One is scheduled Thurs., Sept. 18 in Alexander City Hall 6:00 p.m.

Another is scheduled Thurs., Oct. 16 in Watford City Civic Center 6:00 p.m.

Forum begins formally at 6:30 p.m. with panel presentations by four county commissioner candidates.
Coffee and light goodies are to be served by area’s respective American Legion Auxiliaries at 6:00 p.m.
The forum should last no longer than two hours.

The format is as follows:

Names drawn will determine order of delivery for prepared answers to five questions regarding
1. What are your top three concerns for the oil industry impact and some strategies to deal with them?
2. What are your top three priorities for modernizing county’s infrastructure?
3. How serious is the issue of underage access to alcohol and how do you propose to address it?
4. The same question is posed for the issue of underage access to tobacco.
5. If you were living in poverty, is McKenzie County a good place to be? Why or why not?
6. Each candidate, in random order, will be given the podium for four ‘free minutes’ to discuss any issue(s) they wish.
7. Finally, a Question and Answer period will be allowed for about 20 to 25 minutes.

All citizens welcome!!
Thank you, everyone, for your interest in this important citizenship effort!
Dale A. Swenson with the Watford City Community Coalition and American Legion Auxiliary 
journalistdale@gmail.com or phone 586-3340 or 701-421-1999

Experience and education: Kalk considers himself the “perfect fit!” for the office as he performed very similar duties as a U.S. Marine Logistics officer. Retired as a major after 20 years of service that included Desert Storm duty, he uses his doctorate in natural resource management to enhance his professorship at North Dakota State University.

But it is his desire to accelerate economic growth through common sense resource management and development, leading to energy independence that underscores his “perfect fit” campaign motto.

Pictured to the left of Kalk is Cameron Arnegard, who arranged the meeting.

A gift valued at $1,000, plus an additional $700 worth of paper and toner supplies, was delivered to McKenzie County Healthcare Systems’ Healthy Hearts Wellness Center on Monday, Aug. 11, 2008. A small group of ladies enjoying their “after-exercise” coffee and visit, rejoiced to consider future lap-top sessions amid their conversations in this same comfortable location.

Mike Miller of Minot, who is tech support and trainer through the Extension service of North Dakota State University, set up the Dell 1125 multi-function black and white laser printer and a “choice” Dell Desktop dual-core 2.4 GHz processor, Vista, Home Premium, 2 GB memory, 500 GB hard drive, and 20-inch wide-screen flat panel display in the Wellness Center lobby.

The gift, state of the art technology, was a prize that Dale A. Swenson, county agent Marcia Hellandsaas, Dorothy Reil, Peggy Hellandsaas, Rev. Timothy Swenson, and Jan Dodge, bloggers of McKenzie County’s Horizons program of Leadership to Reduce Poverty, won through meeting and exceeding the program’s blogging challenge. See http://mckenzie.communityblogs.us/

Pictured left to right are Lael Reed, Reil, Dodge, P. Hellandsaas, T. Swenson, M. Hellandsaas and D. Swenson. (The framed award held by Hellandsaas and Swenson will repose above the computer cubicle.)

“People will have another reason to come here and congregate,” smiles Miller, after pre-installing Microsoft Office 2007, and other productivity software. “Any topics they may discuss will have a “world of information’ easily accessed through the Internet to enhance their conversations.”

According to Lael Reed, Rehabilitation manager of the wellness center and McKenzie County Physical Therapy department, “It is exciting to have this computer for our customers to use. People have the option of bringing in their own lap-tops to use the wireless Internet connection. Customers can utilize the printer and scanner connected to the computer. We want to encourage high school and college students to come to work out, have a cappuccino, latte, smoothie, or chai tea and enjoy this new service! A huge ‘Thank you’ to those individuals that work with Horizons that thought of our facility to make this happen in our community. Stop in and blog your favorite topic!”

CEO Dan Kelly of McKenzie County Healthcare Systems says, “The Horizons program of Leadership to Reduce Poverty is an excellent grass roots organization with formidable goal of reducing poverty within McKenzie County. I thank this organization for their efforts in securing this computer system. The McKenzie County Healthcare System Healthy Hearts Wellness Center is pleased to serve as a site for the placement of the computer. I hope that community members will use the computer and in doing so, think of the Horizons Program.”

by Andy Andrews.

Another book report on one of the fine selections the Horizon’s program has donated to our area. The books are located at the McKenzie County Library in Watford City.

Decision for Success

1. The buck stops here. I accept responsibility for my past. I am responsible for my success.

2. I will seek wisdom. I will choose to act. Charge!

3. I am a person of action.

4. I have a decided heart.

5. Today I will choose to be happy. As soon as I wake up, I will laugh for 7 seconds.

6. I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit.

7. I will persist without exception.

This would be a great text for today’s young persons. Besides giving them a glimpse into famous persons’ lives and a brief tour of the world, it gives some wonderful advice.

