Whitewood

The Whitewood PTO is having their 2nd annual Soup Supper and Pie Auction Friday November 14th at Hale Hall. The Pie Auction is to begin at 6 pm

Available at the Whitewood Public Library are copies of the South Dakota Small Business Administration Resource publication is

On Sunday July 13th several citizens of our community participated in a walking challenge. They met at the City Hall and walked up to Oak Park. This walking challenge is a way to help people think about getting healthy and walking towards this goal. The other purpose of the walk was to kick off the Horizons graduation party that was being held at the park. For the past two years Whitewood has participated in various activities with Horizons. Well on Sunday Whitewood had it’s farewell graduation party. There were young and old in attendance.

Whitewood has gained so much from it’s partnership with Horizons, SDSU, and the Northwest Area Foundation. Many citizens have gained a wealth of knowledge through leadership plenty trainings and other trainings that have been held over the past several years! Well yesterday Whitewood was presented with a check for $8500 dollars which will be spent somewhere in town for everyone to enjoy! It has not yet been determined where the proceeds will go, but it will go towards benefitting the entire community! Not only did we receive a monetary award, but Whitewood was also awarded with a new “Gateway” laptop computer and a new printer. The laptop and printer will be stored at the library for everyone to use. All of these awards were received because of the hardwork and dedication of many members of our community over the past several years while working on Horizons projects. Without these individuals contributing their time and effort Whitewood would not have been awarded these awesome awards!! So congratulate yourself if you’ve worked on any Horizons projects and also congratuate others who have done so. Whitewood should be very proud this was no small feat!!

Thanks also to Chuck Turbiville our legislator for attending this event! It was much appreciated. Also a big thanks to Carolyn, Karla, and Dean Lemme from SDSU for bringing us these fabulous awards!

Below are some pictures of this event! Enjoy! And THANK YOU, SDSU and Northwest Area Foundation for partnering with us and helping us achieve these WONDERFUL gifts!!

What can we do to help reduce Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault in our community? 

·       Say “NO” to all forms of violence; physical, verbal, sexual and emotional.

·       Get help if you and your partner can’t resolve problems.

·       Set an example for children; Violence and abuse are not a part of family life.

·       Report all instances of abuse to the police.

·       Support education and prevention programs.

·       Don’t accept, support or promote violence.

Mary Koens.   

Midwest Assistance Program, Inc., offers communities and tribal nations a wealth of skills and approaches to help them creatively solve their problems, including:

Capacity building, Compliance, Disaster management, Management & finance, Operations & maintenance, Planning & development, And much more…

Studies, publications, identification of opportunities and alternatives, proposal development, funding agency navigation support, overseeing of construction, review of plans, preparation of cost estimates.

more information

  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 Whitewood Walking Challenge.  Walking logs and pedometers are available at the Whitewood Public Library. 

Join the community walks on 13 July and 23 August

 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.

Five Whitewood, SD youth attended a Babysitting Beginnings Training sponsored by the South Dakota Cooperative Extension Service of Lawrence County.  Deb Rombough, Family and Consumer Science Educator, was the presenter.  The youth gained information and hands-on experience covering basic safety and first aid, how to make healthy snacks, important facts about ages and stages of children, babysitting responsibilities and the business facts, age appropriate activities and much more!  Each participant received a babysitter’s kit and a wallet card certificate of completion.  This program is a part of the Whitewood Babysitter Club project, a result of the Horizons project. 

Follow-up workshops will be available in the future.  Currently topics scheduled at the Whitewood Public Library include:

June 19 – First Aid Follow-up / Choking Safety – Ellen Jenter, County Health Nurse (10-11 am)

June 24– Developmentally appropriate activities for children / rainy day activities (2-3 pm)

July 10 – Basic Financial Education / Savings for Youth (10-11 am)

Please pre-register by calling Deb Rombough at the Lawrence County Extension Office @ 642-6200 or Rea W. at the Whitewood Library @ 269-2616.

last night at 6pm at the Whitewood libary.

Discussion items were:

• Updates to the strategic plan were discussed. Information was given to Carolyn our community leader on fundraising efforts of both the skateboard park committee and the scholarship committee. The efforts from these groups has definetely not gone unnoticed. Thanks everyone for their hard work!!
• Horizons II will soon be coming to an end. We will have our graduation event on July 13th at Oak Park at 2pm. We are inviting our entire community to attend this event as our community is being awarded with a laptop computer and a printer which will be stored at the library. We are also being awarded with a grant which will be given in September. There will also be cake served to celebrate this event!
• Carolyn advised us at the meeting that the book we made of our successes since beginning Horizons was a big hit! Thanks Mary for all of your hard work and dedication on this fabulous book!!
• Although, Horizons is ending we don’t want our committees to end! We want to keep the momentum going! We will always need people to be involved and work on plans to improve our community!!

