Murdo, SD

The Jones County High School has some players that were recognized in football this year. Scott Nix was the only player to receive All-Conference. Andrew Bork, Hunter Iversen, and PJ Pappas all received Honorable Mention.
Boys Basketball started off fast and hard yesterday as the Coyotes had their first practice yesterday Monday, November 26, 2007. The Coyotes team consists of 18 players and 2 coaches. Head coach JayTee Sealey and Assistant coach David Hunt. The coyotes have 4 returning starters and White River’s old starter Kayde Bryan. There will be a new rule in effect that will allow 15 players to be suited up for varsity. So players must work hard to get their spots. The Coyotes have the Annual Gatorade Scrimmage on Friday, November 30, 2007. For their first game, the Coyotes will have to travel to White River on December 7, 2007.

Please double click on the picture to enlarge.

Above are pictures of several of us doing the final clean-up in the Community Gardens.  We started Saturday around 10:00 and were done by noon.  We were truly blessed by having such great weather that day.  Throughout the summer we were able to share a lot of the produce that our gardens provided.  We either put things in a box near the comminuty board uptown and/or took things to our local Senior Citizen Center to be taken by members of the Murdo Area community.  There were even times when members of the community would go into the gardens and pick the things they needed such as cucumbers, tomatoes, peas, beets, corn, green peppers, cabbage, etc.  The Community Gardens project involved many volunteers of various ages and backgrounds.  Some had been gardeners for years and some were fairly new to gardening. 

A big THANK YOU goes out to Jim W. and Joe C. for letting us use their land.  Also, we would like to thank Trampass L. and George I. for tilling up the garden spaces for us.  The city of Murdo deserves a big thank for providing the water at a lower cost.  Also, Jody L. for donating many of the plants that helped make the gardens successful. 

Overall, this was a very worthy Horizon project to be involved with and a HUGE thank you goes out to all who helped with the Community Gardens project. 

 A very special thanks goes to Lori W. and Ray E. for leading us in this very successful Community Gardens project. 

The annual Christmas Fair was once again a success.  The Town and Country Library sponsors the annual Christmas Fair and awards 2 door prizes every hour, one for an adult and one for a child.  They also receive 10% of sales from each vendor, which is used for the upkeep of the Library.  Many of the vendors have you sign up for their door prize, which is a great incentive to have customers stop to check out their table and sign up to win their door prize.  The Jones County seniors work the lunch counter to earn money to go towards their senior trip in the spring.  The Jones County Clinic sets up a table and offers flu shots for $15 and blood pressure checks for free.  They also give out apples to promote good health.  Remember:  “An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away! 

The Book and Thimble Club works the “Tea Table” where you can give a free-will donation, enjoy a great cup of coffee or tea, and also a cookie or two.  All of the free-will donations from the “Tea Table” are  given to the Town and Country Library. 

These pictures were taken by Ray E. on Veterans Day, November 11, with the Murdo Area’s new digital camera!!  This is referred to as the ”Avenue of Flags.”  The flags are placed early Veterans Day morning and are taken down that evening.  This is done by members of the American Legion and volunteers.  Also, each flag represents a Veteran that is buried in the Murdo cemetary.  What a way to HONOR our Veterans!!  :-) 

 Click on this Jones County Schools link to see their website.  Also, here is a slideshow of the Jones County High School.  Aren’t these flowers awesome??  Enjoy!!

Remember those “FUN” pre and post surveys that the Horizons Staff had you take during Study Circles and LeadershipPLENTY?

Believe it or not - it was for a purpose!  Those pre and post surveys help us to understand how much your community learned about poverty and about leadership by your participation in those specified curriculums.

As a result, we have assembled a community profile with the results of the pre and post surveys for both Study Circles and LeadershipPLENTY.  Check out your community results by clicking on the links found under “Survey Data” on the right hand side of your community blog.  

Murdo’s annual Christmas Fair is Sunday November 11th from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST.   You still have time buy your raffle ticket for the quilt at the Christmas Fair on Sunday.  The drawing for the quilt will be at 5 p.m.                        

Here are some recent pictures of our city park.  It is awesome to see the new playground equipment and the “WELCOME” sign that has just recently been moved to the park from the east side of Murdo. 

from the Murdo Coyote 11-8-07
by Kelcy Nash
The Horizons project in the area is continuing on through the process
and the next phase, the visioning process, is almost completed.
The visioning group has met twice and has completed the vision and
mission statements for what they hope to accomplish. After choosing a name
that will recognize more than just the city of Murdo, the group is moving on
toward picking the most important aspects that should be focused on to
complete the project.
Vision Statement
Murdo Area will be a growing, productive and unified community with
diverse organizations.
Murdo Area will be a progressive, adaptive, and positive Community that
makes complete use of the resources that are immediately available.
Murdo Area will be a place where young people come back to live and
where people want to relocate.  There will be available and affordable
quality housing.
It will be receptive to new businesses and compliment existing
businesses.
The school will continue to increase in student numbers, and the
students will be well­educated with the opportunity to advance.
Murdo Area will be a central hub that utilizes Interstate 90, Highway 83
and the railroad, with import and export of goods and services.
Mission Statement
The Horizons Community Strategic Planning Team makes a commitment to
stay active in the life of the Murdo Area through the implementation of the
plan. We will do this by encouraging our residents to utilize their skills
and talents to enhance our community and promote change and development.
In addition to completing this portion of the project, a blogging site
has been established for the people of the Murdo Area to check out. You can
find it at  murdo. communityblogs.us. There are several categories for blog
topics. Because we have had people take the training for the blog site, our
Horizons group earned a digital camera. If we can keep up with the
requirements of blogs per month, we can earn a printer and a screen. So
please check out the site.
The visioning group has identified three areas to focus on for the next
step in the process. They chose housing; jobs/businesses and economic
development; and youth programs.
The visioning group split into three groups to work out a timeline to
complete a set of goals for each area. This process will be completed at the
next meeting.
A community celebration is being planned to share all of the details of
the plans. A date hasn’t been set yet but will be announced and open to
everyone in the area.
If you haven’t been involved in Horizons and would like to be, please
contact Lori Waldron or Ray Erikson for more information.

The 7th and 8th grade will be performing the musical “Once Upon A Dream”. The musical is written by Dave and Jean Perry and is based on the classical story of Cinderella. The stuedents have been working on this project since school has started. The Jazz Choir will serve a meal before the musical. You may reserve a seat by calling Stephanie at the High School (669-2258), the evening of fine dining and entertainment will be held at the Murdo Aud. Doors open at 6:00 P.M. Serving starts at 6:30, and the musical will start at approximately 7:30. All are welcome to come.