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Due to the weather forecast for this weekend, it has been decided to postpone the Free Rubble Site weekend to the advertised rain dates of Friday, May 9th and Saturday, May 10th.
The Senior Citizen/Disabled Persons pickup with remain the same, Monday, May 5th.
KOTA News was in Philip yesterday doing a spot on how economic times are hitting small towns just as much as the big towns.
In case you didn’t get home to see the 5:30 news on KOTA yesterday, here’s the link to their site:
Tough Economic Times Hit Small Towns as Hard as Large Cities
If you haven’t ordered your Haakon County Young Women Community Birthday Calendar, please do so as soon as possible!
If you are new to the Philip community and would like your name on the calendar, see Jolene or Hallie at First National Bank in Philip.
You can mail your order to : HCYW, Box 163, Philip, SD 57567 or drop off your order at FNB with Jolene or Hallie.
Here’s one similar to one that was asked before, but let’s give it a go anyway.
How has your community leadership expanded?
Enter your comments by 7pm Thursday night, May 1 for a chance to win the random drawing for $100. (To comment, click the gray comment link directly below this post.)
Do you have kids who need something fun to do this summer? If not, how about nieces, nephews or grandkids?
As summer is quickly approaching, kids will be looking for things to do to occupy their free time. The School of Mines is offering various day classes, day camps and residential camps this summer.
Here are just a few examples of what is being offered:
DAY CLASSES & DAY CAMPS
What’s Behind the Flush?
June 17 & 18 for Grades 4 - 6
Computer Games & Movies Day Camp
June 23 - 25 for Grades 9 - 12
July 7 - 9 for Grades 6 - 8
Science Smorgasbord
July 7 -11 for Grades 3 - 5
Computer Wiz!
August 5 for Grades 2 - 5
Meteorology Day Camp
August 5 - 7 for Grades 6 - 8
A Walk Through Space
August 14 for Grades 3 - 5
August 14 for Grades 6 - 8
Wild Weather
August 19 for Grades 3 - 5
RESIDENTIAL CAMPS*
Youth Geology Field Camp
June 1 - 4 for Grades 6 - 8
June 8 - 13 for Grades 9 - 12
Space Adventures! Camp
July 20 - 25 for Grades 6 - 8
July 27 - August 1 for Grades 9 - 12
*Scholarships maybe available for all camps!
For more information and to register, please visit http://sdmines.sdsmt.edu/learn or call (605)394-2693.
The Haakon County Public Library opened its door again today after temporarily closing due to plumbing problems yesterday.
Everything has been fixed to make the library available to patrons again. Come on in and check things out!
Sorry I’m late with this - apparently I forgot what day yesterday was!
Congrats to our fifth drawing winner - comment number 1 - Roger!
Stay tuned for round number 6 - we’re on the downhill slope of our drawings!
The Haakon County Public Library will be closed today due to plumbing problems. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
Bookmark this link for the Haakon County Public Library Website!
http://haakoncountylibrary.wordpress.com/
Stay up to date with the library’s many events and discover all that our library can do for you!
What kinds of concrete steps are being taken by your community to address poverty?
(When answering this question, again, bear in mind that poverty is not just limited to financial constraints. Think about things that our community is lacking, and the projects happening to alleviate those concerns.)
To comment, click the gray comment link directly below this post. All comments received by 7pm, Wednesday, April 23rd will be entered in a random drawing for $100.
If you are a senior citizen or disabled person and would like assistance through this clean up program, please contact the City Finance Office at 859-2175 no later than Friday, May 2, 2008. The City crew will pick up your items on Monday, May 5, 2008.
Please take advantage of this program while you can!
CONTACT THE CITY OFFICE TODAY!
*Due to the weather forecast, this has been postponed to the rain dates of May 9 and May 10.*
The City of Philip will host a “Free Dump” weekend to City residents Saturday, May 03, and Sunday, May 04, 2007 for rubble site acceptable items.
