NORTHEAST REGIONAL RURAL HOUSING PLAYBOOK CONFERENCE–SAVE THE DATE!

Thursday, July 23, 2009; 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Marshall Community Building, 909 S Main St, Britton, SD

Please join other rural South Dakota communities to learn more about the Rural Housing Playbook, (www.RuralHousingPlaybook.com), a  housing development process guide for rural South Dakota communities.  This Regional Conference is an opportunity for you to learn about the housing development process, to network and share insights and ideas with other communities, and to tour a community that is making housing development work!

Who Should Attend?  Anyone interested in housing, community, and economic development; City, Township, and County representatives; builders, developers, real estate professionals, utility companies, business leaders and financial industry representatives.

Please RSVP to Coordinator@RuralHousingPlaybook.com by July 17, 2009,  using the attached form.

July Summer Reading Program - “Be Creative” starts today 10:00  with Paul Peterson and his guitar.  Children will make a shoebox guitar.

Traveling Exhibit - “Light and Color” starts today at the Whitewood Public Library. 

Horse Whisperer - Tonite at the Black Hills Baptist Church  

Information from  U.S. Census Bureau announced today     Educational Attainment in the United States: 2008  

Highlights:

• Workers with a high school degree earned an average of $31,286 in 2007, while those with a bachelor’s degree earned an average of $57,181.
• The race and Hispanic origin data show that 53 percent of Asians in the U.S. had a bachelor’s degree or more education. For non-Hispanic whites, it was 33 percent; for blacks; it was 20 percent; and for Hispanics, it was 13 percent.
• Among younger adults (age 25-29), 88 percent had completed high school, and 31 percent had completed college. Among adults 75 and over, 73 percent had completed high school and 17 percent had completed college.

• Educational Series Teaches Small Businesses: Marketing Matters

PIERRE, SD – Many South Dakota small business owners may wonder why some websites pop up on Google and theirs don’t or if a marketing plan is necessary. This FREE four week educational series presented by the US Small Business Administration and the Small Business Development Center Network will answer those questions as well as other marketing questions that pertain to small businesses.

These one hour sessions are also designed for small businesses who want to improve their marketing practices and be better positioned in today’s ever-changing business economy. We encourage “all small business owners” to come out and join us. No registration is required, and you may attend one or all sessions.

All sessions start at 10 a.m. Central Time/9:00 a.m. Mountain Time.

 Roadmap to Marketing Success: Steps to writing a successful marketing plan
(July 9, 2009)
Bringing advertising, communication, and public relations together into one cohesive strategy
 Google Matters: How does your website measure up? (July 16, 2009)
Providing content that your customers want, increasing traffic to your site
 The First Impression: Building a positive customer experience (July 23, 2009)
Stand apart from your competition. Increase sales, build loyalty and improve your reputation without spending more on advertising
 Social Media Marketing: How to start your online conversation (July 30, 2009)
Introductory discussion about conversational marketing in a digital world

The Pierre Economic Development Corporation, along with the Pierre Area Chamber of Commerce and the Central South Dakota Enhancement District will be co-hosting the Pierre site. All sessions will be offered at the Chamber of Commerce board room. For more information, contact PEDCO at 224-6610.

If you can’t make it to the Pierre site, one can participate if you have computer with internet access and a phone to call a toll free 800 number. Registration for the ReadyTalk system must be made one day prior to each session by calling 605-330-4243 and press 0.

27 June 9:00

Call the library for details and to sign up.  269-2616

WALK ON WHITEWOOD

WOW!

   A WALK in the cool morning breeze can start your day off right.

            WALK to the Whitewood ball field for some evening entertainment.  

                        WALK on your own or with your family or friends  all around town.        

Step towards the Walk on Whitewood program.  Walking logs and pedometers are available at the Whitewood Public Library. 

Need a Walking Partner? 

 Add your name to the W.O.W list in the window at the library (by the back door)

 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.  Take the pledge to support the effort to reduce our reliance upon oil and to build healthier communities where people are at the center.

