Philip, SD

Eighteen people in two separate classes successfully completed the 13-week Financial Peace University.  Financial Peace kits were purchased with some Horizons funds and provided to community members free of charge.  (Materials and a spot in an FPU class typically ranges from $125 - $150!)

Classes covered such topics as Cash Flow Planning, Dumping Debt, Relating With Money, Understanding Insurance, Real Estate and Mortgages, Understanding Investment, Retirement and College Planning and many other subjects. 

During the thirteen-week period, participants kept track of credit card enticements that totaled over $600,000.  Class members also kept track of the total money they saved and the total amount of debt they paid off.

In just thirteen weeks, the two classes put nearly $16,000 in savings accounts and paid off just over $24,000!! 

One of Dave Ramsey’s (Financial Peace University founder)  joys in life is to cut up credit cards and several people did so.  This was a monumental moment for a few of our class members!

Here are a few anonymous comments from FPU grads:

“Just know that I look forward to being out of debt sooner than I ever realized possible!”

“I had no idea I could become debt free AND build wealth on the salaries we currently make!  No need to pray for a lottery win anymore….now it’s all about putting our noses to the grindstone and telling our money what to do!”

“It amazes me how much I learned about insurance - I feel so much better knowing what products I should buy and what products aren’t for me.”

“This entire program has been a blessing to our lives!  Thank you!  I’m going to tell everyone I see about it!”

Thank you to Roger and First National Bank for providing a location for our Tuesday night class!  Thank you to the Senechal for opening your doors to our Monday night class!  We ALL appreciate it!

A fall class (beginning near the end of August) is planned.  Space is VERY limited - if you are interested, let Britni know right away! 

The Philip Girls’ Softball team, along with leaders Edna Knutson, Arthur McIlravy and Jeremy Noteboom, got the privilege of watching the Black Hills’ Gold women’s softball team play in action against Team USA in Rapid City on July 15th. They also had a team photo taken with BHG after waiting in line for Team USA signatures.

Thoughts from Event Coordinator Christine Andrus:

We all were so happy with the way the Farmers Market turned out and are eagerly anticipating next week and beyond.

The vendors agreed that this first market was as an opportunity to learn what to bring next week as much as it is was a sales event. Many vendors sold out of their wares in the first hour and a half due to the great turnout and support of the community but also in part to the slim pickings of ripe produce. We will all be watching and waiting for our gardens to turn out more and more fresh vegetables. The season is just begining so there is plenty more to come.

The craft vendors also did very well. There will be some very creative work going on this week to resupply their booths! A big hit was the High School German Club’s baked goods and snowcone stand.  They were thrilled with the results of their fundraising efforts and look to be that much closer to their trip to Europe.

Another big winner were the downtown businesses. Businesses showed an marked improvement in traffic and sales compared to a usual Saturday according  to the owners who came to the market and spoke to us.  That’s great news as it has always been the goal of the Farmers Market to increase traffic and attract people to the downtown area on an otherwise slower day. 

Overall, we anticipate the event to grow in coming weeks and look forward to new vendors and different types of goods to keep things fresh and different. We hope the community will continue to support the Market and keep coming to see what is new and fresh and local.

A large crowd turned out for a fun afternoon!

SAVE THE DATE (Specifics will follow, but please mark your calendar for now!)

Monday, July 14th, 2008

YOU are invited to promote all the wonderful things your organization is involved in that promote our community. Please bring a sign (poster board) listing all the events, contributions, talents, etc. that your organization has that strengthen our community through volunteerism. Your posters will be displayed at the Fire Hall. This event is hosted by Horizons and will include an ice cream social at the Fire Hall Park to celebration our Horizons graduation!

Our goal is to emphasize how important your role is in our community and to encourage more people to join in your organizations efforts. Additionally, we hope that we can encourage community partnerships between individuals and organizations that are working on similar projects. Basically, we are encouraging the community to strengthen your power to make a difference by working together.

Lastly, all organizations that participate will have an opportunity to possibly receive a Sharing Community Spirit monetary award to be put toward one of your ongoing community betterment projects or a new project that your organization has wanted to do, but just needed a little extra encouragement for - It’s a lottery! All we ask is for your organization’s participation for this night where the focus is on fun and happiness derived from service to the community.

