Cottonwood, ID

By involving the entire community, via study circles, leadership
training and the action group meetings it better addresses the issues
and situation within the community.

One of the projects from the Horizons program was the development
of a community center. At the city council meeting one individual stated
that he had heard no complaints about the current building. The co-chairs
present were able to present documented information from hundreds of
participants that stated the public did feel they wanted a new center.
This type of community involvement is what is needed to get things
accomplished in a small community. Additionally, by utilizing the program
we were able to work with several smaller local communities that
assisted in merging all of them together.

We have the potential to bring more resources into the community through
shared leadership of a regional NPO. We are changing the “we can’t do it
here, we don’t have the resources” pervasive attitude. The
LeadershipPlenty class gave people an “oh, I can do this” attitude.

Both Grangeville Horizons and Prairie Horizons Groups are in the process of pooling
their resources in order to help community projects in both areas.

Another networking project is the result of a day’s conference in Post Falls by the Inland Northwest Partners who did an excellent job connecting Washington and Idaho for an even
larger regional impact.

The vision rally was powerful and generated energy among the people, the
businesses and schools - Can we generate that kind of thing again? People
spoke very positively about our community.

The center core group is still working to help make the vision come true.
Our first fundraisers are in the works.

The University of Idaho gave us the energy and technical support we
wouldn’t have had. More importantly, they gave us the “thinking” that it
(community vision) could be that way. Horizons would never have gotten
off the ground-we wouldn’t have known how to plan, how to move forward,
what to do.

An extra big thanks to our Coach, Kathee Tifft who’s always been available to help us in all that we’ve accomplished so far. We do hope we can continue to keep in touch with Kathee as we continue on realizing our communities’ vision. THANKS, KATHEE!

The Welcome to the Prairie Action Team hasdeveloped a resource
directory to recruit/welcome new families into our community.
We’re improving prospects for our community. We’re starting the
conversations and getting the emotional support that builds
key community relationships. Working with Grangeville is a significant
accomplishment. It’s remarkably wonderful because of the generational
competition between Cottonwood and Grangeville.

The grant writing class led to the development of a grant network. We’re
on a blog for grants and we’re truly collaborating by offering resources
and working on projects together. Elk City offered training on NPO board
development in our community.

The Economic Development Action Team invited University of Idaho Rural
Sociology Professor Lorie Higgins and History Professor Elizabeth Carney
to present information on a rural entrepreneurial program to area
artists/craftsmen. 2 Degrees NW is an opportunity for Prairie artisans
to gain more recognition and exposure. The program is based on a
similar program in North Carolina called “Handmade in America.” Local
artisans are featured in a trail guide, and tourists can base tours on
the guide to visit many of these artists. It’s very similar to taking a
tour of wineries. Lorie and Elizabeth are in the process of creating
something similar in the Palouse/Eastern Washington region, i.e. 2
Degrees NW. If the Prairie participates, the artisans and Prairie
communities could potentially be featured in a guidebook, and tourists
would be “brought” to the artists, rather than the other way around.
The Economic Development Team believes this could be a great way to
inject more interest in the Prairie’s culture, history, and art. The
meeting was positive overall regarding the 2 Degrees NW program and
Lorie and Elizabeth suggested a larger town-hall type meeting to further
identify the community’s assets.

Cody Gehring is completing an internship with the 2 Degrees Northwest
Program along with Horizons, and will be conducting historical research
in the Horizons communities this summer. He is currently seeing if he
can get Kathy Hodges, an oral historian from the Idaho State Historical
Society to do a workshop on oral history in some of the Horizons
communities. He feels oral history is a great way to help communities in
identifying their historical and cultural assets. He is also researching
historical information for the points of interest in the area.
(Cottonwood Butte, Keuterville Church, Keuterville Pub, Foster’s Grave).
Oral History Project

The following meetings are scheduled for the Quad City communities. Please remember you are welcome to be a part of any of these meetings.

**April 10 - 6:oo-8:00 PM - Steering Committee - Multi-purpose
Room in Community Center
April 15 - 630-8:30 PM - Intergenerational Action Team - Multi-
Purpose Room in Community Center
April 18 - 7:00-9:00 PM - Communication, Coordination,
Celebration Action Team - Angie’s
Crafts
April 22 - 7:00 PM - Welcome to the Prairie Action Team -
Guest Dining Room - St. Gertrude’s
Monastery

**PLEASE NOTE — THE APRIL 10TH STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING HAS BEEN CHANGED TO THURSDAY, APRIL 17TH 6-8 PM IN COMMUNITY CENTER MULTI-PURPOSE ROOM. SORRY FOR THE CHANGE — ALL ACTION TEAM CO-CHAIRS, PLEASE PLAN TO ATTEND. THANK YOU