Armour, SD

The Armour Swim Team has taken to the pool for their yearly competition within the James River Valley Swim League. This year their are 52 youth out for swim team with Alyssa Larson as coach and Amy Barrick as assistant. There are many young faces on the team and they love to have people cheer them on. The first swim meet was last Saturday in Armour and our youth showed up to compete. Check the results in this weeks Armour Chronicle. The youth travel today (Wednesday the 18th) to Corsica. The remaining schedule is as follows:

Saturday June 21st at Kimball

Wednesday June 25th at Avon

Saturday June 28th at O’Neill, NE

Wednesday July 2nd at Armour - The swim team parents run the concession stand with hotdogs, nachos, slushies, homemade bars etc. Come out over lunch and eat and watch the youth.

Wednesday July 9th at Avon

Saturday July 12th at Platte

Sunday July 20th Championship Meet at O’Neill, NE

All meets start at 9:30 am (with the exception on the championship - time announced later).

The swim team parents are also doing the concession stand at ballgames held in Armour. This is a fundraiser the parents are using this year to help defray some of the cost of swimsuits for the youth who need them.

Armour, SD Community Calendar  - This is just a sample

(for changes please call Donna Brenner at 724-2818 or email at donnabrenner@hotmail.com)

May

5/14/08         -          Armour Last Day of School - Noon dismissal

5/14/08         -          Armour School Board Meeting @ 7:30 pm

5/15/08         -          Money 4 Life Meeting @ 6:15 Meal, 7 - 9 pm Meeting  Postponed

At the meeting it was decided to clean up around the Lake on May 6th at 5:00 pm. The Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts will be helping from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm with food and beverages served to them at 6:00 pm. The Community is also asked to help with the Clean-Up Project. Please bring your pick-ups, chain saws, weed eaters and man/women power : ) There will be food and beverages served following the clean-up. Thank you to everyone who help last year! We had such a great turn out we would love to see you there again this year!! If you have any questions please contact Dana Krull at 724-2459

Armour School has just hired two new teachers that are looking for housing in our town. If anyone has information that may be helpful please contact Brad Preheim or Burnell Glanzer at the school. They are looking to rent and are both single individuals. Any information would be helpful to welcome them to our community. Thank you.

We want to help you make your dreams come true………………………

The USDA Rural Development and the Armour Horizons Housing Committee are here to help.

Funding is Available…..Lots are Available…..Houses are Available…..all we need is YOU!

 Eligibility Requirements

•  Must meet income eligibility guidelines
•  Meet repayment rations
•  Must be a U.S. citizen or legally admitted to the U.S. for permanent residence
•  Must have an acceptable credit history for past 36 months
•  After purchase or construction, the applicant must be the owner/occupant of the dwelling
  

 Highlights of Program      

•  33 Year Fixed Rate Mortgages with subsidy lowering payment
•  100% Financing – No Down Payment Required
•  Loan costs may be included in the loan if requirements are met
•  No Mortgage Insurance or Premium Payments
•  Loan limit is $132,000

Who Qualifies for the Governor’s House?

• For households with two or less individuals, combined income cannot exceed $33,900
• For households with three or more individuals, combined income cannot exceed $39,550
• For families and individuals under the age of 62, net worth must be less than $90,000 and less than $70,000 in liquid assets. 
• For families and individuals age 62 and older, net worth must be less than $175,000 and less than $100,000 in liquid assets.
• Eligible buyers also include housing authorities, non-profit organizations, economic development corporations and local chambers of commerce planning to sell to qualified purchasers

There Are Several Lots Available in Armour

There Are Several Existing Homes for Sale

http://www.farmers-national.com/realestate/search/xq/asp/StateName.South+Dakota/pagesize.10/Name.Residential/Property_Name./qx/search2.htm

http://www.realtor.com/search/searchresults.aspx?ctid=29466&typ=7

There Are Several Funding Options

• First Time Homebuyer Program
• South Dakota Housing Development Authority (SDHDA)
• Rural Development Guaranteed Loan
• Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD)

 Why buy a Governor’s House?

• The price of the home is $33,000.  This includes the price of the house, transportation to your lot and placement on the foundation or basement.  Additional placement charges may apply, depending upon the lot location.
• You should also consider a few things before you purchase such as the price of the lot.  There are several other items to consider also, the cost of putting in the foundation or basement; state, city and excise taxes; water and utility hook-ups; floor coverings and appliances.  Other considerations may include a survey, sidewalks, driveway, curb and gutter.
• You can finance your house like any other house you might purchase.
• The SDHDA will provide plans for a basement or footing and foundation plans for a crawl space.
• Plans are available showing where the stairway cutout is to be located
• The Governor’s House is a 24’ x 42’, two bedroom, 1 bathroom home.

 What If I Don’t Want To Buy a New House

-         There is funding available to help with the purchase of an existing home

-         There is funding available to help remodel your existing home

 Please contact:

Gary Wedel                                                                              Larry Ymker
Rural Development Specialist                                                    Horizon’s Housing Committee
(605) 996-1564, Ext 4                                                             (605) 724-2401

Darold Werkmeister                                                                 Larry Wilson
Horizon’s Housing Committee                                                   Horizon’s Housing Committee
(605) 724-2818                                                                       (605) 724-2796

Dana Krull
Horizon’s Housing Committee
(605) 724-2459

Examples of Governor’s Houses

7 p.m.
Tuesday, April 15
Armour Fire Hall

Please attend to participate in a planning session for Lake Alcazar for 2008. Plan to share your ideas, suggestions and comments.