Please encourage your organization’s members, friends and family to come and please bring your lawn chairs! We hope you will help us spread the word about this event, and we look forward to seeing you there! Thank you again for the contributions you make to the quality of life we have here in Philip through arts and culture, education, community betterment, human services and economic development.

For the final round, let’s do something just a little bit different.

Respond to this post with your top three “wishes” for Philip - those things that affect you directly, those things that you feel passionate about, those things that you believe would improve life here in our community.  Let’s just end up with a big list of things we can work on and dream toward.  Be specific - lay it out there!  Nothing is impossible!

Let’s leave this round open for a little longer than normal.  Comments received by May 26th, 9pm will be entered in a drawing for $100!

Dan Oedekoven will be in Philip on May 21 to meet with the members of the different action committees. The meeting will start at 6:30 and be held in the Conference Room at the Philip Hospital. All team members, please be there as this might be the last time Dan meets with us.

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.)

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.

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.

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!

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.

The Daycare Action Team will hold their next meeting on April 1, 2008 from 12:15pm-12:45pm at the Hospital Conference Room.

Bad weather kept a few people away from the marketing seminar held in Philip on March 26th, but twenty-five hardy souls braved the conditions to hear Dr. Milan Wall talk about “branding your community”. After a delicious meal, people from Murdo, Mission, Whitewood, Faith, Parmalee and Philip listened attentively to what Dr. Wall had to say and then spent time working on some questions and answers about their respective communities. Also in attendance were Kari, Carolyn, Dan and Dave Adrian from the USDA.

Did you miss the community-wide meeting Tuesday night? If you’d like to work with others in the community on building a new library, there is always time to join one of the committees.

The committees are:

Funding

Budget

Services

Technology

Building

Contact Alison at the library, 859-2442, for more information or to list your name on a committee.

Six study circles - four in Philip, one in Milesville and one in Midland - began meeting February 28th. Each group met for three weeks. Last night, seventy concerned citizens attended a community-wide meeting at the grade school gym to learn the outcome of those study circles.

At the first week’s study circle, each group discussed the current library, its services and the assets and challenges of the library’s current location. They also talked about ways to improve it now so as to better serve the needs of Haakon County. The groups also discussed their vision for library services in the county. This included everything from size and appearance to available technology and programs offered by the library.

During the second meeting, the groups studied and critiqued their vision. Participants discussed pros and cons to the group’s vision and how to promote the vision to the community.

The final meeting had each group brainstorming on how to move their vision into action. Specifically, they talked about how to raise funds and gather community support for a future library.

Tuesday night, the groups shared with the community all their ideas and topics gone over during the study circles. Alison, our librarian, reminded the listeners, ‘No matter how you feel about any of the ideas shared tonight, please remember that this is your community. Not any one person or group can choose the best course of action for a community’s library. This must begin on a community level with the community’s support. Embarking on the journey to build a new library will not be easy by any means which is why you need each other’s support as a community.’

Members of the Philip COMMUNITY MARKETING ACTION TEAM will meet April 7th at 6:30pm at THE STEAKHOUSE.

The rain and snow stayed in the sky and temperatures hovered around a brisk 38 degrees, but that didn’t stop the kids from coming out in droves to take part in an Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by Haakon County Young Women. The hunt, held at the Kiddie Park, was open to children ages 0-3rd Grade. The kids hunted hundreds and hundreds of eggs filled with candy, trinkets and even money. The Easter Bunny herself even made an appearance!

(I sympathized COMPLETELY with this little gal - I felt like crying too. I was THAT cold.)

A community-wide meeting will take place on Tuesday evening, March 25th at 6:30pm at the Elementary School Gym.

If you want your voice to be heard concerning our hopes for a new library, PLEASE be there. The six study circles will each present their goals/dreams, and then we will try to merge them together to pursue a solid plan that everyone can believe in.

Let’s make this project happen - we’ve been in talks forever - let’s move it to action!!!

The Haakon County Public Library Board and the Friends of the Haakon County Public Library initiated study circles in Haakon county to address library services and needs.