Small Business Workshop Scheduled Individuals who are self-employed, business owners, office managers, bookkeepers, etc., may be interested in attending the South Dakota Small Business Workshops.  Workshop topics include SD Unemployment Insurance, tax and benefits, wage and hour laws, youth employment regulations, SD sales and use tax regulations, as well as contractor’s excise tax requirements. The workshop is scheduled for June 11 in Mitchell and will be repeated July 16 in Pierre and October 8 in Rapid City .  For more information contact the SD Dept. of Revenue and Regulations at 1-800-829-9188.  Workshop sponsors include the SD Dept. of Labor, Small Business Development Center , SD Dept. of Revenue & Regulations, and the Small Business Administration.

Hello everyone!

We had a meeting June 1st… Here are our thoughts  

The committee met with the following discussions:  Discussion on laminate poster board versus banner, they (the sign making people)cannot do laminate poster board but will make two banners for $50.  Discussion was also held on the Loaded Trunk basket and how to have the steering committee pay for trunk before the next phase of Horizon is done. Another dilemma is where do we store money; is there an account for horizons?

 Amy will go to next steering committee meeting and discuss issues with them.

 The committee is looking for more support from adults and children to help out. They can either serve on committee or just sell raffle tickets at various events in the area. We went over the list off names that have at one time or another worked with Horizons.  Please expect phone calls soon J

Discussion held on how to possibly get help selling raffle tickets; Amy will create a letter and propose it to the Whitewood Chamber by letter seeking local businesses to sell raffle tickets at their businesses

Next meeting is June 20th at Bullwhackers at 5:30 pm please bring your ideas and your appetite

Whitewood Beginning Babysitting Class  has been postponed one week 

                            to  Thursday 5 June from 9:30 - 11:30
 
Class conducted by Deb Rombough, Lawrence County Extension Agent, at the Whitewood Public Library.  Anyone wishing to sign up may call the Library at 269-2616.      Read this Previous Babysitting Club Blog  for more information.     previous date was 29 May.

 Deb Rombough - Beginning Babysitting -  5 June    9:30-11:30 am 

Deb Rombough -  Age Appropriate Activities on June 12 from 10-11 am

Ellen Jenter, County Health Nurse - on June 19 from 10-11 am

If anyone is interested in joining the scholarship committee, please contact Amy Barker at 269-2130 or Kaity Parks at 722-6526.  The meeting will be Saturday May 31  2pm meeting at the Diner:) Topics are distribution of raffle tickets, recruiting people to sell raffle tickets. We are looking for kids and adults. Sounds like a great day for pie and coffee:)

Great news! Our  word is getting out and people want to buy the tickets and help too!

This message is from Deb Olson:

Here’s an update on how the skating went on May 9th at Hale Hall.  We had 65 kids that skated and we took in $305 with the raffle and candy sales, and $200 with the admission.  So all in all we had a pretty good night.      Till next time,  Deb

from Mary Koens

May is Elder Abuse Awareness Month

In 2005, 85,000 persons over the age of 65 were victims of non-fatal violent crime.  Crime victims over the age of 65 lost a total of $1.3 billion due to personal and property crimes in 2005.  Many of these crimes were committed by family members or people who were known by the victim.  What can we do to help keep our elder population and ourselves safe?

• Report suspicious activity in our neighborhoods and businesses to the police.
• Let a friend or neighbor know when going on vacation, to the hospital and any other changes in routine.
• Never give out banking numbers, Social Security numbers and other personal information on the phone or internet.
• When hiring repairmen, call to check out their credentials.
• Keep doors locked even in the day and even if you are home.
• Remember to lock car doors and garage doors.
• When in public, be aware of your surroundings.  In crowded places, keep your billfold in a front pocket.  Keep your purse close to your body.
• Walk in daylight or well lit areas.
• Consider keeping valuables in a safety deposit box or safe.
• Do not carry or keep large amounts of cash.

Mary Koens

Artemis House

The City Wide Yard Sale is May 31st. If you are interested the cost will be $8 to be put on the list and in the papers. Please if you are going to have a sale this day give me a call at 443-0114 or 206-0247 you may also email me at mok9698@spe.midco.net

I will need to money, address, name and list of items you want listed by the 20th of May. I had originally said the 15th but i think it would be ok for the 20th. The more sales the better it will be. 

Anyone interested?   Call the Whitewood Public Library  -  269-2616

Tonisha Williams would like to start a Babysitting Club in Whitewood.  Tonisha is a 7th Grader who attends Sturgis Williams Middle School and knows of a similar group is Sturgis. They will call each other or refer parents if they cannot fulfill a babysitting request She likes the teamwork effort and their cooperation between each other.  Tonisha would like coordinate the same effort in our community.   When she told me her story I thought that the Whitewood Library could host a Babysitting Class and provide the club with a place to meet and resources.  The County Extension Office is looking into their schedule to see if the will be able to conduct a class here at the library.   All ideas and input are welcome.