“Look out for 09/09/09!” says Prestangen, whose inspiration for this crazy date and episode is the 10 and 1/2 card game famous in Arnegard’s Cafe.

Each forum begins formally at 6:30 p.m., following coffee and light goodies served by area’s respective American Legion auxiliaries. The panel consists of incumbent county commissioners Dale Patten, Ron Anderson and Richard Cayko and challenger Michon Sax.

Sponsors of the events is a partnership of Watford City Community Coalition with local American Legion auxiliaries.

Museums of the Mondak region of western North Dakota and eastern Montana have collaborated to bring you the Mondak Region Historical and Cultural Passport. This special Passport points the way to the special historical and cultural sites within this historically and culturally rich area. For over 10,000 years, from the earliest American Indians to the latest immigrants, a unique history and culture has blossomed in this beautiful region. To help you better enjoy and learn about this unique Mondak Region, the region’s historic and cultural sites have collaborated to bring you this special Passport. The Passport is designed to deliver you to a number of key locations in the region and make you aware of the riches that surround you.

So what is so special about this Passport?

The free passport is available at seven participating museums and cultural centers in the Mondak Region. These seven sites are:

Fort Buford State Historic Site and the Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center (Williston, ND)

Mondak Heritage Center (Sidney, MT)

James Memorial Art Center (Williston, ND)

The Long X Trading Post and Visitor Center and the Pioneer Museum of McKenzie County (Watford City, ND)

Glendive Frontier Gateway Museum (Glendive, MT)

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (Williston, ND)

Lewis and Clark Trail Museum (Alexander, ND)

Visit any of these sites to pick up your free passport. Once you have your passport in hand, simply bring the Passport to each of the six remaining sites. After touring each site, request the site to stamp your Passport.

You have until December 31, 2008 to visit each of the seven sites and have your Passport stamped. If you complete the Passport (by having each of the seven sites stamp your Passport) you will be entered into a drawing for one of seven gifts (valued at $20-30, these gifts are donated by each of the seven sites).

So, not only do you get to visit seven unique and interesting historic and cultural sites in the Mondak Region but you also get the opportunity to become eligible to win a wonderful gift from one of the seven museums. And, you get to do all of this while staying in and learning about your own backyard.

If you have questions, or would like additional information, call Fort Buford State Historic Site Supervisor Mark Sundlov at (701) 572-9034.

I liked Anita Rohde’s comment that the length of this program is about equal to the gestation period of an elephant. I would like to add that Mom Elephant’s milk nourishes the calf for 3 to 4 years. That means our work has just begun and we have four more years to devote to the nourishment of our goals. Change may not happen overnight, but it will happen.

The “small fry” of Independence Day play found the restored playhouse in the trees plagued by chalk graffiti and set to work scrubbing the writing off the dark boards.

“We want the playhouse to look nice and not be all marked up,” said one young boy with a wet eraser in his hand.

Nolan is pictured near the doorway of the plain board building standing high on six or seven foot footings.

Children played and Nolan smiled. More play was to be had on the large air-filled “inflatable games” just across the roped-off street.

Arnegard Boosters threw another marvelous party for the 4th of July Celebration. The parade was lead by Old Glory in the care of Watford City’s American Legion Color Guard. Remarkable in length, with horses, cars and fire trucks, its end meant the beginning of the dinner line. The plate of baked beans and tender roast beef was served by the Arnegard Lions and the ice cream dessert cups came from the McKenzie County Bank in Watford City.

The Family that provided the beef for the meal presented song and history of the Oluf and Annie Hovde family, whose homestead celebrates its centennial this year in the early afternoon. All veterans were honored near the dedicated memorial under the flag prior to the program.

Games continued for the children all afternoon, while adults visited in the picnic shelters, enjoying music provided first by Ordean Tweden and his wife, then by Jeff Nelson. Suppertime found the Lions serving up their usual Friday evening ‘Burgers in the Park’ and the line was long in the 94-degree sun.

Wilmington Lutheran Church’s cool basement provided education and entertainment with a DVD virtual walking tour of Washington, D.C. Newt Gingritch’s record of God in the Founding Father’s manuscripts and nation’s buildings ended at Arlington National Cemetery. Most amazing was the cameo of Martin Luther, whose work made possible the settlement of North America with Protestant Christian ethics.

The fire alarm went off around 9 p.m. and a grass fire on the northeast edge of town was quickly put down by the local fire department.

The Arnegard fireworks started around 10:30 and went on to around midnight, with boom, bang and “ahhhhhes……” Arnegard once again put on a marvelous 4th of July celebration.

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!