Walhalla, ND

Wednesday morning came very early but off we went again, this time to Devils Lake to a grant writing class sponsored by North Dakota State University Center for Community Vitality.  Helen, Deirdre, Shirley and Liann all went to the class with hopes of helping to learn to write grants for various organizations.  Dr. Lynette Krenelka was a wonderful teacher with a great sense of humor. Lots of information was passed around among the people attending.  I got to see Alyce Heer from Anamoose who said that Joe was getting married in June, I just might have to go.  Do you think there might be shorter lady moose there for me?    It was fun seeing friends from the Horizons program and meeting newfriends. Here are some pictures from the class.    

North Dakota Tourism conference was held April 21 & 22 in Mandan and I got to go. I Went shopping for spring clothes don’t I look great.  I registered at the main desk so that I could attend the sessions.  The first day was the Governors Awards Banquet and the dinner was very good only I ate the Desert first.  Walhalla was really excited at the awards banquet because Kathy Stremick won the state award for 2008 Travel Industry Leader.  Congratulations Kathy!!  Kathy’s parents Kenny and Martina Stagl were on hand to see Kathy recieve her award.  I had my picture taken with Governor Hoeven and Kathy after everything was over WOW what an honor.  Congratulations to all the winners.  After all that excitement I was tired so I went to the room instead of singing Karaoke Monday night.  All in all it was a fun conference.  I can’t wait till next year in Grand Forks.  

We traveled to Grafton on Saturday April 19th for a taste of home show.  Kathy and Liann sure set up the nice display quickly.  The day went fast with a lot of people visiting our tourism booth to see what the Rendezvous Region has to offer.  I met a dog giving away dog biscuits, he was really tall compared to me.  I was really tired at the end of the day. 

Ashley along with a few students went all over town to businesses solving math problems and receiving clues to their next stop. 

The Mayor of Walhalla signed a Arbor Day Proclamation.  Arbor Day will be celebrated May 1, 2008 at Riverside Park. 

 12 Noon….Greetings by Liann Zeller. 

 12:10….Arbor Day History-by Sharon Bartels. 

12:20….Announce Poster Contest Winners. 

12:25….Walhalla 6th Graders Plant Trees.

Tree Educational Sessions for 4, 5 & 6 grades. 

1:00-1:30pm  First Session. 

 1:40-2:10pm Second Session. 

2:20-3:00pm Third Session.

Presenters: 

Forestry Tools………….David Nowatzki,   ND Forest Service                   

Animals that Live in ND Forests………..Marty Egeland,  ND Game & Fish Dept.

Reading the Rings & Keying Out Trees………Helen Volk-Schill, NDSU-Pembina County Extension.

There was an important meeting Wednesday afternoon at the Walhalla Inn.   It was called Back to North Dakota:  Coming Full Circle.  Guest speaker was Patti Knobbe,  Norfolk Nebraska Area Recruiters.  I was invited to the meeting to see what it was all about.  Patti spoke on how to attract graduates back to the community that raised them.  People from the whole tri-county attended the meeting.  I even got my picture taken with Lynette and Patti!!

The first beautification meeting of the year was held in March even though there was still snow on the ground its time to think about what to plant in the barrels.  I got to go to the meeting and the ladies even let me dig in a barrel.  Maybe next month it will be warm enough to think about plants.  The beautification group is also looking at banners for main street and events to do in the park this summer.If anyone wants to join the group they meet the first Tuesday on every month at 6:30 pm.   

Thursday, March 27th Liann, Deirdre and Helen headed to Cooperstown for a tourism conference but I was to tired to go with them.  They came back talking about everything they learned and how great the food was.  Liann kept talking about something called geocaching and maybe having free classes on using a GPS systems.