 Posted by Tonisha

on april 25th the 5th grade class graduated from the DARE program! It was a great even and the all of the kids had a great time! Andrea, Brandon, and Raina all won essay contests! Our police chief Jerry Davidson the DARE cop had a load of prizes that were awarded to the kids too! Here are some pictures of the event. Thank you Jerry for organizing such a fabulous event! Following the slide show there was a dance which was DJ’d by Travis and Amy Barker. Thank you to both of them for volunteering their time for the event. It was truly appreciated. Congrats to the 5th grade and I know you will all be great DARE role models in 6th grade next year!

 This is just a quick update on what we’ve been doing as far as fundraising for the skateboard park.  Patty Karas, Deb Britton and Debra Olson had a meeting on 4-11 at the diner and we came up with the following ideas for fundraising. 

1.  Roller Skating Party -May 9th

2.  Rummage Sale -  at the senior center during the city wide rummage sale

3.  continue to Collect Alluminum Cans 

4. Donation requests -  letters have been sent to all area businesses asking for help in donations.  Betty Hale has donate $300 as a start.  

5. Raffle - Edge sports in Rapid has donated a skateboard with  saftey gear 

We set up a booth at the Whitewood Health & Safety Fair  to raise awareness about the Skateboard Park.  Over 125 children and adults attended the fair so the awareness level of our community about the park has been initiated.   Elizabeth Barker won a deck that Edge Sports donated to us for the event. 

  Deb Olson

Everyone Welcome!

Whitewood Senior Citizens Center  

24 April  Thursday               6:30 Free Meal                  7:00 Program

Three speakers from across the state will take the podium.

Jim Seeber, Northern State University, NE Regional Aging Council

  Topic - Economic & Social Aspects Welcoming Communities

Renee Oscarson, SDSU,  Extension Specialist Gerontology -

 Topic -  Meeting Needs of the Elderly

Linda Nussbaumer, SDSU Prof. of Interior Design -

Topic - Effects of Baby Boomers on Housing

  RSVP by 21 April are neccessary for the meal .  Contact Rea Weyrich  269-2616

My fellow Horizons buddy Kaity took the time to type up minutes so enjoy…..

April 11, 2008Horizons IIRecreation Subcommittee MeetingWhitewood Student Activities Scholarship  Members of the subcommittee are Millie Humphrey, Amy Barker and Kaity Parks. The objective of the subcommittee is to create a scholarship fund through fundraisers and donations that will be self-sustaining and ongoing to assist children in participating in the arts and athletic activities from infancy to completion of High School. Amy Barker will conduct a needs assessment through Whitewood Elementary School and other resources. Millie Humphrey will inquire of the Sturgis Community Center on how their scholarship fund is managed. Kaity Parks will contact other communities and Horizons participants to find people with expertise in scholarships for advice. Some basic decisions about the operation of the scholarships were made.  Scholarships will be awarded to individuals but the payments will go to organizations, facilities or businesses.  The purpose of this method is remove temptation from a person in poverty who may be put into the position of choosing between ballet shoes and food on the table. The subcommittee will conduct an initial fund raiser by raffling off a Dakota Made Products gift basket.  Tables will be set up during local and other community events throughout the summer with a drawing being held approximately August 16 to give the opportunity to sell raffle tickets during the Rally.  It is hoped that other Horizons II committees and accomplishments can be celebrated on the same

Day and have a community party.  

Tonight, was the 2008 Wrestling banquet for the boys of Whitewood Wrestling Team. Each boy on the team was awarded a trophy for their outstanding job and participation this year. Not only that but each boy that has been on the team for two years or more was awarded a warm up jersey with their names embroidered on them. The boys of course thought that was awesome! Todd Overland the retiring president thanked the following sponsors for this years Club, they were:

Ridley Block, Whitewood Plaza, SD National Guard, Aprils Place, Performace Automatics, Pizza Hut, Grocery Mart, Whitewood Library, Lynn’s Dakota Mart, Rushmore Office Supply, Weimer’s, Whitewood Elementary School - Barb Fonder, Bev Rosenboom, Artic Glacier, Chris Olson, and Banquet Coordinator - Dory Overland.

They also thanked the following volunteers who helped with the Tournament this year:

Bobby Haiwick, Cody Haiwick, Jeremiah Aurand, Tim Mercy, Melissa & Tyler Spencer, Barney Jorenson, Jason Pickett, Thad Olson, Kirby & Kim Schlecht, Jeremiah Burke, Dave Anderson, Dody Severson, Mike Pickett, Justin Plunkett, Josh Bourne, Kaleb Fleming, Tom Griffee, Garrick & Kari Applegates, Brent & Lindsey Taylor, Heidi & Sam Nash, Kenny Jake, Melinda Smith, Dave Hegstrom, Randy & Susan Pickett, Sue Littleton, Morgan Basker, Dick & Charlene Frybauger, Dale O’Dea, Monica & Kendra Shear, Deb Britton, Bailey Cox, Cat, and Lynn Hill.