The Rubble Site will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on these dates.
(Rain Date: Friday, May 09, and Saturday, May 10, 2008)
Citizens are responsible for transporting their items to the Rubble Site and all loads to the Rubble Site should be sorted prior to delivery to the rubble site. Any questions can be directed to the City Finance Office at 859-2175 during regular business hours.
Congratulations to Monna Van Lint - the random winner of the fourth drawing!
Round five will be beginning shortly - keep the GREAT comments coming!
Join Healthy South Dakota in recognizing National Turn Off the TV Week, April 21-27.
According to The Television Project, by age 18 the American child has seen 350,000 commercials and spent more time watching television than any other single activity. Participate in National Turn off the TV Week and take the challenge to turn off the TV, video games and computer for seven days. Listen to the radio for alternative activities to TV viewing happening in your area!
Purpose: To re-think the role and assess the impact of television.
How: Simply switch off or unplug your TV for seven days and participate in life.
Who: South Dakotans of all ages.
Where: Homes, schools, worksites, etc.
What: Walk to work or school; Play with your pet; Take a nature hike; Plant a flower, vegetable or herb garden; Play together as a family
For the past few weeks in story time we have been tending to our seedlings. A while ago I sent out the call for supplies to help transplant our seedlings and received a wonderful response.
We have really enjoyed learning about seeds, plants, and gardens through stories and activities. This summer, keep an eye out for these “sunny” plants!
Please join us to play chess at the Haakon County Public Library.
Whether you know how to play or not, if you would like to teach or just play, if you are young or old. All Abilities Are Welcome at Chess Club!
Chess Club meets in the Community Room of the Courthouse on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Tuesday’s of the month.
Here are the upcoming dates:
April 29
May 6 and 20
June 3 and 17
July 1, 15 and 29
August 5 and 19
If you have any questions, please contact the library at 859-2442.
Celebrate National Library Week with a trip to the public library. This year marks its 50th Anniversary. Started in 1958 by the American Library Association, it is a time to celebrate the contributions of libraries and librarians across the nation. The theme for this year is, “Join the circle of knowledge @ your library®.” Have you visited your library this week?
Let’s try a “broad” one….
Is your community more hopeful about the future? How do you know?
Enter your comments by clicking the gray comment link immediately below this post. Comments received by Saturday, April 19th at 8pm will be entered in a drawing for $100!
Make plans to attend the 4th Annual Tour of Tables! Each year, Philip Health Services Auxiliary puts on this event to raise funds to aid in their mission to make things just a little more comforting for patients and residents at Philip Health Services.
The Tour will be held on Saturday, April 26th from 1:00-4:00 pm at the American Legion. There, you’ll be able to see 13 elegant table displays - each interesting and unique in the pieces the hostess chose and where her inspiration came from. South-African inspired dessert, punch and coffee will be served throughout the afternoon. Admission is $5. Later, each hostess will arrive and join 7 guests at her table for a 6-course meal that will follow the theme, “South Africa - West Coast Cape Cuisine”.
This year’s hostesses are:
Mary Burnett
Kerry Burns
Debbie Carley
Tami Ravellette
Barbara Byrne
Britni Ross
Marlis Doud
Kathleen Luetenegger
Gale Christiansen
Linda McIlravy
Lee Ann Knutson & Marilyn Millage
Sharon Hemmingson & Tonya Kramer
Michelle Butler & Alice Carr
Make plans to stop in - you won’t be sorry! And if you happen to have tickets for dinner - you REALLY won’t be sorry!
Congratulations to Linette Donnelly - our third $100 winner!!
Stay tuned for Round Four!!!
Keep the comments coming - everyone loves to hear your voice!
Click to enlarge and see that comment #11 - Linette - was our random winner.
Are you a group or organization, club or teacher that has a wish list? If so, please contact Britni Ross or Diane Fitch to get it posted on the blog.