COMING SOON to the WHITEWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY

1-31 JULY 2009

Black Hills Baptist Youth and Horseshoe 4-H members  join forces to plant a garden that will benefit the Lord’s Kitchen (food pantry).    They planted tomato, parsley, pepper  and sowed yellow beans and eggplant.  Another goal will be to enter vegetables in the Butte/Lawrence County Fair.

Plots are available to anyone who wishes to plant their own garden. Call  722-1503.

           At Oak Park 

               Every Thursday  5:00-7:00 pm  thru  July 9th

                   All equipment will be provided.

                          Information call Mark at 269-2659 

 Horse Whisperer, Paul Dailey is coming to the Black Hills Baptist Church on Wed. July 1, 2009.   The church is located just off I-90, Exit 23 at Whitewood.  The event will start at 5 p.m. with a kids block party including inflatables, refreshments and more.  Come for free hot dogs and drinks.  Paul will start his presentation at 6 p.m. where he relates horse training with God, based on trust, faith, obedience, and love.  This event is free, however a free will offering will be taken.  If you have any questions you may call the church at 605-269-2646.    

The Summer Reading Program runs 1-31 July with guest speakers and activites planned.  The library is looking towards the community for craft items. 

Projects  are:     shoebox guitar,      puppets,      collage art      and more. 

 Items we are LOOKING FOR are:    small boxes,     feathers,     pom poms,     chenille stems,         felt,       yarn,       scraps of fabric,    lace,     ric rac,     buttons,    scrapbook papers

 Stop by the library to donate your items or put them in the drop box.

August

August - Baptist Church VBS

July

July 1 - 5:00 Family Fun - Black Hills Baptist Church

July 1 - 7:00 Horse Whisperer - Black Hills Baptist Church

July 1-30  - Summer Reading Program at the Library

July 1-30 - Traveling Exhibit ‘Light and Color’

July 2 - Chamber of Commerce meeting

July 6-10 - Presbyterian Church VBS

June

Jne 5-7 Clean up Days

June 6  Dog and Cat Days

June 13 - City Wide Rummage Sale

June 16 - Skateboard Park Bingo Bash Fundraiser

June 27 - Scrap Craft - Library

 

Add your event by emailing  whitewoodblogger@yahoo.com

Come Play Bingo for great prizes               see details here

 Mick Roberts of Whitewood, SD, shares stories from his 80-plus years admiring mules. 

By Kindra Gordon

 Anyone around the Black Hills with a fondness for mules likely knows Mick Roberts of Whitewood, SD. At almost 88-years-old, Roberts grew up on a ranch with horses and mules and has had an affinity for the creatures ever since.

Despite his age, Roberts is still sharp-witted and hard working. He continues to live on his own on the outskirts of Whitewood and has five mules and two horses. He also still makes square bales with his old Allis Chalmers equipment. 

Remembering History

Born in Rapid City in 1920, Roberts parents were ranchers out near Newell. In 1934, his dad was involved with the salebarn that was established in Whitewood, so the family moved to Whitewood.

At that time, they had 20-25 mares and raised both horses and mules (a male donkey crossed with a female horse) for the army’s cavalry. Roberts says the animals were sent to Fort Robinson and then distributed within the army from there.

One of 6 children, Roberts recalls that he and his brother were the ones who’d break the mules and horses. For the army to take them, he tells that the animals had to be 4 years old. The horses had to be geldings and had to be broke to ride. The mules could be male or female and had to be broke to drive a wagon.

Roberts says one of his most embarrassing memories was a time he had to ride one of the horses for a cavalry officer to demonstrate that it was broke to ride. He was asked to “canter,” and Roberts says, “I had no idea what canter meant. To us it was called a lope.

”By 1942, Roberts was in the army which took him to Europe and the battlefields of World War II. He is a veteran of the invasion at Sicily and then Normandy. He also served in the Korean War.

From his military service, Roberts points to a shoulder that sometimes bothers him from injuries, and says he still has a bullet in his left leg, but he shrugs that off saying, “It doesn’t bother me.” 