A big thanks was also given to Wrestling parents, families & everybody for all their help & support through the season. See ya all next year!!

A big thanks goes to Jonah Picket for his hard work and dedication to the boys! Thanks Jonah!!

Thanks to the 2007-2008 officers: President - Todd Overland, V.P. - Trevor Papenfuss, Treasurer - Chris Cox, Secretary - Rachel Papenfuss, and PAL - Tammy Olson.

The new 2008-2009 officers: President - Trevor Papenfuss, V.P. - Chris Olson, Treasurer - Chris Cox, Secretary - Mona Smith, PAL - Tammy Olson, PAL - Christina Coffield!

Today the fire department had a extracation training after the health fair. I will update more information of this event later as well too. Just want to get some of the pictures posted now.

was a SUCCESS! Although, we would have liked to have had a few more people in attendance the event turned out great. I heard a lot of good things from the vendors as well as the patrons of the event. There was a wide variety of booths, and a lot for the kids to do too. Some of the BHSU boys basketball team was there helping kids with basketball. The USD nurses were there giving out free stuffed animals to the kids. This booth also showed the kids how to fix up their stuffed animals if they had broken bones or bruises. It was really cute. There were a variety of booths and I don’t have the list in front of me right now. I wanted to get the pictures of the event posted on the blog for now. I will come back and update more information on this event at a later time.

On Thursday April 10th we had our first real Action meeting. We had about 22 people in attendance at the meeting. There was an array of ages in attendance Considering the night was snowy and cold it was a pretty good turn out. We broke up into different groups and started making plans to get some of our goals and objectives completed. The main groups that broke off at this meeting was the Recreation group that is working on two items: one is the skateboard park group. They are working really hard to raise money to build a skateboard park in town. The other group is the scholarship committee, which will be working hard to fund schlorships for our youth to participate in various activities! The communication committee broke off and discussed different ways of communicating ideas and activities in town. We also discussed beautification and our upcoming city wide clean up which will be next month in May. All in all the meeting was good, and it was a good way to get everyone back together again and talking about what needs to be done! People just need to take charge and work together to see our goals and objectives through to the end! Below are some pics of the event!

Our skateboard committee members are collecting aluminum cans in an effort to raise money to put in a new skateboard park in Whitewood. Please start collecting your aluminum cans for this project. The cans can be taken to April’s Place and can be given to either Deb Olson or Patty Karas. Your participation and help with this would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!

Don’t forget to attend the Horizon’s meeting on April 10th at the Senior Center! The meeting starts at 6pm. Please come and help us work on the goals that were previously set. The more heads involved the better!!

I need help in support in answering these questions. Please answer atleast one question for each category. You can email responses to whitewoodblogger@yahoo.com or post a comment under this post! I truly appreciate your help.

*******Please answer these questions by including it in your blogs for April: *******

Please choose one or two questions in EACH category to address on your blog:

8. Sustaining action and creating structural change around leadership

What is your community’s plan for maintaining a strong community leadership system?

How can your community sustain the changes it has already made in its leadership?

What structural changes have been made in how the community does its work/makes decisions? 

What structural changes have been made so that your community leadership sustains partnerships with others?

12. Sustaining action and creating structural change around community

How will your community make decisions about seeking further resources to support its plans?

Is a system in place to seek, receive, monitor and report on new resources to support community work?

Is a system in place to maintain contact with, or to continue to work with other communities?  With your Delivery Organization? In other partnerships?

What new resources have been secured to assist the work of the community?

Please share this with other bloggers in your community. Thanks!

Posted by Sarah Knight - Nursing student from USD

Posted by: Peggy Flynn

On March 20, 2008 the Whitewood Senior Citizens had their monthly potluck.  During their meeting they decided to provide a lunch for anyone that will be helping the City of Whitewood clean up group.
We hope there will be a good turn out for people to take pride in their city clean up project.  It’s a good time on May 10th to pitch in and have lunch with some of our Seniors. 

On April 12, 2008 Whitewood will be having its first Health Fair. The Health Fair will be held at Whitewood Elementary from 10am to 1pm. We are looking for volunteers to help move tables from Hale Hall and set them up at the gym in the school on Friday April 11th and will also need volunteers to help clean up and tear down after Fair on April 12th. We also need volunteers to help assist in a few of the booths at the fair. If you are interested in helping, please call Rea Weyrich at 269-2616. Your help would be GREATLY appreciated!