Financial Peace University participants kicked off their 13-week journey through a course designed to promote financial peace and security. From learning about the importance of saving to dumping debt to learning how to invest to build wealth, the classes are for everyone who wants to learn how to truly take control of their financial lives.
After hearing in study circles about interest in adult education finance classes, Financial Peace University was brought to our community and is being offered to interested individuals free of charge courtesy of Horizons and the Northwest Area Foundation. One group began last Monday night and a second group started last Tuesday night. The classes will run until the end of June. One more class will be offered this fall. To reserve a spot in the fall class, let Britni know right away.
In what ways have leadership skills been improved/enhanced? What is different?
Enter a comment to this question and you’ll automatically be entered into a drawing for the next $100! (Remember - your comments are NOT judged. The drawing is random.) Comments received by Tuesday at 7pm will be entered in the drawing.
To enter a comment, click on the light gray Comment link right below this post.
Recently, four of us took a field trip to Min-Kota Fisheries to watch a group of people vaccinate fish. Yep, that’s right. Fish!
The fish, tilapia, fly into Rapid City from New Mexico. They are about six weeks old, weigh in at .25 grams and measure around 1″ to 1½” in length. In Philip, they are vaccinated with the streptococcus vaccine and then spend twenty-one days in nursery tanks. By the time they are ready to ship out to Minaqua Fisheries in Renville, MN, they have grown to 20 times (10 grams) their arrival size in Philip.
After they grow even larger at the fisheries in Minnesota, they are shipped to fish markets and groceries stores around the US that sell live fish.
This Friday was the second weekend that the crew vaccinated fish. A couple of weeks ago, they ‘worked’ 52,000 of the tiny critters. (Can one call a fish a critter?) This week, the total is 40,000.
Right now, everything is in a testing stage. But should it work out - Pat will be driving into Rapid City every week to pick up the flying fish. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun.)
Pat has a method to determine approximately how many fish he is dealing with. This bucket is marked and once filled to the line, he guesses that bucket to contain about 1200 fish!
Look at how precisely they work! The needle must be placed carefully to be sure that the vaccine goes right where it needs to! 
Philip’s school district had its annual Science Fair a few weeks ago. Kids turned out in force with some really great projects. Here’s a taste of what was there:
5th Grader Brett did a project on mathematical probability.
Tristen’s project was called DO THE DEW! He had 3 similar math tests and he, along with 2 friends, took the tests. The first test with no caffeine, the 2nd with 1 can of Mountain Dew and the 3rd test with 2 cans of Mountain dew. He was trying to figure out if caffeine would help with accuracy and time it took. Tristen received 1st place for the 5th grade.
Amanda bought the lab coat with her own money for the science fair. She had her grandma embroider her last name on it, so her sisters could wear it, too, when they are bigger. Her experiment was making concrete bricks with different aggregates (sand, gravel) to see which is stronger.
Mandi researched eyeshine in animals. She can identify animals in the headlights by their eyeshine color. She waited a whole year to present this project, as she had it all ready for last year, and she was too sick to present it.
Anna Belle challenged three adult men to a shoot out (who will remain anonymous because she out shot them!) to see which of the .22 rifles they have is the most accurate. It was a tie, so if you here gunshots out their way, it is all in the name of science!
THANK YOU to the moms and friends who supplied us with this info and the photos!
Give your comments to the following question(s) for another chance to win $100! Comments received by 7pm Friday evening will be entered into the drawing. Please remember your comments are NOT judged!
In what ways have community members made a commitment to reduce poverty?
How does the community plan to make sure the entire community supports its plans and actions to reduce poverty?
When thinking about this question - remember this: Poverty is more than just money. Our community plan addresses a lack of quality housing, more daycare, better methods of communication (possibly a marquee sign) and a marketing plan to put Philip on the map. To find out more about Horizons and what has been planned, scroll below to later posts.
Someone mentioned they couldn’t find where to post their comment. Just click on the light gray “Comments” below this post.
