McKenzie County ND

Oh, yes, that R us! Butt (I think you are supposed to put sic here) it is a good feeling to know we have accomplished, and we will accomplish more!

We received some magnificent books through the Horizons program. Man, these books cost mega bucks, and we have a whole trough full. They are at the Watford City library so go and check something out. It won’t matter which one. All of the information is wonderful.

I took Leadership Gold by John C. Maxwell.

Subtitle: Lessons I’ve Learned from a Lifetime of Leading.

I found some fantastic things to share with you. And I am sure you would jump over these and find something wonderful for yourself. So here it is:

“Criticism is something you can avoid easily—-by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”………Aristotle (We are used to this one.)

“Don’t put live eggs under dead chickens.” ……..Howard Hendricks (We tried but it didn’t work out.)

And now let’s address our own skills in communication. I UNDERSTAND this area needs some work.

Direct quote from the book:

You spend half your day—about 4 hours—-in listening activities.
You hear about two hours’ worth of what is said.
You actually listen to an hour of it.
You understand only thirty minutes of that hour.
You believe only fifteen minutes’ worth.
And you remember less than eight minutes of all that is said.

Ahem…………does this ring any bells? Ding ding ding

Another quote:

Control your destiny, or someone else will.
Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it were.
Be candid with everyone.
Don’t manage, lead.
Change before you have to.
If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete.

Don’t send your ducks to Eagle School.

If you send ducks to Eagle School, you will frustrate the ducks.
If you send ducks to Eagle School, you will frustrate the Eagles.
If you send ducks to Eagle School, you will frustrate yourself.

I will equate this to trying to give a town a treasure. And everyone refused it.

I now invite you to check out this book and find some treasures for yourself.

And if you have a dripping wet cat who was outside when our rain/hail deluge hit……., get out the towel and the hair dryer! We need ACTION, when ACTION is needed!

The partnership of the Horizons program in McKenzie County and the Watford City Community Coalition asked the Forrest E. Williams American Legion Auxiliary Unit # 94 of Alexander to co-host a public political forum to be held in Alexander in September. The unit agreed unanimously during their regular meeting of June 18, 2008 to support the forum which will allow commissioners to share their positions on pressing issues, especially those that involve what makes communities thrive.

Horizons has added a wonderful collection of materials to the McKenzie County Library. The book titles below will address community leadership, poverty reduction, entrepreneurship and self improvement. You will find them to be inspiring, enlightening and some will also be quite humorous! A couple curriculums, DVD’s, lessons for groups, and children’s books are included. Please request the McKenzie County Horizons library to check out these books titles and other materials:

The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus
Making Vision Stick
The Traveler’s Gift
Leadership Gold: Lessons I’ve Learned from a Lifetime of Learning by John C. Maxwell
The Quilt Makers Gift
The Quilt Makers Journey
8 Challenges Facing Community Leaders
Who Moved My Cheese?
Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs To Know
Attitude 101: What Every Leader Needs To Know
Good To Great: Why Some Companies Make The Lead…and Other Don’t
Smart Communities: How Citizens and Local Leaders Can Use Strategic Thinking To Build a Brighter Future
The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You
Rural Communities Legacy + Change: Third Edition
Your Field Guide To Community Building
The Magic of Thinking Big
Blink
The Tipping Point
The Power of Positive Thinking
Leading Without Power: Finding Hope In Serving Community
Everyday Creativity: Leader’s Guide, Workbook and DVD
6 Myths About The Future of Small Towns
Better Schools Through Public Engagement
Better Local Leadership: How To Start a Program For Your Town or County
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People–DVD
Establishing A Shared-Use Commerical Kitchen
Who, Me Lead a Group?
Vision To Action: Take Change Too Curriculum
The Entrepreneurial Community: A Strategic Leadership Appraoch To Community Survival resources material
The Leader In You: How To Win Friends, Influence People and Succeed In a Changing World
Do Something In Your Community
Energizing Entrepreneurs: Charting a Course for Rural Communities
Turning To One Another: Simple Conversations To Restore Home To The Future
A Framework For Understanding Poverty
Bridges Out of Poverty
Oh, The Places You’ll Go! (children’s book)
Getting Ahead In a Just-Gettin’–By Wolrd: Building Your Resources for a Better Life
Stone Soup (children’s book)

Striving to improve living conditions for families and individuals who struggle with poverty. Searching for proven or emerging approaches to reduce the numbers of people who struggle on a daily basis–long term.

