Estelline, SD

The Northwest Area Foundation conference I attended in MN was non-stop education!  Many partners in addressing poverty were there, my favorite speaker about poverty was Tom Vilsack, the former governor of Iowa.  The number one speaker about strategy, Chip Heath (author of the book Make it Stick , which I brought home to share), explained making messages memorable and motivating.   Peter S  from Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina was most entertaining and effective with programs making financial issues riveting; their TV production Nuevo Barrio could be a great asset locally.

Lots of things I can hardly wait to tell you about, including their endorsements of local foods, and many fund-raising ideas.  The amusing byproduct of registration enmass by SDSU for everyone in SD was that Estelline was hometown on all our nametags…would that this little town had that many interested volunteers……

The following letter was sent to Estelline area businesses and citizens.

Dear Friend,

      The students of the Estelline School District and surrounding community are waiting with excitement for the Missoula Children’s Theatre to come to Estelline the week of July 6^th.    Approximately 60 students in grades 1-12 will be presenting two performances on July 11^th and 12, along with the Children’s Theatre staff.

 This promises to be a fun summer activity for the students and the community, as well.    If you would like to be a sponsor for this summer program, donations will gladly be accepted. All sponsor names and/or businesses will be listed in the program.

We are also in need of housing for one more of the two ladies coming with the Missoula Children’s Theatre.    Evening dinner invitations during the week of July 6^th   would also be welcomed by our guests. 

If you would like further information please contact me at 873-2203 or 873-2699. Donations may be sent to the school at P. O. Box 306, Estelline, 57234.  

Thank you for considering this request on behalf of the young people of the Estelline community.

  Sincerely,

Sharon Delzer

Missoula Children’s Theatre Coordinator

Saturday when a small group of intrepid gardeners cleaned up a few small rocks from the surface  and got dust on everybody.  It was even too windy to grill a hot dog, so we shared cupcakes and cookies, took some pictures, and went home with plans for better days. 

Grants supplied monies for the Children’s Garden and also biodegradable shopping bags and food safety handouts for the Farmers’ Market. 

Best of all, the water is flowing for irrigating the plots.  Thanks to all, especially the Donley family for the Memorial Garden, and lots of work!

The summer is filling up with lots of activities.  Here are some dates for your calendar.

• May 24 - 10-2 - Children’s Community Garden Presentation  
• June 14 - 9-4 - Rummage Sale at Lake Poinsett - Get items to Cyndi Johnson’s by June 13.  No adult clothes please.
• June 17 - 6:30 - Trails Edge - Monthly Horizons Meeting
• June 20 - First Farmers’ Market and festivities to celebrate check presentation
• June 21 - Estelline Clean Up Day
• July - Work on the Tech Center
• July 8-13 - Missoula Children’s Theater in Estelline with presentations on Friday/Saturday                                                

Congratulations to Mary Buckmiller who has written three grant proposals which have brought in funds for our community garden.  The three grants are for tools from Fiskers, seeds and plans from the Extension Service and funds for the children’s garden from the Master Gardener program.  On May 24, there will be a Children’s Garden Reception from 10-2 to celebrate the grant and inform children about gardening.  The reception will take place at the community garden. 

“Project; Sweet Corn” won funding as a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education grant for Troy D.  He plans to raise corn in the Community Garden and market the produce at the Farmers’ Market demonstrating profitability of locally grown foods and evaluating the most efficient way to grow the corn.

You can expect to patronize his market offering mid-August.

Watch for the education component of his project after harvest and sales are complete in the Estelline Journal.   Congratulations, Troy.

Kid’s Workshop

Children’s Gardening Brochure

Children’s Garden Sign-up Sheet

Estelline Community Garden applications are available. Please click here.

SD Arts Council grant will provide professional services to assist the community in creating a mural on the south side of Ward’s Shopping Center.  Congratulations to Dayle S on the successful application;  ideas and design suggestions are requested — you can mail them to Dayle at PO Box 453 or drop them off at their home. 

Watch for more opportunities to participate in generating art and fund raising soon.

• Water Lines and Electricity are in the trenches;  there will be some settling in the trench area so drop the sod bits and more soil in there,  and WATCH YOUR STEP AROUND THE GARDEN  -THE GROUND IS UNEVEN-
• Children’s Garden plans this year are bolstered by grants from Homemakers (FCCA) for seed and equipment and the Master Gardener Program for programming;  congratulations to Mary B for success in bringing proposals to fruition.  Watch the newspaper for specifics of the Pumpkin Patch Kids 8 weekly sessions, 2 hours each, for students in grades 3-5 to be held at the Community Garden.
• Applications for garden plots are now available at Country Corner and Reliabank.  There are 23 plots tilled, and more space available.  Please send your application in as soon as possible to make planning speed along-  We hope to complete assignments before the middle of May. 
• Conquering the sod in this inaugural year will take effort — for optimal growing conditions we will try to till the garden and remove the grass (please bring your rakes) every 7 to 10 days before the crops go in.
• First garden work day: May 3rd  4-5:30pm        Bring rakes and a trash bag.  We’ll collect ALUMINUM that day as well, so magnets will be helpful.   Bring your own beverage — we’ll have cookies.