Armour, SD

Speaking of economic development, tomorrow is the 2008 Launch conference on the campus of Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota. This conference is bringing together more than 300 people who are interested in issues such entrepreneurship and economic development. As I wrote in an earlier blog, I attended last year and this conference provided a fantastic networking opportunity for little money. I am going again this year, and I hope to see some of you there.

I don’t know if the noon lunch  is full, but I there may still be room for you at the conference. Unless you are a student, I would encourage you to sign up for the “educator’s track.” (This must mean that you’re going to get educated, I guess, not that you need to be an educator!). That is what they told me to sign up for.

Here is a sample of some of the people I met at last year’s conference: new and experienced economic development people from around the state; entrepreneurs, or people who want to be but don’t know where to begin; resource people; successful businessmen and women who have advice to share; and youth who are excited about possibly coming back to South Dakota to establish businesses after they graduate. This is just a sampling!

 For more information, here is the Web site http://www.dwu.edu/sdlaunchconference/index.htm and the FMI number on Web site contact:

Questions: Call 605.996.1140 or 800.487.1740 (toll free)

Well we had another meeting tonight and it was a good one again. It is great to see our attendance increasing. Thank you to all who come and give your input. We discussed the Laptop Initiative tonight. Does Armour School have the resources and drive to put in the work of the application and if accepted the initiative to go with computers in our high school? Yes, we do. We have a lot of support and Capital Outlay Money is what can be used for funding. We can get up to speed on technology and our kids will be learning in a more efficient manner. We already have computers only in some of the classes taught but this would open up many other opportunities for our students. I never realized the difference between Capital Outlay Money and General Fund but I have a clearer understanding after tonights meeting and that is why I am supportive of this venture along with many other parents and teachers. Please talk to your congressman about House Bill 1087 and tell him we support the approval of this money for schools. Our next meeting will be in March with the date to be announced. Thank you again for your support! Nicole

WOW! What a wonderful infomative meeting we had tonight. I cannot believe all the information we received in such a short time. My awareness has definately been raised about how and what our kids are doing on the computer/internet. We all have to keep a close check on what is going on with our kids especially when they have access to the computer. We have good kids in this town but it is easy to be lured into somthing criminal and dangerous without even knowing it. There are billions of web sites out there that anyone and everyone has access to and without knowing it your kids can be on some harmful sites. We had two wonderful speakers from the Department of Criminal Investigation, Troy Boone and Todd Rodig. They are only two of the few people in South Dakota that work on catching these computer criminals. Did you know that even though you delete something from your computer it is always still there and they can take it apart bit by bit and check everything you and your kids and their friends have been looking at or saying on the computer. If you have any questions about the sites your kids are using please get in contact with a person that can check your computer or if you can please go to the following sites to check for unsafe information: netsmartz.org, cybertipline.com, sdcybersafe.com. These are also posted on the school website under the PTT area. Many kids use the MYSpace site and once you are on there your information can go to millions of other people and this can lead to very dangerous situations. We all want our kids to be safe so lets keep track of what they are doing. We also received information on other file share programs that can be very dangerous. Even downloading music off of your computer and trading it with other people can actually be a crime. I cannot say often enough that we need to keep monitoring our children’s activities at home and away from home. Talk to your kids! Let them know that anything they see or read that is suspicious should be reported to you or a teacher or anyone they feel they can talk to. The Department of Health is looking into getting some of this information out also through different programs. One of the suggestions was the DARE program. Thank you very much for attending the meeting tonight. Attendance was 13 parents and 13 teachers. We appreciate all input you have and we hope everyone continues to attend. Our next meeting will be February 6. Please attend. Nicole Neugebauer

First of all, sorry it took so long to get this posted but this is a busy time of year. Well, the cabin committee met last week with the Armour City Council and it was a very positive discussion. We have the city behind us 100 percent, which is good. A couple of Horizons representatives also met with the Armour Lions and after a lot of questions that need to be answered they are in favor of the idea as well. Some of the questions were concerning liability, rental amounts, monthly expenses, cleaning and other small things that need to be worked out. There will be more questions that need to answered in the future I’m sure. The good thing is it is positive and were still moving forward.

Another view of the type of cabin we want to build from the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks Web site. This shows a cabin in a campground setting.

As we watched the ice & sleet come down on Saturday, Dec. 1st it was debatable as to the wisdom of continuing our event. However we do live in SD and it was December. Yes it would have been nicer if the weather was warmer but it was great to see the main street aligned with cars for bingo and later for the parade of lights. The celebration event for our horizon project was planned for this evening because of the chance to have people to view our plans and ideas who may not have ventured out for “another meeting”. The time of year is so hectic one with Christmas parties, church programs, basketball games and just holiday seasonal plans. We felt to combine it with our Christmas in Armour would be a way to combine some of the December events.

Click on photos to open a larger version.
The Horizons Strategic Plan Celebration was held Saturday, December 1. It was combined with Armour’s annual Christmas Promotion. A variety of events drew a large crowd to town. Visitors were treated to a band playing holiday tunes on Main Street.