The study circles will serve the community by offering open and facilitated discussions for the community to share their opinions about library services and the library’s future. There will be a series of three meetings for each study circle group. At the first meeting each group will discuss the current library services and if they meet the needs of the county and the group will create a vision for library services in the county. Advantages and disadvantages to the visions will be discussed in the second meeting. At the final meeting participants will discuss how to move their vision into action. Lastly, the Board and the Friends of the Library will host a community wide meeting to discuss what happened at the study circles so the community can help to choose the path for future library services.

There will be 6 study circles in Haakon County. Please join us to share your opinion and vision for the library!

PHILIP:

Monday: 6:30 - 8:30 pm, Senechal. March 3, 10, and 17

Tuesday: 12:00 - 2:00 pm, Courthouse. March 4, 11, and 18

Wednesday: 6:30 - 8:30 pm, Courthouse. March 5, 12, and 19

Thursday: 6:30 - 8:30 pm, Senechal. Feb. 28, March 6, and 13

MILESVILLE:

Wednesday: 6:30 - 8:30 pm, Hardingrove E-Free Church. March 5, 12, and 19

MIDLAND:

Thursday: 6:30 - 8:30 pm, Midland Library. March 6, 13, and 20

If you have any questions, please call Alison at the Library. 859-2442

Committee Members:

* Kelly Baxter
* Brittany Smith
* Becky Brech
* Sheila Olson
* John Kramer
* Lois Porch
* Dan Van Gorp
* Fay Hauk
* Terry Henrie
* Terry Holman

I don’t have the entire list of goals they outlined at their last meeting, but I know they’ve got their eyes on several really great things!  Before the centennial, this group worked hard cleaning up Bad River Park and assisted the RTA in painting the school at the Old Schoolhouse Park.  A few members also helped install new playground equipment at the school.

Committee Members:
* DJ Rush
* Amber Rush
* Britni Ross
* Dan Van Gorp
* Diane Fitch
* Tanya McIlravy
* Doug West

Current/Future Objectives:

*  Library/Resource Sharing

*  Community Center

*  Professional Building

Committee Members:
* Tom Radway
* Brittany Smith
* Jay Baxter
* Corky Thorson
* Tony Talley
* Les Pearson
* Shirley Chin
* Del Bartels
* Kathy Gittings
* Duke Westerberg

Goal: To inform people of services available and community activities

* Objective 1 - To erect an electronic marquee in town

* Objective 2 - Update, print and distribute current community resources
Add to uses/coverage of Channel 15 through the school

Committee Members
* Kent Olson
* Tom Radway
* Mel Smith
* Ray Smith
* Donna Smith
* Roger Porch
* Don Burns
* Branden West
* Jody Gittings
* Kelly Penticoff

Goal:  To establish Economic Development Corporation to be the parent organization or mechanism for any and all activities related to housing.

*  Objective 1:  Identify opportunities for commercial/industrial business development

*  Objective 2:  To provide adequate quantity and quality housing options to the community

*  Objective 3:  Research potential business ideas that could be developed through a business incubator mechanism

Committee members 
* Kim Kanable
* Brittany Smith
* Kent Olson
* Michelle Butler
* Tonya Kramer
* Susan Bartels

Goal:  To provide adequate quantity and high quality childcare in Philip.

*  Objective 1:  Identify the need for additional daycare within the community.

*  Objective 2:  The committee will fine interested person(s) to open and/or operate a new daycare.

*  Objective 3:  The committee will review available locations and housing for new daycare.

A free seminar on Affordable Housing was held in Kadoka at Jigger’s Restaurant on February 25, 2008. Individuals represented several communities to learn about issues and possible solutions regarding housing situations in rural South Dakota.

A representative of the Rural Housing Collaborative in Howard gave a presentation titled “Flipping the Switch – Why We Need to Rethink Rural Housing”. After summarizing the research findings, Rita discussed how rural communities need to come together as a whole village and “swim together” to solve complicated issues.

She provided a link with some interesting information: www.rethinkruralhousing.com. They also hope this site will become a useful tool to help communities avoid reinventing the wheel.

After a short break, we heard from an informed panel of speakers on various services and programs available to western South Dakota.

Marlene Knutson, executive director of the South Dakota Central Enhancement District shared her experiences with a successful house project in Lemmon when she was the Economic Development Coordinator there. She also discussed the Governor’s House program.