Again, we had a wonderful speaker for our PTT meeting. We started the meeting with information from Alex Wold about the airplane that he and Jerry Farke made. Next we discussed the need for the community to have a computer class. This is going to take place and anyone interested in attending or teaching should contact Donna Brenner, who will organize it and get everyone together. We also discussed the upcoming meetings. It was determined that we will meet in May and probably take off June and July then meet again in August to restructure and plan for the upcoming year. Burnell Glanzer dicussed the trophy cases that are now ready to be stained. Anyone that is able to help with this is encouraged to contact him. Also, he talked about the incentive program for the middle school. They now receive tokens for work done on time and appropriately. At the end of the year they will have an auction for the kids to buy items with the tokens they have earned. At this point we are forming a committee to get prizes together. One idea for some top prizes will be an “i-pod shuffle.” These items need to be donated or bought by May 1.

Jennifer Koster presented a survey that was conducted in the 5, 6, 7, and 8th grades on bullying. Questions were handed to the students to fill out and a graph was made to show results. All answers are confidential. It did show that 15-30% of students are either bullied or victims and it is very common in younger students.

Alyssa Larson, School Psychologist Intern presented a slide show of statistics and facts along with suggestions and helpful information about bullying. Most bullying happens in low supervision, such as bathrooms, hallways, playgrounds. The teachers cannot be in all these areas at all times therefore we need to teach our children what bullying is and how it affects everyone. Bystanders are found to commonly do nothing when they witness bullying because they are usually afraid. Boys are more likely to report bullying where girls are more inclined to gossip, exclude others, harrass, and name call. Most of these actions peak in middle school. As parents and teachers we need to TEACH our KIDS that: 1. Assume everything you say behind a persons back will get back to them. 2. What you said can be turned around. 3. Watch what you put in writing, letters, emails. 4. Think what you want to say before you say it.
The impact of all this is childrend who bully as kids will bully as adults. Bullying should be dealt with when it first begins. Listen to the children. Monitor phones, computers, text messaging, and interactions between kids. Provide positive roll models.
As parents we need to be aware of changes in our children. Be involved in school programs and functions. Volunteer when possible. Teach our children strategies for counter bullying, such as walking away, tell and adult, humor, joining another activity. We need to teach our kids to think positively about themselves. Praise them for a job well done or the effort put for in doing it. Do NOT use physical punishment. A great quote for finishing up the evening was this said by Mr. Glanzer “Even though you don’t think it is wrong, if it makes someone feel bad then it is WRONG”. Thank you to everyone that attended. We had 16 parents and 11 teachers. We appreciate all you input and hope that more will attend future meetings.
Armour PTT Committee

Branding Your Community A Workshop for South Dakota Horizons– Milan Wall, Co-Director and a founder of the Heartland Center for Leadership Development was in Armour on Tusday, March 25^th. About 40 people from the Armour, Wagner, Artesian, Letcher, Woonsocket and Tyndall attended a presentation on Branding Your Community. I was very impressed by the fact that 18 people from Armour attended. We learned the importance of Branding. For example, can you think of facial tissue or gelatin without thinking of Kleenex or Jell-O? It is important to be clear about the difference between a brand and an image. A brand is carefully constructed and managed. An image, however, is much more fluid and in many cases, not controlled or created at all but simply evolved over time. Every community projects a certain image, positive or negative. A community image is really made up from the accumulated perceptions of residents and visitors over time. Every time people visit your town, they take away a community image as part of their experience. How do outsiders see your community? What do they recall after a visit? What do they say about their time in your community?

A community brand can be used to promote a town event, to create consumer loyalty and encourage folks to shop locally, or attract new businesses and families. The best use of a community brand is to make connections by representing the community values and special features.

We were split into groups where we had to opportunity to talk about our community. In doing this we discussed several questions. What do we want to be know for? What are our community’s key unique assets? How is our image connected to our key assets? Who are our customers? How can we get their attention? How can we move them from attention to action? We also discussed Tips for Branding, keep it simple, build recognition and exceed your promise.

This is just another tool that can be used to help fulfill our hopes and dreams for our community.

The Armour Round-Up Committee has joined forces with the Cabin Committee to raise money to build two cabins near our Lion’s Park / Lake Alcazar. In previous blogs, we’ve let you know that one of the Horizons projects is to install two cabins at Lion’s Park to provide recreational opportunities for Armour families and visitors.

Our cabin committee had originally planned to have inmates at the Springfield penitentiary build the cabins, which would be moved to sites that would be prepared by Horizons volunteers. As we’ve moved forward with the project we’ve learned that the prison will not have time to build cabins for Armour this year. That’s the bad news. The good news is that they have invited our Horizons group to the penitentiary to tour the cabins they are building and will share building plans and materials lists with us. A group of Horizons volunteers plans to build the cabins here in town.

We’ve now begun our cabin fund-raising campaign and that’s where the Round-Up Committee comes into play. They have installed donation containers at area businesses such as Wilson True Value and the X- Press Mart. Patrons can donate their change from purchases or pocket change for use on the cabin project. We’re very enthused about this joint effort and hope that Armour residents will show their generosity.

If you have any questions about the Cabin project, you can contact Todd Vogt at 724-2400 or Bob Goodnow at 724-2105. Please contact Dana Krull if you would like to make a donation for the cabins at 724-2459 or by e-mail: danakrull at unitelsd.com