Frederick, SD

I didn’t get much — OK, any — response on my last post on the store. But I haven’t given up hope! Perhaps I can still stir up some conversation.

With that in mind, here’s a question: What one thing could our community offer that would make your life better?

I’ve got two reasons for asking this: One is that I don’t think we, as “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” Midwesterners, mention our needs all that often, and we might just find that someone might be able to solve our problem in a way that also solves a problem of his or her own. Another reason is that, if we realize that we all have a similar problem that we’d like to have solved, we realize that we have a market for a solution to that problem. That makes the solution that much more feasible, and that much more likely to happen.

(If you’ve all done something like this as part of your early Horizons training, please forgive me for coming late to the party, and humor me by answering the question again!)

Comment on this post to join the conversation!

Come join all the ghosts and goblins and have lots of fun.

The Emma Burnham Library is hosting a “Spooky Bingo” fundraiser

They are raising money to purchase new books, updates and supplies

So come on and see the “Spooky” crowd.

Refreshments will be served.

Oct 12th 2-4:00 p.m. is tentatively the date set, We will keep you posted on any changes or just call the library for more info.

The Emma Burnham Library is willing to host  a reading/discussion group if there is enough people interested.

Contact Tamie at the library for more information  605-329-2241

Congratulations Frederick Community!!!

I just goes to show that even small communities can pull together, come up with great ideas and overcome the negatives.

For those of you who were not able to make it to the Horizons Graduation Celebration on July 19th, you missed a wonderful potluck picnic, and presentation. We were presented with several items from Cheryl and Karla. We received documentations to state that we completed the Horizons II program, A letter which calculated our in- kind contribution based on our volunteer hours spent on at Study Circles, Leadership Plenty and our Strategic Planning meeting, which figures out to about $30,000.00. Isn’t that fantastic. BUT that is not all we received:

• 2 large metal signs to place in or near our community that shows we are a Horizon community

• Laptop computer with all the accessories (that will be located at our public library for easy access to everyone)

• All-in-one Printer (also at the library)

• $8500.00 check which we can use for any projects we want

I say give yourselves a big pat on the back for all your hard work and time you put in to help get Frederick started on a positive track towards community awareness, community involvement and community commitments.

Oh yeah, Cheryl and Karla also brought delicious cake with them.

Can you believe it is the middle of July already!!!. A lot of things have been going on in Frederick this last month or so. I have been out of touch with this site for personal reasons, but now I am back.

We had our First Annual Finn Fest in June and from what everyone who participated say, it was alot of fun  The bonfire on the water was AMAZING. We have set the date for next year, which will be June 27th, 2009  So mark your calendars.

We have had several movie nights so far this summer and have more scheduled. For a complete list of up coming movies go to fredericksd.com

St Paul’s Lutheran has celebrate their 125th anniversary this month. It was a wonderful time to catch up on memories with several of the pastors that had served the congregation in the past. They ended the weekend celebration with a community worship service in the park and potluck picnic, and as usual with small towns they had plenty of food and lots of great fellowship.

Our monthly meeting is Tuesday May 20th at 7:00 p.m. at the Frederick Lounge. We will be reporting on each of the projects we have going on and update on the completed ones. We will be focusing on the upcoming Finn Fest.  See you there

Happy Mothers Day to all the women who make a difference in someones life. Whether you are a mom, grandmother, aunt, sister, niece, godmother or a mentor you are LOVED and NEEDED!!!!.  So I hope you get pampered and told how grateful we are to have you in our lives.  Enjoy Your Day!

Tonight at 8:00 pm is the premier of Oprah’s Big Give and I must say I am pretty excited.  I don’t know how it will work exactly, but as I understand it, this “game” is all about giving, not receiving.  Giving is supposed to be all about the how much can be given to the people receiving, but I think many times, the giver receives as much if not more than the receiver.  I don’t know how many times I’ve watched Oprah and “My Favorite Things” or “Extreme Home Makeover” and thought how cool it would be to be able to have the capacity to give on the scale.   

I’ve also thought how awesome it would be to make millions (winning it would be cool too).  I’ve made the list of things I could do with the money.   Along with a great trip, maybe a new house and of course putting money aside for my kid’s education, there other things on that list.   One of the things I wanted to do was put a swimming pool in Frederick and also build an account that would help make it sustainable and provide for the staffing of the facility each summer.   I also would try to invest in the creation of some kind of business in town that would enable the community to have more jobs available and more people that could potentially buy their groceries in our store and other things would hopefully snowball from there.   

Another contribution I would make would be to a project in my hometown, Ellendale, ND, the old Opera House.   The project has been years in the making, but I think it is truly an awesome endeavor and will be quite spectacular and good tourist draw when it is completed.   

In a recent newsletter from Agurban, A Hometown E-zine, by Jack Schultz of Boomtown Institute he talked about generations of Norman Asbjornson’s family who made their home in Winifred, MT.  After graduation Mr Asbjornson couldn’t wait to leave his small town and move on to bigger and better things, eventually founding a very successful company that in 2007 made Forbes Magazine’s list of best small companies.  The company called AAON, grosses 150 million in annual sales.  

After looking back at his success, Mr Asbjornson had to give credit to his small town upbringing and wanted to give back to the community that gave him such great roots.   Because of his generosity the small community of Winifred, population 150 people, has a new city hall, library, community center and museum.   He also gave a million dollars to students enabling them to attend Montana State University.

Maybe Frederick and many of these other small towns involved in Horizons will find their Norman Asbjornson and their own version of Oprah’s Big Give!    Even if we don’t find a Norman Asbjornson, we certainly have enough people that have had average succuss and want to give back to their community.  Whether is takes one year or 20 years, with all the spirit and tenacity that has been generated, Frederick will certainly look different in another 5-10 years.

Want to post on the Frederick Horizons blog? Here’s how: Choose a time that fits your schedule from this list and call or email Shirley Anderson to confirm a time: shirley@coachmiami.com or 329-2622

Mondays and Fridays between 6pm and closing at 7pm. Wednesdays at 2pm to 3:30 pm. It only takes a few minutes. Many thanks to the Board and Librarian of the Emma Burnham Public Library for giving us the space. We’ll have 2 to 3 computers available, so we can schedule individuals or a group. This is a chance to take part in the Community action and Leadership development efforts of the Horizons program. You can let us know how your participation is helping to change the present and future of Frederick.

Lyle Podoll, Fredericks longtime Postmaster will retire on Feb. 29th, 2008 There will be a Open House for him at the Frederick Lounge on the 29th from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Please come and wish him well as he begins his life of leisure. I know many of you have lots of stories you are dying to share with the rest of the community, so here is your chance!!!!