Mark Lauseng, executive director of the South Dakota Housing Authority, expanded on the Governor’s House program. The current price for a 1008 square foot home (delivered) is $33,000. He also discussed several different programs that assist low and moderate-income individuals/families obtain quality housing. Below-market interest rates, home improvement loans, down payment programs and the Governor’s House program are all programs that can help South Dakotans become homeowners. More information can be found at www.sdhda.org.

Joy McCracken, executive director of Neighborhood Housing Services of the Black Hills, discussed several interesting programs in their “Campaign for Home Ownership”. Some of those programs are Plant the Town, Paint the Town, Revolving Loan Funds and Block Clubs. They also offer many different education classes including homebuyer education courses, post-purchase classes which provide how-to and hands-on maintenance courses, and credit counseling to educate participants on living within their means. This organization originally began to benefit Black Hills communities, but now reaches most of western South Dakota. A plethora of information can be found at www.nhsblackhills.org.

Connie Gerard, rural development specialist with the USDA Rural Development Rural Housing Service, gave information on some different loan and grant programs. The 504 Home Repair Loan and Grant Program assists eligible, very low income home owners with repairs to their home. The Direct 502 Home Ownership Loan Program provides loans to low and very low income families to purchase an existing home, build a new home, purchase a new manufactured home from an approved dealer/contractor, or purchase and set up a Governor’s House. The Guaranteed Rural Housing Loan Program guarantees loans made by private lenders which allow eligible applicants to purchase a new or an existing home. All of these programs can be seen at www.rurdev.usda.gov/sd.

Finally, a representative of the New Underwood area talked about ways they developed housing and attracted individuals to their town by becoming a bedroom community to Rapid City. Brett had many interesting things to say and had words of wisdom on how things could be accomplished more easily than when they took on their first project.

The meeting ended with wide discussion on the problems facing several of the represented communities. While all the communities face the housing crisis, each situation is very unique and will require completely different procedures. It was reiterated that the housing problem could not be solved immediately, but that it would take lots of hard work and dedication to completing one project at a time.

Those representing Philip at the seminar were Kent Olson, Shirley Chin, Michelle Butler and Britni Ross.

On the evening of January 14th, the Visioning Committee presented to members of the community Philip’s Strategic Plan. A good crowd was on hand to hear Kent Olson talk about the goals we’ve chosen to work on for the improvement of Philip. Dan Oedekoven & Kari Fruechte were on hand to celebrate with us and to tell us what we can look forward to in the meetings coming up.

Philip will be a community that continues to grow in population and resources through the 21st century.  The western values of the area will result in residents and newcomers alike wanting to stay in our vibrant and viable community to raise future generations.

Philip residents will know and care for each other with a wealth of resources and educational opportunities and will do so for all stages of life.

Parents will be assured of the physical well-being and educational growth of their children.  Families will rest easy at night in safe, affordable housing within the community.

Gainful employment will be available for all who wish to work.

Philip will continue its regional leadership while building relationships across the trade area.

Philip will witness and support the ongoing creation of new and innovative businesses and community infrastructure that result in community growth and prosperity.

Friends of the Haakon County Public Library recently sponsored a contest for Mrs. O’Connor’s freshman English class.

Students were paired together and given their choice of posters from The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. These posters have an almost eerie Twilight Zone feeling to them. Treasurer of the Friends’ group, Britni. R., presented the winners, Shelby B. and John S., with their gift certificates. In addition to winning the certificates, their story The Immortals, will be published in the local newspaper.

Philip’s Horizon Group is having their Strategic Planning Celebration Supper at The Steakhouse on Monday, January 14, at 6:30pm.  The supper is free and everyone is welcome. 

The dictionary defines poverty as “the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions”.

After attending the Study Circles and the LeadershipPlenty training sessions,  members of Philip’s Horizons group see poverty in a different way:  lack of sufficient day care (the four in our community all have waiting lists),  absence of nice affordable housing in the community (there is little or none),  a crowded, inadequate library (it’s been that way since 1964),  a better way to communicate community events (a strong gust of wind will blow the sign over that is placed at the intersection of Center & Pine),  a sports complex that needs to be improved and enlarged (Philip would no longer have to travel to Kadoka to hold their own track meet),  and a lack of marketing of Philip as a great place to live & raise a family.