What would you do if your doctor told you that you had only six months to live?
If you haven’t seen Professor Randy Pausch’s inspiring last college lecture at Carnegie Mellon you need to watch “THE LAST LECTURE: A Love Story for Your Life” on ABC on Wednesday night. It might change how you live your life.
Spring has sprung,
the grass is riz.
I wonder where
the flowers is?
Bright springtime flowers can be found on main street in Philip.
Daffy-dils (not to be confused with daffodils) have appeared in the front windows at Jones’ Saddlery and the Bottle ‘N Vet.
Big city department stores might have their window dressers decorating front windows to entice customers into shopping there, but they are not alone. Philip has our own window dresser, Alice Jones, who decorates their store windows to entertain us and make us smile. Every month, new displays appear - many appropriate to the holiday happening during that month.
Handmade quilts, mannikin’s made out of nylons and other crafty things have all made appearances throughout the years - these ladies were in the windows during the month of February.
Members of the Philip COMMUNITY MARKETING ACTION TEAM will hold a second meeting on April 14th at 6:30pm at Glenn’s office. A lot of good ideas crossed the table as the group was very enthusiastic after taking part in the “Marketing Your Community” Seminar.
Congratulations to our first $100 winner - Roberta Vaughan!
Thank you for all your wonderful comments - keep them coming! (Be sure to check out all the great comments!) The next $100 question will be posted on Wednesday, April 9th.
Below is a screenshot showing the online site that generated comment number 13 - Roberta! Click to enlarge.
Thank you all for the donations of soil and seed containers. As soon as I opened the library today people were bringing in the donations. I believe I have enough soil and containers now for our seedlings.
During story time on Friday, we will be transplanting our seedlings into larger containers so they can continue to grow into healthy plants. Eventually the children will have the opportunity to take the plants home to plant outdoors. This has been a very interesting science lesson for the young children in story time. They all have enjoyed observing the small green plants emerge from the soil.
Thanks for your help!
In what ways is our community more aware of its strengths or assets?
Enter your thoughts as a comment to this post. Comments received by 7pm on Monday, April 7th will be entered in a drawing for $100 Philip Bucks!
(Don’t forget to leave your name and an email address with your comment so we can notify you if you win!!)
Just one short year ago, the Friends of the Haakon County Public Library started a project they call Books for Babies. The program is designed to encourage new parents to read to their children with the hope that, in turn, it would lead their children to develop a love for reading.
For each new baby born in Haakon County, parents are given a gift consisting of a bib, a handmade bookmark (thanks to our crafty treasurer and her handy Cri-cut™) and Jim Trelease’s book The Read-Aloud Handbook.
Since the program’s inception, twenty gift bags have been given throughout the county. Twenty new babies in Haakon County - that alone is something to celebrate!
We read to be entertained,
educated or inspired,
or just to rejoice in
the use of language.
We read to be touched
by other people’s lives . . .
Perhaps most of all, we read
because it transports us
to worlds beyond the limits
of our imaginations.”
- unknown
Deb Snook, the Math teacher at Philip High School, attended a workshop at Black Hills State University two years ago. Because of her attendance it allows our school district to have a mobile science lab come to our community. This year was the second year that Jerry Opbroek has come to our school with South Dakota’s Mobile Science Lab. Deb coordinates the classes and helps with the labs. There are several lab activities going on at once in both the elementary and the high school. It provides our students the opportunity to work with equipment and technology that they would not otherwise get to due to the cost of the equipment. The Mobile Science Lab visited our school Monday March 31 and Tuesday April 1 this year.
Mrs. Mortellaro’s 4th grade class learned how to light a light bulb by completing a circuit using a wire, battery, and light bulb.
These pictures are of Mrs. Snook’s Pre-Calculus Class. They are using a microphone to record the sounds of tuning forks, voices, and cellular telephones and analyzing the data based on the various frequencies.
