Anyone interested in obtaining daycare for their children should attend a meeting Thursday night, May 1 at 7:00 PM at the Cavalier Corner. Chad Jodozi will be discussing the surveys which were sent out to all current day care providers, local businesses, and letters to the local people by the school banner. A needs assessment is being determined and your input would be appreciated. Everyone is invited to attend.
Save the day……Tyndall will host city-wide garage sales on Saturday, June 14. Our new youth center, Cavalier Corner, will be the site for the indoor tables this year and the table rent will go into their funds. Our Bargain Shoppe, right next door, will benefit from all the visitors to the other garage sales.
If you need to rent an indoor table call 589-4050. If you want to be included on the residence map and garage sale listing it will cost $8.00, payable to Tyndall Chamber. Sign up at the Art & Antique Gallery or 4-PAWS SPA. We hope other communities come to Tyndall for the fun morning of shopping for treasures!
Work is being done at this time to set up a Community Foundation, much like many of the other Horizon communities have done and are doing. This will ultimately be the “system” in which contact is kept with those partnering organizations and with the Delivery Organization. Right now, we know who to get in contact with. New information is regularly sent to the local paper and key people are notified of workshops that are scheduled in particular interest areas. The community foundation will work to procure new resources to assist in the work of the community. It will take time and diligence.
We have a pretty strong core of volunteers that stayed with Horizons the whole time through and if there are any future ideas or plans, they would be the people to contact and get the ball rolling-certainly to contact the right people to help with the idea. Our Tyndall Business & Service Directory produced through the Chamber and Horizons, will be a source of contact information.
That’s the big news! Pretty old….people are living longer due to great medicine, healthier lifestyle, hobbies and social interaction, according to the presenters at the workshop on Aging Population held recently at Mitchell Tech. Presenters Jim Seeber ( NSU Regional Aging Council), Renee Oscarson ( SDSU Extention Specialist Gerentology) and Linda Nussbaumer (SDSU Professor of Interior Design-effects of baby boomers on housing) relayed current statistics on the aging population, the importance for social support for the aging generation ( we need our Senior Centers!!!), transportation issues for elderly in getting to medical appointments or for shopping, and the various Social Services programs that are available to the people of retirement age. They said the key to support of the aged is to provide ACCESS - be that with more handicap parking, better access to shopping and restaurants, and education about the various programs available such as tax preparation help, food assistance, and help with insurance ( Medicare Part D for one….), creating social activities and getting them there, and encouraging healthy diets and exercise.
Renee’s substitute, Sandra Aamlid, recounted great experiences in helping the attendees at the senior center in S.F.( called The Center for Active Generations) and how important the social aspects of participating at the center was in the health and mental welfare of the people. She talked about how a church in the region built an exercise center onto the church campus and that it was used alot.
The biggest thing that I learned was to include the aging population in town activities and projects, as they have experience and multiple talents to share. When the baby boomers turn 65, there is still lots of living to do.
Nearly 50 people attended a public policy forum in Tyndall on April 16th addressing the issues of jobs, low income assistance through the state, the legislative items concerning low income, and some information on tax relief. Carla Brechtelsbauer, volunteer for Bread for the World, spoke about inconsistencies in taxes for the rich and the low income. According to Brechtelsbauer, did you know that we do not pay tax on food for hospitals but we do on nursing homes???? Did you know that we do not pay taxes on food for ostriches but we do for baby food? She had examples of inconsistency in property tax assessments and many other interesting factoids.
A guest panel of Bon Homme Social Services, County Health Nurse and our local legislator gave information on the many services that are available to those needing assistance. Some of the programs include WIC ( Women, Infants and Children) which includes free immunizations to those who qualify, plus lots of other assistance to new moms.
Available through the Social Services office are fuel assistance, food assistance ( formerly known as food stamps - which many people qualify for, but do not take advantage of, even though the WIC is available at our local grocery store!), and other programs. We also learned more about the free and reduced meals that are available at school. This program benefits the school and the teachers who have taken out state and federal loans. More information can be obtained by contacting Joyce Bittner at Bon Homme School District-see link in the green box on the right of this post.
Residents should follow the legislative issues in Pierre, according to Frank Kloucek. He also suggested that a time be set up to help elderly with the paperwork that needs to be filled out when applying for government assistance programs, as the paperwork is usually daunting. He also urged elderly citizens to be aware of scams that pop up, either through the mail or over the phone. Frank suggested more use of blended gasoline….but we don’t have one of those pumps in Tyndall yet…seems they cost about $17,000. If people went out of town to buy their gas, I would hope that they still spend their grocery, gifts,and pharmacy dollars back at home with our local businesses!
We have to thank Mark Nelson and Joe Kostal for their persistence in getting this forum set up, with a LOT of help from Kari Fruechte and staff at SDSU. 20 people took advantage of free blood pressure screenings by St. Michael’s and many attendees picked up hospital brochures, Social Services brochures, and also the new Tyndall business & service directory that is ready as a result of a partnership between Chamber and Horizons.
There is a seminar coming up in Mitchell on April 23 addressing our aging population and the effects on society, healthcare, housing, entertainment, etc. If you are interested you need to go to http://southdakota.communityblogs.us and read the post on that-you can eat free supper but you have to call to reserve by the 21st. This is even good for people who have parents in this bracket who are still active and fiercely independent…come check it out.
Be sure and check out the other Horizons blog sites…there has been some interesting things happening that, according to the bloggers, would not have happened if it were not for the Horizons program that we have almost completed. When you read them, you understand the ” heart” of South Dakotans.
In addressing several of the April blog questions, I would venture to say that the way Tyndall will maintain strong community leadership and create structural change is to continue what we have learned in the Horizons program….meet regularly, ASK people to help or volunteer, and to press on in the face of occasional adversity. It’s the pioneer’s way. That is how all these small towns were established-by persistance, patience, and looking forward to the possibilities. Horizons has inspired HOPE, while at the same time, some of us are trying to figure out how to help the less fortunate in even better ways. The economy is scaring the daylights out of business and families. Poverty, and its many faces, will probably always be there, but we can do some things to help.
What structural changes have we made in how decisions are made? Well, the Cavalier Corner is run by board decisions and the Bargain Shoppe has an officer board and both meet regularly to check in and make decisions about future activities. The web site committee meets regularly to also check in and discuss the website production. Mostly, articles about the activities appear either on the blog or in the local newspaper so that the public has the opportunity to learn about the projects. Articles about our monthly planning meetings have always been recorded in the blog and in the newspaper. Recently our public policy committee has partnered with SDSU to provide an informational public forum on low income issues.
How will our community leadership sustain partnerships? Out of necessity! When you live in a small place, you have got to help each other! The website currently is all volunteer and is being helped financially by the city and the Tyndall Development Corporation. The Cavalier Corner has created a great partnership with one of our local contractors, who has been a leader in the community in his own right,quietly volunteering where needed and always interested in the quality of life for our youth in the community. It is totally necessary to partner with other entities. The city has been supportive, and recently has been active in partnering with Horizons in setting another new goal of providing continued daycare for our new population explosion. More to come on that, as it is in the research stages!
If you have other observations, leave a comment here!
Farm families who have experienced a major injury or illness may apply for planting assistance of up to 1,000 acres free of charge. If you know of any family who is in this situation, please forward this information. For more information you may contact Farm Rescue or call 701-252-2017. Email address is www.farmrescue.org