Murdo, SD

Pictures of the “Paint SD” house that we did in Murdo.  The first/last picture is of the house before we started the project.  The middle pictures are of various volunteers working on the house.  The last picture is the house upon completion of the project! (Click on the captions for description of picture)

The Murdo Chamber of Commerce spearheaded the “Paint South Dakota” project by helping community members fill out applications.   The home of Claude and Betty Baker was chosen from the applicants and the paint was ordered.  We did have a bit of struggle finding the time and volunteers to begin scraping, taping windows and putting on a coat of primer and paint but we were able to complete the project before the final “extended” date of August 15th and finished the house the first weekend of August!!  Thank you to ALL the volunteers for your hard work on completing this project.  A special “Thank You” goes out to Lori W. for everything she did to help make this project a success!    

After many hours of volunteer work and diligence, we graduated from the Horizon II project.  We celebrated by having a potluck meal at our city park along with delicious cake for dessert.  After the meal, Dr. Gary Lemme, Dean of the SDSU’s College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences, offered his congratulations to our community for completing the 20-month Horizon project.  Next, several of our community Horizon members spoke and gave updates on the projects/goals that have been started here in the Murdo Area. 

We saved the best for last and had Dan O. and Kari F. share their perspectives of our accomplishments throughout the project.  Several awards were earned for the community through our work in Horizons II.  A digital camera was earned in the first stages of the Horizon II project for work that was initially done on our blog.  Throughout the past 20 months we fulfilled the requirements for the blog and earned the laptop computer and printer.  All of these items are being kept at the city office and can be checked out to use by anyone in the community.  Two metal signs stating that Murdo is a Horizon Community were given to the community.  These signs will be placed at the east and west edges of town for people to see as they first come into Murdo.  The final award was the HUGE check for $8,500, which is the rest of the funds offered by the Northwest Area Foundation for participating in the Horizons II Project.  The Murdo Area has gained so much from this 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 20 months!  GOOD JOB FOLKS!!

Here are some pictures of our 2008 Community Garden!  So far we have gotten lots of leaf lettuce and some radishes from our Community Garden that we have shared with several of the Murdo Area residents.  There has also been a poster up on our community board, located at the post office, letting people know that they are welcome to come to the Community Garden and cut some lettuce and/or pull a few radishes.  Not sure if you can see them, but there are “blossoms” (or whatever they are called) on the peas and there are also a few beans on the bean plants.  As you might be able to see, I took these pictures of the garden on Sunday evening while the corn, radishes, peas and lettuce were being watered, and I was getting eaten alive by all those pesky mosquitoes!!  :-) 

I would just like to thank Michele for all of the hard work she has been putting into this Blog. It is greatly appreciated. I hope we can get more bloggers after the Training next week.

Thanks again Michele.

Lori, Kelcy and I attended the “Marketing Your Community” Seminar in Philip on Wednesday, March 26th.  After an awesome meal was enjoyed by all, Milan Wall, Co-Director of the Heartland Center for Leadership Development began the seminar talking about “Branding Your Community.”  He then had us read the story of Superior, Nebraska and how they claimed the title “Victorian Capital of Nebraska.”  This theme was reinforced with an annual Victorian Festival which is held every spring.  Since its inception in the early 1990’s, the event had grown stronger and stronger.  This one “brand” prompted the town’s leaders to learn to think strategically.  “We have to get together to plan, dream, and then find a way to make that dream a reality” for Superior to prosper.  This success story does continue but as Paul Harvey would say…….”and now for the rest of the story…..”   (contact Lori,Kelcy or Michele) 

After the Superior, Nebraska discussion ended, we were then asked to look at each of our own communities and answer these 3 questions: (more…)