These were underlying themes for the business and political leaders and nonprofit organizations and government service providers, including many Horizons program volunteers and staff who attended the Grassroots and Groundwork conference in Minneapolis May 28 to 30.

For me the experience was eye-opening and inspiring, to say the least.

One of the most interesting things I learned more about was social capital. Social capital, the relational foundation of a community, consists of trust, connections (networks), and involvement (action).

Strength of communities rests on the relationships we have with one another. Research has shown that communities with a strong foundation of trust between and among different individuals and groups are healthier and thrive economically and educationally.

These types of networks are an important part of social capital in communities:

Bonding Networks — close ties that help people to get by. These connections are usually with family, friends and neighbors.

Bridging Networks — weaker ties that can help people to get ahead and gain opportunities. These connections are usually with people who are different from themselves, who have different types of networks.

Linking Networks — Links to organizations and systems that can help people gain resources and bring about broader change. These connections are usually with organizations that have resources, both within and outside of the community.

Take a look at the social capital in your community. It will help you learn a lot about yourselves today and into the future!

Retailer training necessary step in poverty prevention, addiction reduction

Determined to help the community in Watford City responsible for legal sales of tobacco and alcohol do so with integrity, the Community Coalition on June 4, 2008, pressed ahead with plans to present training and information to the Watford City Area Chamber of Commerce during, and possibly immediately after, a Chamber Coffee session.

“Preventing early addiction to tobacco in underage users can have a dramatic effect on tobacco use rates,” states Javayne Oyloe, Health Promotion Team leader for the Upper Missouri Health District. “Most people who start using tobacco are younger than 18 years of age, and this training will help concerned business community members reduce access to tobacco by underage users.”

Oyloe may be delivering the information and training as she does similar work in Williston.

Heard about compliancy checks? Read about them in the Bismarck Tribune article dated May 15.

Support for compliancy checks to be done throughout McKenzie County comes from the Community Coalition and the Horizons-Leadership to Reduce Poverty groups in McKenzie County. Please read the article below titled, Three keys to put the lock on criminal behavior.

If you would like to join the effort to help our youth abstain from tobacco, alcohol and other drugs, please sign in by clicking on the comment (or no comment) line below and leave us your name and phone number.

Thanks.

More and younger youth in Watford City are “stepping up” to the mission of choosing to build a better future through abstinence from drugs, including nicotine and alcohol.

“We have six, and as many as 12 interested, Junior High students at Watford City High School who are active in the new Junior High Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) Chapter we have just started in Watford City Public School,” announced SADD adviser Katie Paulson during the April 23 meeting of the Watford City Community Coalition. “The Junior High SADD Chapter is going!”

Katie also informed the group of the assigned tasks of the Gatekeeper students. Reader: REFER TO THE PREVIOUS STORY, in addition to the following story about Gatekeepers expanding into more sources of strength.

Map Successes before May:Take time for supper and mapping Monday, April 28, 2008 in the courthouse at 5 p.m.

Eat, then map for successes with facilitator Anita Rohde, retired NDSU Extension agent from New Town. The mapping will begin at 5:30 p.m. and last approximately one hour, with conclusion by 7 p.m.

Eat, then map, so the action-phase of our previous meeting, Mapping for Our Children’s Successes, may be completed.

We recognize your time is precious. Please provide an hour and a half to make this happen!

Who will be there? Horizons Steering Committee, panel presenters from Mapping Successes for Our Children, Community Coalition and Gatekeepers.

You are invited to take a free supper break and an hour or so to Map for Our Children’s Successes.

Looking forward to recruiting your ideas,

the McKenzie County Horizons Steering Committee

the Community Coalition~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Phone 444-3451 if you plan to attend!

Twenty five people from Watford City, Keene, Alexander and Halliday gathered in Watford City’s Civic Center on Monday night, April 14 to discuss positive ways to prevent youth suicide. Mark LoMurray through Outreach Services, Inc. of Bismarck shared his copywrited materials and had the four groups of people share how they have overcome stresses their lives.

“Remember, tell someone,” states LoMurray. “Get your friend, child or family member to help and begin building multiple supports. Don’t try to keep them safe by yourself.”

Gatekeepers “mug” for the camera

“It is vital that young families move back here,” says Steve Holen, McKenzie County Public School District #1 Superintendent at Watford City. “And we see evidence that a number of families want to move back, for some already have. The attitude here is positive and proactive, which is uncommon to most rural North Dakota small town communities.”

Holen called it a Sense of Optimism.

And because of the declining and aging demographics, “Our hiring time is coming,” says Holen. (more…)