Rolette, ND

At the July 9 celebration, North Dakota Horizons Project Director Lynette Flage recognized the communities that have completed the program; Anamoose, Bowdon, Cando, Cooperstown, Dodge, Gackle, Grant County, Harvey, Hazelton, Lidgerwood, Linton, Maddock, McKenzie County, New Town, Rocklake, Rolette, Rutland, Sheyenne, Stanley, Steele and Walhalla.

Governor. John Hoeven congratulated the representatives for providing the leadership their communities need to develop not just economically but also socially. Vice President for Agriculture and University Extension D.C. Coston explained how the communities’ work melds with NDSU’s Grow 21 efforts of working towards three essential attributes for healthy communities; (a) a diverse, resilient economy, (b) effective, efficient infrastructure, and (c) leadership. 

What is the status of Rolette Counties 911 service being managed by operators in Rolette County???  Aren’t there enough phone in Rolette County to make it profitable to run the dispatch by Rolette people???  What kind of service satisfaction  does Devil’s Lake guarantee???  Are all the counties serviced by Devil’s Lake Happy?????  Is the Devil’s Lake equipmentup today????  Does Bottineau County offer a solution.  Is the cut .60 for personnel and .40 for equipment rental????  With that cut we should be able to pay operators $8.24/hour.  Not a bad pay rate.  Don’t we want JOBS like that in Rolette county???  Can we assume that operators in the County can process 911 calls better and FASTER?????  Please comment. I am sure I have some misinformation .  Enlighten me!!!

Can you believe that the Rolette community put forth a spring consignment auction?  It was a unique way to get rid of what you don’t need and to earn some extra cash.  Some of the best deals could be found.. if you had the stamina to wait for the auctioneer to get to the items you were looking for.   (I know my brother in law came away with great treasures that he decided needed to be shared with my children). The auction started around 9 am with the berm of main street full of treasures and the auction completed around 10 p.m. What a long day! The day was full of visiting, collecting items and friends, and bidding on prized items!  Several community groups were on hand to assist with your comfort needs.   The All for Christ Group served cotton candy, mini doughnuts, and cold pop. The Rolette Fire Department served brats, dogs and bbqs out of the fire hall.  They shared the garage with the Ladies of WELCA who served pies and coffee.  I heard tell the wonders of a cherry pie that was to die for…. hmmm?  I wonder if that could be a new business in town.. Rolette the Cherry Pie capital?

The class is finally done!  It was a long hard class but the participants enjoyed it.  This class was welcomed into the Leadership Alumi but the the Leadership Plenty 2007 class. At the ceremony, the 2007 class offered words of wisdom, thankfulness for the class they took, and the freindships that were made. Tears were brought to my eyes but the bonds these people made, the work they are currently doing and the acknowledgement they gave us, the trainers. We can accomplish great works! Heres to the inspiration of the NEW Leaders of this community.  Go forth and do good!

Holly of the “Entrepreneurial Center for Horticulture” in Bottineau is compiling a list of interested people who want to take some continuing ed classes this winter and produce vegetables next summer.  If you are interesting in operating a garden plot for profit give her a call at 228-4032 and get on the mailing list.  Holly is talking about using “high tunnels” to extend the growing season and getting the produce to market safely.  People on the list already are Iren Scott, Howard Lemieux and Jo Gilje. 

Call Holly at 228-4032

Saturday morning didn’t look like a good day to clean roadside ditches.  With SNOW on the ground and a cold wind it looked like the ditch leaning would be postponed.  But by 10am the snow was gone and the sun was shining.  By 1pm the weather was fine.  Three members from the Rolla club and 9 members for the Rolette club HAPPILY picked trash.  Some items of note were 1 skate board without wheels, sunglasses with 1 lens and 1 nail apron.  Pop cans were saves separate to be recycled.  Thank you 4-H kids for helping keep Rolette County clean.  For more information on 4-H call Jo Gilje at 246-3427 or follow this link   http://www.ext.nodak.edu/4h/4-h.htm 

How can we encourage our alumni and others to come back to live and work and thrive in their hometown?  This was the same question Patti Knobbe and the rest of the folks who formed the Norfolk Area Recuiters of Norfolk, Nebraska asked themselves and came up with a good answer:  Recruit! Recruit! Recruit! They have developed a recruiting program that has worked very well for their area, and Patti was in Rolette April 9 to present to all who gathered at the Valle Lutheran Church, what they did and how they did it.   We all went home not only with good food in our tummys–prepared by the Rolette Dollars for Scholars–but with good food for thought.  Through her presenation we learned several ways to begin a “Back to North Dakota” recruiting program in all our hometowns. 

It has been a few years now since Pat Beaver came up with the idea of having a book exchange in the Rolette Mall. It has been well received by the community and the people in the area. Four and sometimes five shelves of books are available free to the public for the taking. The books range from westerns, to thrillers, romances alnd everything in between. Even Reader’s Digest books if that lifts your kite. Just leave one or two or take one or two. Everyone is welcome and the books have been enjoyed by all ages. Stop by during mall hours and join in the fun.

How do you teach the children about money?  This is hard to begin with but if you have poor management skills to begin with it is even harder.  This Horizons group, thanks to the efforts of Janie Jung, Pat Beaver and the local school are going to tackle this problem.  Janie found the game “Cash Flow” and brought it to the director asking the group to purchase it and she would teach it to the children.  Pat Beaver volunteered her family to be the guinea pigs over Easter weekend; and thank goodness she did. The game is more involved then the advertisements lead you to believe.  Janie then took the game is and hooking up with the 21st century/ boys and girls club to “play” the game after-school at the school.  This will give the kids a snack, and Janie a stipend to play it with them. So all are happy so far! We will keep you posted.  I, personally, plan on playing a few rounds to try and pick up some better habits.   May I will be the next millionaire in Rolette…… wait maybe I would be the first….Ha! Ha!

The e-bay class at the Rolette Technology center was a great success.  Dan from Bowbells was a great teacher with real eBay experience.  He show how to research items to set the right price, add an item to sell on eBay with a good picture and how to use paypal and ship the item that was sold.  So much useful information.  This class taught students how to make a little extra money selling items.  Items sold were new and old, big and small, expensive and cheap.  Congratulations to the students for learning a new skill that they can pass along to others.  Thank you to Dan for bringing all of his experience to Rolette and sharing it.  It would not have been possible without the efforts of Karen Armstrong who organized the class.eBay