Philip is fortunate in many ways:  we have a main street that is flourishing, a great school system, a medical complex (new up-to-date hospital, dentist, chiropractor, eye care center, physical therapy center, nursing home, assisted-living center and ambulance service) that services many area communities,  five major ag-related businesses that also serve a wide area and a manufacturing concern that is a world leader in its field.   Philip is wealthy in that it is a community that cares about its members and its future.

With determination and hard work, we hope to change some of what we see as poverty.

Give us time, kids. Give us time.   Earlier,  second graders gave us some ideas of what they thought Philip needed:  a dirt track,  a NASCAR track and a castle.   Who knows?   Anything is possible if we work hard at it.

The following is posted on behalf of Tanya McIlravy. Anyone got ideas or suggestions?

The conservation district board recently voted to remove any further development of the outdoor classroom area at the school from their plan of work, including commissioning a new design plan for the area. They had been setting aside money each year in an account to fund the design plan, but are now unwilling to head up or maintain anything else concerning the project site.

Is there a committee that is part of the Horizons program that may be willing to take on this project? The board stated they would consider funding the planning if an outside group emerged to take on the project itself, especially maintenance. The project proposal included replacing the steps and adding other trails (a part of the larger trails project I proposed several years ago to the various groups in the area that Shirley had been working on, including the city’s efforts to put in sidewalk along 73). However, other parts of the master plan include interpretive exhibits and educational/hands-on exhibits that were selected by the teachers and students during brainstorming sessions, as well as seeking out funds and personnel to create a site-specific, grade-specific curriculum for the site. Additional brainstorming with the higher grades, as well as follow ups with the elementary teachers will be necessary before planning, to be sure our ideas correspond to current classroom needs.

The board’s biggest concern seemed to be maintenance, and they also did not believe that the community supports this project, that only a few teachers use what is already offered and that is sufficient. I know that is not the case, both from my previous work with various groups in effort to establish a support base for the project in the beginning, as well as contacts with various people around the community and information on who has been using the site, etc. As far as maintenance, the two items in place, the living classroom and the butterfly garden, are by far the most maintenance intensive items planned for the site. The board is going to continue maintaining them, so the only maintenance needed by others would be based on what is added to the site.

I have done lots of research into how to design the site so that maintenance is minimal. I also know that design is crucial to controlling amount of maintenance. And, there will be no maintenance involved if nothing is installed, which translates to not making changes until a plan is in place for either a particular section/exhibit, or for the whole area.

Basically, what is needed now is a group to accept this project as its own, and move forward with brainstorming and design. I had asked the school board if they could form an ad hoc committee for this and they declined. The horizons group was my next choice, as there are already groups formed, and many of the organizations and people that supported this project are involved in horizons. I don’t believe any of the current groups that support this project would be able to take this on, and I am not sure if they would want to create an ad hoc committee that included non-members.

I hope you and the other members of the Horizons project are supportive of the outdoor classroom project. Please let me know if you have any interest in taking on this project, and if you have any questions. I am willing to be a part of making this project a success.

Tuesday night, December 11th, the Haakon County Public Library entertained 19 youngsters and 12 adults. The evening started off with Alison K., our librarian, reading THE POLAR EXPRESS (Chris Van Allsburg) to a very attentive audience.

Then Marianne F. entertained the group with music and story books. The children danced with sticks to WE GOT THE BEAT and even some of the adults kicked up their heels to JUMP JIM JOE.

The children learned about typewriters from CLICK, CLACK, MOO: COWS THAT TYPE (Doreen Cronin & Betsy Lewin). They also learned what SNOWMEN AT NIGHT (Caralyn & Mark Buehner) do.

Hot chocolate and muffins were served as refreshments. Thank you to all the women who helped to entertain that night.

As most of you know, Cub Scout Pack 37 is alive and going strong in Philip, South Dakota. We are always looking for new boys to join. Boys must be 5 years old and/or in kindergarten and are able to transfer to a Boy Scout unit after the 5th grade.
At the conclusion of this school year, we will be losing several boys do to their ages….so we need some new guys to keep the program going strong.

Cub Scouts is very family oriented and much of the work is done on your own at home with parental involvement.  If you would like to know more or are interested in joining, please contact David Butler at 859-2172.