Final Review Graduation Questions

Horizons Community Graduation Interview and Debrief

1. Look back over the past 18 months and think about all that you did in the Horizons program. Would you do it again (or recommend that the community do it again) knowing what you know now? Why or why not?
YES, Trout Lake would do it again. There is a big time commitment to fulfilling the project but the rewards for community pride and spirit are worth it.

2. What was the best part of the Horizons program?
For Trout Lake it was the Study Circles; gathering together to praise the value of living in Trout Lake and helping to guide the future.

3. What was the most difficult or challenging part of the Horizons program?
Getting others on board and then to commit.

4. What was the biggest mistake or missed opportunity of the last 18 months in Horizons? How would you avoid it in the future?
We should have gone right into the Visioning immediately after the Community Forum at the end of Study Circles and then had Leadership Plenty after that. We had no response to Leadership Plenty on the first try.

5. If someone moved away two years ago (before Horizons) and came back to town today, what kinds of changes in the community, if any, would they see? A rejuvenated Grange Hall as a Community Center, now open for many community events; A Community Bulletin Board on the porch rail of the Grange Hall/Community Center; New people in leadership roles; Forward thinking, “can-do” attitude.

6. Of all the things you have done during the last 18 months in the Horizons program, of what are you most proud? Study Circles, the community dialog, the Community Forum. What could be done to insure that other communities get to achieve the same thing? Get respected, established, leaders involved in the project with some as leaders of Study Circles.

5. Horizons is a community leadership program focused on poverty reduction. What is the evidence that people in your community see poverty as a serious issue? One does not associate “poverty” with “Trout Lake” and yet we discovered through Horizons that we DO have families and children in financial poverty AND the community has social and sustenance needs that are not being answered. Are you working seriously at reducing poverty? The establishment of a Community Information Center at the Grange Hall/Community Center was a first step in getting information out to the public about available community opportunities. A Trout Lake YELLOW PAGES was published and included in the Annual Town Fair Booklet. A Trout Lake blog site has been established to further disseminate community information.

6-10.We’d like you to be very candid about your work with Ava Van Velsor and Linda Williams. What was it like to work with us/them? What did they do here? How could Linda and Ava have been of more help to you here? What could they do differently? What should they provide that they did not? What difference did it make to work with Ava and Linda? Could you have done (implemented) this program without their help? What would be different if they had not been involved? Ava and Linda were highly influential to our success in Horizons. They provided needed information, forms, and materials and checked and double checked to be sure we had what we needed. To have all the materials provided right down to refreshments, child/elder care, and gas cards made the project more do-able with no out-of-pocket expenses. When we reached low spots, especially with Leadership Plenty, they carried us through, obtained more acceptable deadline dates, and lots of encouragement. Their leadership was firm but friendly and sincere. There was no doubt that they wanted us to succeed. They did some wonderful editing of the reports we provided. The project had so many valuable spin-offs which allowed us to attend Small Community forums, speakers, and workshops that would have easily passed us by without their omnipresent emails!! Their friendly reminders of deadlines kept our goals in front of us and deadlines met. I know I speak for all of Trout Lake in expressing our appreciation to Ava and Linda for keeping us on track and on task through to the successful end of this project!

11. Will the community continue the work you started in Horizons? We have the confidence we need; we have discovered new leadership; we have a sense of community pride; we have more knowledge about available grant money and the skill and resources to make successful applications; we WILL continue the work started by Horizons!! What will you need to make sure that happens? We have already experienced new leadership that has a passion for a certain community betterment project and is willing to put their passion into action. Some of these folks will carry out large assignments; some will carry out small assignments; some will follow. It will be important for us to have projects of some size to work on together for the next five years to keep the momentum going; to keep the confidence up; to keep the community pride going. There still are some leaders in the business community that need to “buy in” (not literally) to the concept of planned community growth and what it can mean to their business. We found many of these folks were so busy with their business that they did not have time for community action at a major level. We need to get the school administration, youth, and lead teachers involved in future community improvement projects.



12. If you were talking to someone from another community who is thinking about participating in Horizons, what would you tell them? I would encourage them to find a few leaders who will be dedicated to the time needed to succeed. What would you tell them was the most important thing that happened in your community because of Horizons? The community dialog, on a positive, “can-do” attitude, which reflected the “good” things about our community on which we want to build the future. What do you think might happen in the future? Trout Lake is a great place to live and, as more people are finding out about what life could be like here, we are going to experience continued growth. I think the Horizons project gave us tools to guide and plan this growth. We probably will never be a “large” town because the value of the organic agriculture and dairy is well established on well-planned large parcels of land. However, our Planning Commission has allowed for development on non-agricultural which will probably lead to smaller lots and more affordable housing. Trout Lake will always be a community with a lot of pride and will see to it that it remains that way in the future.


13. Put on your big picture hat. What difference does it make in the state or the region that (23) small, rural communities participated in Horizons? I think the usual “small, rural community” mind set is “Oh, we can’t do that—it’s never been done that way—and besides, who cares?” Well, now these 23 communities know better. The Northwest Foundation cares; the WSU Extension Service cares; and now the people in each of these communities care as well. This is sure to make for a healthier financial, social, psychological, and physiological rural strength for the State of Washington. I believe this will have a big impact on the “Green” life that will be our future.

