New York Mills, MN

I was fortunate to attend the Little Falls Initiative Foundation’s MN OOMPH conference yesterday in St. Cloud.  They packed a whole lot of information in this 6 hour conference.  A major theme was the twin epidemics of poor nututrition and a sedentary life style which are the leading causes of the preventable disease of obesity.  Which in turn is the leading precursur to developing CVD (Cardio Vascular Disease) - the #1 killer in the US, Type 2 Diabetes, Hypertension and many others.

Several experts were there to share their knowledge of the benefits of locally grown food (Coops and Farmers Markets) as well as how to create a walkable community.  Here are some links that I was able to accurately jot down… http://iatp.org  http://minnesotagrown.com, and America’s Walking. 

I guess what I wanted to share, on top of the resources above, is that the issues we are facing in NYM are faced by communities everywhere.  Fortunately, I am encouraged, because we are facing them head-on!  

Do you guys remember the http://minnesota.communityblogs.us/ blogging contest for February?  It was a contest to see which community would leave the most comments on their blog.  We didn’t win–Chisholm did. BUT, there was a “door prize” and I won that prize!!  I just received it in the mail today–it the book Community Leadership Handbookby James F. Krile.  It looks like a very interesting book.  I plan to add it to the Library’s collection soon.  So if you are interested in checking it out, just go to http://www.viking.lib.mn.us/ to place a request on it.

The blogging contest for March is described at http://minnesota.communityblogs.us/2008/03/03/blogging-contest-2/.  Basically, we need to get OUR community members to look at OUR blog.  We have a counter on it now, so we’ll be able to see if there is any traffic on our site.  I sincerely hope that we do get people reading our blog–there is a lot of good inforamtion.  Please leave a comment!  Als0, email me at jadams@newyorkmills.lib.mn.us if you would like me to add some information to our blog.  It for the whole community–so feel free to submit articles!!

Cost comparison to print the New York Mills Horizons brochure nym-horizons.pdf.

1) Northwest Area Foundation

a. Feedback from our January 31st report-they are looking for “Actions”. Wabasha dropped out, leaving Horizons less money to work with-there will not be $$ for a statewide conference.

b. Grassroots and Groundworks Conference-they asked if everyone received this information and who was all planning to attend. (We couldn’t remember seeing this information-maybe you sent it out???) Monica wants to know # of people attending from each community-Horizons will pay.

2) Regional Training Workshops -everyone can advertise this. They are hoping for a few people from each community. Free to public just need to register…

3) Blogging-all the blogs look good.  They would like to see perspectives.  Planning, Action, Learning…

Questions

1) Has your community been successful in leveraging any outside funding to support Horizons activities? Grants and donations from businesses were mentioned.

2) As we look to recruiting potential communities for the next wave of Horizons, are there any communities you’ve spoken with that would be good candidates? Several small towns were talked about. (We didn’t have a community to suggest.)

Theme for shared learning

Communications and promotions - good ideas your community has implemented and/or questions you have about increasing Horizons visibility in the community Several items were discussed including updates at City Council meetings, teacher in-service day, National Night Out, Community Education classes to help people learn about personal finances and might also be a way to share small business development information.

They were wondering if it would be ok to give “Everyday Democracy”, formerly Study Circles, the contact information of the Study Circles people. Most people said to send out an email first to see if people would be ok with that.

Open time for questions/issues community

Insurance for events was mentioned-one community had received money from their merchants to purchase event insurance.

Are you a farmer in the Mills area?  Do you grow fruits or veggies,  organic eggs, grass-fed beef, make honey, maple syrup or anything else agriculture related?  Then sell your goods at the new Farmers Market in Mills!  We have a vision of a well advertised market close to highway 10.  Come be part of the development of the Farmers Market.  Next meeting is March 17 at 10AM at the Creamery in New York Mills.  All potential vendors are welcome!

Submitted by Heather Cassidy