Favorites

Roberts says one of his favorite memories goes back to 1945 when he returned home from the war in Europe just in time for the Days of 76 in Deadwood. He says, “I was still in uniform, but I didn’t have a mule team so I drove a white mule and a jersey cow through the parade on a wagon.” He adds that a photo of him and his unique “team” from that parade hangs in the Deadwood’s Days of 76 Rodeo Museum.

He also recalls when he came home to Whitewood in 1945 and says both the salebarn and high school had been moved to Sturgis.

In remembering back to his younger days, Roberts says with a smile, “I was a little wild.” He tells of Chuckwagon Racing in Deadwood and at Aksarben in Nebraska. He also tried his hand at rodeo, doing both bareback and saddle bronc.

To make his living, Roberts raised some cattle, hay, horses and mules, but he also built quite a reputation for himself as a welder. At just 5’6” and a little over 100 lbs., Roberts was especially well-suited to welding high up. He learned the craft from a man out of Rapid City. Roberts says he  welded the cathedral and one of the schools in Rapid City, but he also did contract welding all over the country. He says, “The pay was much better than ranching.”

Another proud moment for Roberts was when he and his first wife Betty had their son, Jay, in 1947. Jay now lives in Deadwood. When Betty passed away, years later Roberts remarried a widow friend, Carolina. Of her, he says, “We both loved to dance.” Sadly, Carolina passed away in May 2008 after a brief battle with cancer.

 Roberts continues plodding along, caring for his mules and horses and making square bales in the summer – with some help from friends and relatives.

He credits his longevity to his work – “having something to do keeps me going,” he says. He also refuses to take pills. And he likes to joke that the reason he is still here is, “because the good Lord don’t want me and the Devil’s afraid of me.

”He also finds happiness in the memories of his mules. He shares pictures and stories of each team he ever had. He tells that there are different kinds of mules, but he has always liked the really big ones. Some of his favorites included a roan set, a team from Tennessee, and his favorite of all time, a dark mule he called Sadie.

Sadie was part of a pack string Roberts had in the late 60’s when he helped guide hunters near Hamilton, MT.

Of her, Roberts says with affection that she was “the greatest mule that ever lived.” Asked why, he says she listened and minded just like a well-trained dog. He says he could tell her to do something and she just would. She lived to be 36 until he had to put her down due to her old age.

Asked how mules are similar to horses, he says, “There’s no similarity, except that they both eat.” Rather, he proudly says, “Mules are smarter than a horse.”

As an example, Roberts says you can work a horse to death, but you can’t work a mule to death. They’ll just quit because they won’t put themselves in danger.

Because a mule will stop working when they are tired, it is sometimes said mules are stubborn or lazy. But Roberts says it’s really that they are smart, and it is the mule’s way of telling people that they can’t work anymore at the moment.

What advice does Roberts give to others about mules? He says, “I tell everybody that a mule is like a girlfriend, you got to get them to like you before you go messing around (i.e. trying to get them to do something for you.”

He adds, “There are lots of spoiled mules out there. I think it’s because people abuse them, or don’t understand them. He emphasizes that just like any other well-trained animal, mules must be worked. They can’t just be out in the pasture all the time, you’ve got to ride them.”

Another thing Roberts wants people to know is that there is a misconception that you can never founder a mule. He has unfortunately had the experience of foundering two of his mules.Another favorite memory for Roberts is being a regular fixture in many a parade with his mules – either driving a team of 2 or 4 and typically pulling a stagecoach or wagon for the Cowboy Shriners from the Black Hills – a group he has been affiliated with for 55 years. Roberts drove the stagecoach with a mule team in the Days of 76 Rodeo for 27 years. He has also traveled with a mule team and the Shriners stagecoach to Canada, Denver, Minneapolis, Wyoming, Wisconsin and Michigan, and he has driven teams to carry caskets to their final resting place. This year, Roberts made his annual appearance in the Days of 76 Parade astride one of his mules.

Of his own life, Roberts agrees that he has had a good one and been blessed to live so many years. His mules have been a wonderful hobby which have allowed him to travel, make many kind friends, and feel a true kinship with animals.