This is Mrs. Bouman’s 7th grade CSI-Fluffy lab. The kids had to determine who stole the parrot name Fluffy by using fingerprinting, blood work, and pen tests.
Mr. Vaughan’s 5th grade class is learning about series and parallel circuits. Jerry Opbroek is in some of the pictures. He is the man who travels around South Dakota on the mobile science lab.
5th and 6th graders from both Philip and Milesville participated in a GPS lab.
These pictures are from Mrs. Bouman’s 7th and 8th grade classes along with the three Milesville 7th and 8th graders. They learned how to extract the DNA from a banana!
Thank you, Mrs. Snook, for providing this information to us and for taking and sharing such great photos! Your hard work is truly appreciated for bringing such a tremendous opportunity to our students!
From our librarian....
Hello all, In story time we have been doing some science activities. I need your help with one of them. We have been growing seeds in small cups so the children can learn more about plants and seeds and the process of how things grow. We will soon be at the point where we need to transplant the seeds to larger containers so they can grow more. I need about 30 containers about the size of a cottage cheese or large yogurt container (butter/margarine and sour cream containers will also work well). Please make sure they are very clean before donating them. Also, I will accept a donation of soil if anyone has some extra or would like to purchase a bag for this project.
If you can help, please drop off any supplies you can give at the library.
Visit the blog and win!!! Here’s a teaser….
Starting shortly, you’ll be able to enter yourself for a chance to win $100 Philip Bucks! It’s EASY!
We will post a question about Horizons and our community - all you need to do is answer that question in the comments section! At the end of each contest, we will randomly choose an entry and that person will receive $100 Philip Bucks. While your answer will NOT be judged, only relevant comments will be entered into the drawing. It’s a win-win situation! Philip wins because we get to hear your thoughts, and you win because you get $100 to spend in town!
Watch the blog carefully - contests will be clearly marked and will only be open for limited amounts of time. There will be multiple contests and multiple chances to win! (If you can’t post, but wish to, please get your answer to us and we’ll post it for you!) And while you’re here - please feel free to comment on any posts!
To comment, just click on the comments link below the post. Please be sure to leave a valid email address so that we may contact you if you win!!!
These contests are open to all community members - whether you’ve been directly involved with Horizons or not! All age groups are encouraged to submit comments!!!
. . . to check your voter registration. You may need to register to vote!!
Here are the details just for reference:
Monday Night class begins April 7th at 6:30pm at the Senechal Lobby.
Tuesday Night class begins April 8th at 6:30pm at First National Bank. (Enter through the agency - class will be held in the bank conference room).
Just a note - the Tuesday night class is full, but we can still squeeze a few into the Monday night class. Materials are on hand, so if you’d like to register for Monday - there is still time! We have 3 names on the waiting list for the fall class. If you are interested in that class, please let me know. We don’t have an exact start time for the fall class, but we will start it early enough so that it ends well before the holidays get into full swing.
Philip High School enjoyed their prom this past weekend. Other than some stiff wind, the weather held out for the kids’ special evening out. I believe approximately 50 couples attended the Grand March. The family of Jennifer Nelson donated the Queen’s crown and the family of Dalles Brucklacher provided the King’s crown. Thank you to those families for their touching gesture. After the dance, prom-goers attended an after-prom party at Rock N Rolls Lanes, then headed to Gem Theater for a showing of Awake, and finally ended with breakfast at the Philip Ambulance Hall.
And here’s a neat tidbit - a few Philip kids escorted dates from several other Horizons communities. I think ALL of Dan’s communities were “represented”. 
We had 2 from Hot Springs, at least 2 from Murdo, 1 from Newell and I believe there was 1 from Faith. Fun!
Here’s just a snipit - lighting was poor and the camera-operator is not very skilled.
Stacy (a senior) with her parents and her date
Some of the Senior Boys straighten themselves up…
Prom Royalty - Zane & Bradi
