Rutland, ND

As many of you may know, our little town had two Relay for Life teams this year. The Rutland Community Club Rockets and the Rutland General Store each sponsored a team. The Rockets had a 50’s themed dinner and a movie, the General Store had a gourmet barbecue. The Rockets sold chances on baskets and the general store donated a percentage of their doughnut sales. Both teams had good ideas, hard workers and a desire to help defeat the devastation that cancer causes. Next year will see some changes.
Next year, we will not only share a common goal but will be combining our teams. We will take a page from our Horizons leadership training and partner with each other thus expanding our resources, manpower, talent, and enthusiasm. Look to next years Rutland team to be even bigger and better.

Thanks to Kylee and Sami Hambeck, Rutland has a T-Ball team again this year and we have more than 10 kids playing!  The two sisters are coaching the little kids with some help from Mom, Diane Pherson.  Rutland has a full roster with 15 kids ages 3 to 8 participating.  They got a slow start with one practice several weeks ago before the rain spell we had.  However, this past week the kids were busy.  On Monday, the team participated in a tournament in Lidgerwood.  Three games is quite a bit for the little guys but most of them held through to the end and were happy to get their ribbons.  On Tuesday, they played in Forman and Wednesday evening were two games in Gwinner.  Next week is not as busy.  Due to the rainouts, additional games are scheduled into early July — so there is plenty of time to watch the kids play.  Come on out and show your support for the kids.  They are fun to watch.  (The schedule is on the Rutland Happenings page).

The election results were announced last week and Rutland has some newly elected officials.  There was a contested race for City Council with four residents vying for two seats — something that had not occurred for years!  Lary Arneson was re-elected and Bertha Siemieniewski was newly elected to the Council.  Mayor Narum ran unopposed.  The Park Board race resulted in one new member, Jeff Olson, and Diane Pherson was re-elected.  I am looking forward to hearing what the new members, and re-elected officials, have planned for the future of Rutland!

Rails to Trails out of Washington, D.C. is recruiting 20,000 people to pledge to walk and bike more this year and use their vehicle less this year. Horizons communities around the state have identified actions to address poverty in their community. Many have identified our cultural reliance upon personal vehicles as an impediment to thriving communities. There is little public transport in rural areas and safe-bike ways are forgotten. Rails-to-Trails is an organization that has addressed this concern positively around the country, including in some of the Horizons communities. Take the pledge to support the effort to reduce our reliance upon oil and to build healthier communities where people are at the center. Visit their website to take the pledge.

A “Vision Statement and Strategic Plan” was developed for Rutland using the collated input from the Study Circles, Community forums and other Horizon work during the year. The Vision Statement is shown below and future blog segments will address where we are in working on each of the goals and strategies. (The Vision Statement can also be viewed on the “Rutland’s Vision” page link at right.)

GOAL 1: Volunteers will be the driving force in providing services and activities that would otherwise not be available in a community the size of Rutland. Those currently active in the community will invite and encourage individuals of all ages not currently active, to engage in leadership roles and will be open to the new ideas these new volunteers bring to the table.

GOAL 2: Rutland will be a clean and inviting community in which to live and work.

GOAL 3: Rutland’s economy will expand and diversify providing a thriving Main Street, while retaining existing business and services. Tourism will be a significant area for economic growth.

GOAL 4: Rutland will have appropriate housing and services for disabled and elderly with the goal of keeping that population in the community.

GOAL 5: Rutland will provide a recreational program addressing the social, educational and cultural needs of all age groups.

I attended my first Rutland Community Club meeting Tuesday but I am ashamed that it took me so long to get to one.  I was one of five people there along with several members of the Envirothon Team.  The Team will progress to the national competition in late July and was at the meeting to request community support to help defray their expenses.  It was a good feeling to be there to help the Club spend $500 on such a worthy group.  The Envirothon Team will be doing some quick fundraising - such as a car wash — to help defray the teams’ travel costs to Arizona.  I know my van regularly needs a good wash and it would be another way to support the group. Watch for information on their fundraising efforts!

Other things that the Community Club discussed included the improvements to the Rutland website, the painting of the hamburger sign which should begin this month and, of course, Uff Da Day in October.

A note of congratulations is long overdue for our area youth.  The “Water Bugs” Envirothon Team are the First Place Winners of the North Dakota Envirothon Competition that was held at Crystal Springs Bible Camp near Medina last month.  The photo at left shows the team: (L-R) Jordaan Thompson, John Breker, Maria Breker, Shelly Pherson, Brady Haussler, Bre’Anna Hanson. The “Water bugs” will travel to Flagstaff, AZ, to compete in the national competition July 28 through August 3, 2008.

The Envirothon Competition is a problem-solving,natural resource competition for high school students.  The students are tested on their knowledge of forestry, soils, water, wildlife, and a current environmental issue, which this year was “Recreational Impacts on Natural Resources.”

The goal of the Envirothon is to cultivate awareness and enhance knowledge of natural resources and environmental issues, while developing critical thinking skills, building partnerships, and being committed to take responsible actions as adults.  Thanks to the Wild Rice Soil Conservation District for sponsoring them, to Joe and Patty Breker for being advisors and to Amanda Slykerman for being their coach.  Others who helped them prepare for the competition also deserve recognition:  Aquatics—Trace Hanson, 319 Watershed Coordinator and Dales Esser, Bureau of Reclamation; Wildlife—Kristine Askerooth, Tewaukon Refuge; Soils—Dave Breker NRCS; Forestry—Joe Zeleznik, NDSU Forestry; Current Issues—Julie Hassebroek, NDSU Extension.

Good luck at the Nationals!

The Rutland/Cayuga Rural Fire Department recently received a donation of $2,000 from Dickey Rural Networks (DRN) to be used towards the purchase of a new fire truck.  The Department request of $10,500 to purchase a first response vehicle from MyHometownHelper.com (aka Hamburger Helper) is presently being reviewed; the site will announce awards in about one week.  Keep up the good work guys!

Well, you know Spring is not that far away when garage sale signs spring up. This Saturday, May 3, the Luther League will hold a large garage sale in Rutland at Nordland Lutheran Church from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. It’s a great place to find bargains. After you get your goods at the Garage Sale stop by for a hot dog and a car wash at the Rutland General Store — they are doing a fundraiser for the Relay for Life on Saturday and will also have a garage sale during the day.

Today Diane Smith and I ventured to Jamestown for a full-day grantwriting workshop sponsored by Horizons and the ND Extension Service Center for Economic Vitality. The workshop was presented by Lynette Krenelka, Director of Distance Degree Programs at UND Grand Forks.  We covered the entire process of researching funding sources, identifying programs, writing applications and developing budgets.  Several of the attendees shared experiences in writing and obtaining grants.  There was time to utilize specialized resources such as the Foundation Center Foundation Directory Online (available only by subscription).  The information provided a good refresher for me on grantwriting and Diane also came away with a wealth of new knowledge.   We had access to the online resources through midnight so we gathered plenty of information on potential grant funders for projects related to housing, accessibility, trails, youth programs, building improvements, and emergency services — to name a few.  Now to find the time to proceed to the next phase and get some grant money for Rutland projects!!