He concludes, “I like mules and I guess they kind of like me.”

WHITEWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY

  1201 Ash Street, Whitewood, SD  57793    605-269-2616

 “BE CREATIVE” @ Your Library

       1-31 July  Light  & Color  -    Hands on displays that will change every week* 

       1 July  -  Catch the Beat - Make a musical instrument                          

       8 July  -  Art Alive - Collage your life                        

       15 July  -  Imagine, Create & Participate - Story Time Yoga-Scottie Bruch                        

       22 July  -  Take Part in Art  Make a book                        

       29 July -  Read Your Art @ the Library  - Make a Sock Puppet                   

       30 July -  Open House Art Show  -  6:00pm-8:30pm  Check out the Art! 

      Mondays - Puzzle Day – stop in anytime, do the puzzle and post a paint brush on the wall

      Fridays - Quiz Day       – stop in anytime, do the quiz and pick a prize from the jar.

      Wednesdays are Fun Days with Speakers, Crafts and games from 10:00 – 11:30 

       Prizes, make and take activities, and treats are planned for the children.

* Light and Color is a traveling exhibit from 

 Horseshoe 4-H Club members participated in a ‘make and take’ day last week.  Clay Miller traveled up from the Rapid City Tandy Leather shop to give ithe kds an introductory leather class.  Each child practiced on a leather bookmark with the many stamps Mr Miller provided.  They each choose the designs they would use on their finished project, a key fob.  

Horseshoe members made tye-dyed tshirts the week before.  John Skoberg will give a photogaphy lesson next week.

BINGO BASH FUNDRAISER

WHITEWOOD SENIOR HALL

16 JUNE - 7:00 PM

6 Bingo Cards for $5

 Grand Prize is an IPOD Shuffle donated by Integrity Ford.  Fantastic prizes for each bingo game winner. 

Some Other prizes are:  1 Night Stay with 4 Passes to Watiki;  Dinner at the Roundhouse in Lead;  Bear Country & Reptile Gardens Passes 

Treats will be served.

All participants collecting $10 in donations or more will play bingo FREE.   Donations must be collected and turned in at the Bingo Bash Fundraiser to be eligible.  Please have all checks made out to Whitewood Skateboard Park Fund.  Children should be accompanied by an adult when collecting donations. 

The Tree inventory training scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed due to nasty weather.    It is just too cold to stand outside for training.   We do not have a date yet when we are going to do it.    The Community Forester needs to check on a few things and get back to me.    New date will be posted.

Calling all tree lovers, , , ,    link to previous blog

 City Wide Rummage Sale  

  Saturday 13 June.   

Invite your friends!

As part of the grant Whitewood received to do some work on the oak trees in Oak Park,

Historic picture of Oak Park courtesy of the Whitewood Library.

Are you seeing everything you are looking for?            Do you have any comments? 

Send in your suggestions to the address in the right hand column.   Add comments to any blog entry by clicking on the comment tag at the bottom of the entry.    

Whitewood Babysitting Club members help get ready for the Summer Reading Program at the Whitewood Public Library.

Whitewood Geanie Meet members categorize and file information in the Whitewood History Books.  Members also maintina and update an obituary book  for our area.

The South Dakota Nurses Association is interested in learning more about health care for the people of South Dakota and if there are opportunities for nurses to improve it.  We want to know what you think about the cost, the quality and how available health care is for you and your family.  We plan to use this information to further develop nursing and health care services in South Dakota. 

Please log on to our website at:  www.sdnursesassociation.org to access the

Primary Health Care for South Dakota Survey. 

We ask you to take a few minutes to fill out the survey to tell us your needs. 

The South Dakota Nurses Association is a statewide not-for-profit professional association, representing registered nurses in South Dakota.  It is a constituent of the American Nurses Association.

 SDNA/PO Bx 1015/Pierre, SD/577501/605.945.4265/www.sdnursesassociation.org

South Dakota Flavor!™ is a voluntary program to help identify products produced or processed in the State of South Dakota.