Respectfully submitted by,
Trout Lake Steering Committee
Doug Anderson, Co-Chair, Nina Pochna, Co-Chair, Ray Thygesen, Founding Co-Chair, Dorothy Franklin

Trout Lake Youth to 4H Leadership Conference

Here are the names of the students who have signed up for the June 29-July 1 leadership conference in Pullman.

Stephanie Irving will be the chaperone and has made arrangements for these students to attend.

Students from Trout Lake (and grades they’ll be in next year)

1. Lauren Hoodenpyl (9)
2. Gunnar Hoodenpyl (8)
3. Rick Cantwell (9)
4. Grace Anton (8)
5. Sebastian Mael (9)
6. Dana Kavanagh (11)
7. Katie Yarnell (11)
8. Megan Mersereau (11)
9. Lucas King (9)
10. Alex King (8)

Strategic Planning Grange Hall/Community Center Rejuvenation

STRATEGIC POVERTY REDUCTION PLAN

Washington Horizons Community: Trout Lake

Topic or focus area: Rejuvenation of the Grange Hall as a “Community Center”.

Why is this a focus area? It was revealed in the Horizons Study Circles, as well as the community survey, done by Horizons, that Trout Lake needed a physical central focus point where the community could meet for social events, educational meetings, and sharing of goods and services.

Why did our community believe this focus area would lead to the reduction of poverty? According to the Klickitat County Census of 2000, Trout Lake has a poverty rating of 14%. We believe that “poverty” in Trout Lake is more about “enrichment” than about “wealth”. We further believe that the enrichment that can be shared by the citizens of Trout Lake was largely going un-tapped. Many of our new citizens were folks retiring from a successful career in the working world and whose potential contributions to our community were being kept as a carefully guarded secret. The Grange Hall, celebrating its Centennial this year, had become a building of very little activity and then only by the few pioneer members who were struggling to keep it going. The two main events there were the Annual Saturday Market in the summer and the monthly meetings of The Quilters. In the details below we will show how this focus area will lead to the reduction of poverty in Trout Lake, Washington.

WHAT WILL WE DO?
Horizons will provide the impetus to get more people interested in the Grange as an organization, who will then elect new leadership. Horizons will provide the impetus for new activities to enrich the life of Trout Lake such as: a monthly Soup Supper and Community Dance, a regular forum of speakers and films on issues of concern from an understanding of the local Organic Dairy Industry to subsistence living in Cuba. Horizons will provide the funding for forum events such as Subsistence Living on a Limited Budget and a film series on social concerns. Horizons will provide the funding for upgrading the kitchen facilities for community use while using the building, and for media equipment and a film library for the film series.

WHO IS OUR TARGET AUDIENCE?
The Grange is often viewed as a group of adults in agricultural careers. We plan to involve families in many of these newly planned events; we plan to develop a summer activities program for the youth of our community with a film series especially of interest to this age level. These summer activities would also involve tapping into the rich leadership potential that lives in our community to lead day activities combining the interests of both youth and adult. We plan to develop a food sharing program involving the many master-gardeners in our community, to provide quality produce at economical prices to the non-gardeners, and to develop other community gardens.

WHY ARE WE DOING IT?
We believe a vital Community Center at the Grange Hall will provide an enriched life in Trout Lake. This Center can also provide a source of poverty reduction for those with produce and crafts to sell at the annual, and well-established, Saturday Market (July 4 weekend to Labor Day weekend), an event that adds considerably to the economy of the community as it gathers the locals together and brings in many visitors for weekend activity.


INDICATORS OF SUCCESS
The indicators of success will be the number of people who are drawn to the events at the Community Center, especially the number of new people who become involved in the leadership and active life of these events.

TIMELINE
The rejuvenation of the Grange as an organization began with the Horizon Study Circle discussions in the Fall of 2006 and took action in the spring of 2007 when the membership increased from 5-8 hardy pioneers to over 30 in a matter of weeks! The monthly Soup Suppers began in the Fall of 2007 with about 15 people responding to the initial idea. Subsequent months have included dance lessons, theme parties, and even costumes so that the current attendance is between 50-60 community members of all ages. The Horizon sponsored Workshop Series on Sustainable Living on a Budget will begin on May 25, 2008 and continue on June 8 and 22. The Community Forum Documentary Series began in early 2008 and has a schedule of film events to carry through for the next 12-15 months. The proposals for the kitchen appliances and the media equipment will be generated in June 2008 for presentation to the Foundation.
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Horizon Training Activities

Trout Lake Horizons hosted a Grant Writing Workshop April 17, 2008 with 9 in attendance.

May 25, 2008 Monique Dupre led a workshop "Sustainable Living on a Budget" with over 40 in attendance. She will continue this 3-part workshop on Saturday, June 7, 2008 from 4-6 p.m. at the Grange Hall/Community Center on the topic of "Breads" and Sunday, June 8, 2008 from 2-4 p.m. on the topic of "Dairy Products". The Saturday meeting will include some pot-luck foods.

Beginning in June, the second Thursday of the month will be a Film Forum at the Grange Hall/Community Center with the showing of a documentrary film followed by a discussion.