby Boomers on Housing
Click here for a copy of the flyer: flyerseminar5.PDF
Here are some pictures from the marketing seminar that was held in Armour on March 25th. Milan Wall from the Heartland Center for Leadership Development discussed how every community projects a certain image, which is made up of accumulated perceptions. Visitors to the community take away either a positive or negative image.
What do we want our Sanborn Central communities to be known for?
Here are the monthly questions we need to address to meet the minimum requirements of the community blogging. Feel free to add your comments in answer to any of the questions in either category.
8. Sustaining action and creating structural change around leadership
What is your community’s plan for maintaining a strong community leadership system?
To use information obtained from Leadership Plenty training to maintain a strong community leadership system.
How can your community sustain the changes it has already made in its leadership?
Keep communicating and invite everyone to participate, especially the younger members of our communities.
What structural changes have been made in how the community does its work/makes decisions?
Monthly meetings are being held to discuss progress and make decisions regarding ongoing projects.
What structural changes have been made so that your community leadership sustains partnerships with others?
Different community groups and organizations have been working together to complete projects in the communities.
12. Sustaining action and creating structural change around community
How will your community make decisions about seeking further resources to support its plans?
We will continue to work with our town boards and the county commissioners in support of our strategic plan.
Is a system in place to seek, receive, monitor and report on new resources to support community work?
The different conferences provided by Horizons have been very helpful in finding new resources for our communities. Attendees then report back to the other Horizons members at our monthly meetings.
Is a system in place to maintain contact with, or to continue to work with other communities? With your Delivery Organization? In other partnerships?
It would be nice to continue with the community blogging even after the completion of the Horizons II program so that we could keep in touch with other communities.
What new resources have been secured to assist the work of the community?
Our communities are considering the possibility of joining a regional development association, which would be a great opportunity to receive economic development assistance.