As I stood at the booth that afternoon and evening and visited with people it was a pleasant surprise to have such positive feedback. The lake cabins and housing projects were very popular. One gentlemen from Sioux City was very excited about the cabins. They visit quite frequently in the area and would use them. The youth were very excited about being able to use them for family & scout outings. The cabins will allow an outing for families who are unable to afford the camper and trip to the campground. It would allow some relaxation and family time during a time when that is hard to come by.

We created a display with information about all of our Horizons goals. We also distributed copies of our Strategic Plan to those who attended the celebration.

Young families were interested in the housing ideas we had on display. It gave them thoughts of upgrading to a larger home to accomodate growing families. We have come to realize we are in housing shortage. Many young families who have a member working in town live out of town because of no housing. Thus less young families living in town and children not attending our local school.

One exciting item of interest was visiting with a young adult in high school. This YA commented on how they read the blogs all the time and how exciting it is for them to see what is going on in our community. I encouraged the person to “blog’ too and let us know their viewpoint and ideas for our community. This is our future - without the young people we will no longer exist.

Overall it was a good evening. Yes it could have been better but as in anything it could always be better but it was successful evening. During my years in extension when I would worry about if a program had reached enough people a professor friend always told me - if you helped one person gain information it was worth it. We hope to find a place to display our boards for public viewing and questions. Thank you to all who helped in the organizing and displaying of the Horizon project.

One thing we probably all take for granted in a small town is our personal safety. We don’t lock our car doors and we certainly don’t spend much time worrying that someone will enter a public place with a semi-automatic rifle and start shooting. We do need to plan for emergencies, though, so I’d like to tell you about an event recently sponsored by Armour’s Arcania Lodge.

The local Masons along with the South Dakota Dental Association and South Dakota Sheriff’s Association held a South Dakota Child Identification Program (CHIP) event in Armour. The CHIP program provides parents with a kit containing several items to help identify their child in an emergency situation such as a kidnapping. Statistics show that a child is reported missing every 43 seconds and most parents don’t have the proper items ready that may help save their child’s life.

The CHIP program provided participants with a kit containing:

• Dental impressions since teeth, like fingerprints, are unique,
• A DNA cheek swab,
• A digital photo of the child,
• Fingerprints,
• A video imaged interview, which captures the appearance, speech, mannerisms and important personal characteristics of the child.

The completed kits were given to participating parents to take home for safe keeping.

Here’s a mock-up of plans to install two cabins in Armour’s Lions Park. These are the cabins built by inmates of the prison in Springfield and installed in many state parks and public areas across the state. Our Horizons group is working with the City of Armour and the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks to purchase two cabins that would be placed near the existing bathhouse in Lions Park.

The idea here is to provide additional amenities to the park and also provide low-cost accommodations for visitors and local families who want an inexpensive source of recreation. We’ll be completing fundraising soon to determine whether we can purchase one or two cabins. Volunteer labor will be used to prepare the cabin sites in the park.

This project is a great example of local organizations working together. That’s one of the themes we constantly drew upon during our Study Circles and Leadership Plenty training — working together. We can accomplish a lot more in a small town when we join forces with other groups. Thus the partnership between the Horizons group and the Lions.

If you are interested in making a donation to assist with the purchase of the cabins, please contact Bob Goodnow at 724-2105 or Todd Vogt at 724-2400.

The next PTT meeting will be Nov 7 at the Armour Fire Hall. We will have a speaker for Teen Depression and Suicide. We will also discuss the school board and state decision on the Breakfast Program Proposal. We look forward to seeing as many parents and teachers as we can. It is very informative and it helps to get different opinions on what we can do to improve our school. We had a great success with the Spintacular and the CHIP identification programs that we sponsored in October.
Nicole Neugebauer

Armour doesn’t have a motel. Well, that’s technically not true. A small portion of our motel is still in operation, but it’s only two rooms. At various times members of the community have looked into the possibility of building a new motel, but … wow … is that ever expensive!

So, we got creative. We came up with a way to create a new form of lodging that will enhance a community asset that is already successful. Armour has a great Lions Park (located on the north end of town just east of Highway 281) with a bathhouse and campsites. It’s adjacent to Lake Alcazar, which is a scenic area on the east edge of town.

We were familiar with the success that the State of South Dakota has had using prison labor to build cabins that are placed in our state parks. If prisoners can do it, so can we. So, one of our long-term Horizons projects is to build a couple of cabins in Lions Park. This project is right up the Horizons alley because we’ll use volunteer labor and buy all our supplies from our local merchants to build a new asset for our community.

Horizons member Kevin Leonard summed up the value of working together on the cabin project at a meeting of the Armour Community Development Corporation.

“When you get people doing stuff like that together, it accomplishes more than you realize.”

Kevin’s right — strengthening our bonds as a community will make Armour a better place to live.

The Amour Community Development Corporation (ACDC) met Thursday, October 25, and discussed a variety of topics. Earlier this year the ACDC declared housing as its top priority. The group has a 96′x142′ building site that is available for new home construction. The parcel could be divided into two residential lots and a lot would be FREE to anyone willing to construct a traditional stick-built home on the site.

One of the long-term Horizons projects is to create new housing in our community. So, the oppotunity to work with the ACDC couldn’t come at a better time.

Armour has always excelled at coming together when something needs to get done. Our movie theater is a community project that has enjoyed the support of individuals and organizations for eight years now. We know the value of working together.

So, we have some land and we needs some houses … what’s next?