Fertile, MN

A meeting was set for November 20th at the closing of the meeting at the Learning Center (November 5). At this time the Future Squad representatives were to bring one or two plans of action for their squad (or category they were working on: Vibrant Downtown or Welcoming/Volunteering or Recreation/Activities/Events.) After each area was represented the group as a whole worked on a draft for a Work Plan. The plan is to structure future Horizons meetings and business protocol as we drive towards becoming independent of the Horizons at large into our own community Horizons group. At this time the plan is in draft form. Another meeting is planned for the 4th of December to finalize the draft. The final draft will be posted when it is completed.
Again, please post any ideas or suggestions for this post or others. Any comments are welcome. If you would like to be more involved in a Future Squad commitee please contact Jeannie Erickson.

Horizons Team Work Plan Meeting

Tuesday, December 4 th 2007

6:00 PM

Concordia Lutheran Church Fertile (use left door)

The members of the future sqaud Vibrant Downtown – Economic Opportunities
meet Monday 12 at the community center.

John Frohrip had some maps of Fertile area for us to look at and he showed us where water lines ran and some area’s that could be good development. He explain why some areas would be better that others. He said, there are people that have talked to him about new business opportunities in Fertile. Our Squad will meet again soon to identify which area we will focus on first.

The attendees of the visioning session were encouraged to attend the next meeting at the Learnig Center in a week. The meeting was held November 5. Those who did attend enjoyed some pizza while visiting and then got down to the business at hand. Donna Rae Jacobson (who originally brought the Horizons program to Fertile) along with Lori Rothstein ( our blogging instructor and tech support) led the meeting. The visioning statement was revisited and broken down into components or categories. These became the three main categories: A vibrant downtown, Welcoming/ Volunteering, and Recreation/Activities/ Events. Meeting attendees chose which group they would like to work with and these became “future squads”. The future squads were givien an assignment: come up with one or more action plans that will implement plans to work towards these goals. Representatives (2) from each group were chosen and they will present ideas to the greater Horizons committee on November 20th. Anyone is welcoming to come on board and bring their ideas and plans to the afore mentioned groups. Just comment or ask any questions right here on the blog!

Our guest speaker David Beurle from Australia leads a visioning session for the community of Fertile. He reminded the group several times the key part of community is unity
(comm-)(unity)! David was definately an inspiring speaker. In addition to the many points that were made during the session, Mr. Beurle brought to our attention how much revenue was leaving the city of Fertile and how we might want to try to keep more of those dollars in the community by better meeting the goods and service needs of the community.

Here is Fertile giving their thoughts on statements of “The Top Ten Attributes of a Successful Community”. Everyone was given green and red dots with which to designate- yes (green) this is a true stament about our community or no (red) it is not. The ten different statements and the majority vote for each were as follows:
1. Evidence of strong community pride and inclusive culture. GREEN
2. Invest in the future- built to last! RED
3. Participatory approach to community decision making. RED
4. Creatively build new economic opportunities. RED
5. Support local businesses. 1/2 AND 1/2
6. Deliberate transition of power to new leaders. RED
7. Strong belief in and support for education. GREEN
8. Strong presence of traditional institutions that are integral to
community life. GREEN
9. Willingness to seek help from the outside. RED
10. Communities are self- reliant. GREEN

It was from these statements and which of them the group felt were representative of Fertile, combined with those we would like to achieve for the community, that the visioning statement was developed.