Bowdon, ND

On Feb. 8th, Denise Spanjer of the Center for Technology & Business, came to Bowdon to give the Train-the-Trainer Class in Computer Education Courses.  Denise was very helpful in giving us the tools we need to competently hold Adult Education Computer Courses.  The following classes will be given:
1. Computing 1 - A beginners guide to computers & the internet.
2. Computing 2 - Word Processing & Spreadsheets
3. Intermeditate Course
4. Windows Management
5. Powerpoint
6. Microsoft Word
7. Microsoft Excel
8. Power-up with Projects
a. Intro to Genealogy
b. Intro to Online Shopping
c. Finding Answers to Your Computer Questions Online
d. Online Investing Resources
e. Getting Acquainted with the Photo Editing Program
f.  Intro to Digital Photography
g. Projects Using Digital Images, Part 1
h. Projects Using Digital Images, Part 2

For more information, contact Pam Hoff at 962-3697.

An idea that surfaced when the Bowdon Public School merged with Fessenden in 1997 was to build a commercial kitchen in the science room of the vacated school. It wasn’t until the Horizons program in Bowdon that the entire community has started to look at the real possiblilites of such a business in the community.

On February 4 at 4:30 Dennis Hahn of St. Cloud, MN will meet with the members of the school utilization committee to look at the possibilites of remodeling the 1958 built science room into a kitchen for use during community activities, cooking classes, rental to food entrepreneurs, and possible food processing business for the community of Bowdon. Dennis works with a Fargo based restaurant supply company in offering his expertise in commercial kitchen design.

On February 14 an informational meeting will take place with the stakeholders of the kitchen project. Bruce Smith from Glendive, Montana will come to Bowdon to share his expertise on commercial kitchens and food related business. Bruce has had past experience working for two major food companies and is presently a Montana State Extension worker helping eastern Montana establish a project in Glendive which includes a shared-use kitchen, micro-brewery, restaurant, and culinery school. Bruce has been to North Dakota in the past to share information at the state capitol with members of the Bowdon community and others around the state.

Details are being worked out for the workshop which at present will run from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the school building. Anyone interested in helping with the project, fruit and vegetable growers, present and future entrepreneurs, economic development personal, local government officials, etc. are welcome. The project fits into the strategic goal of developing business and jobs in the Bowdon-Chaseley-Heaton community. The project likely will involve persons from throughout the central part of the state.

Please call Patti Patrie at 962-3355 or 471-4748 with your interest.

The Bowdon Cafe is the hub of activity in Bowdon. When it was closed for weekends this past summer due to a shortage of cooks the residents of our community awoke to the fact that everyone is needed to support business in rural communities. For the Bowdon Cafe it was not the lack of customers but the need for committed workers.

Luckily Brian Tebelius persuaded his wife, Kathy, to work several days per week and because of a Horizons steering meeting where the need was presented, Cindy Hoff, offered to cook Fridays and share weekends. Brian knew he needed a place to eat when Kathy is away teaching art, attending college classes, or sharing her Bible School programs with children throughout the state. Kathy is a busy, multi-talented person who brings a great sense of humor and new recipes to work with her. Cindy’s talents are not to go unnoticed either as she ran the cafe several years before the present owners took over in 2002. Beside being a great cook, Cindy cares about the appearance of the cafe and upkeep that makes a visual difference to the customer.

Two remaining cooks who had been maintaining the balance of cooking with Judy Schlossnagle, whose resignation this summer caused the community’s alarm, are Freida Tebelius and Londa Neumiller. Freida manages the cafe’s kitchen and should be given a reward for working extra hours and refusing to let the owners completely close the cafe this summer. Londa works during the winter when she is not busy on the family farm. Freida is loved for the “cheese buttons” she makes as a special entree and Londa has gained a reputation as master baker, especially known for scrumptious cheesecakes. Both are wives of two present cafe owners.

The cafe has been owned by 10-12 community men since 2002. Each owner has contributed finances to the business on two occasions and know they will not receive any financial dividends from their generosity. Their rewards are knowing they will have a place to eat a hearty, home-cooked meal or just have coffee and a carmel roll with discussion on the latest agricultural pursuits.

Lately the owners have realized that the cafe not only meets their food and social needs but also those of singles and elderly in the community. Meals on Wheels is offered to people in Bowdon from the Sheridan-Wells Aging Council, but there still is a need to socialize while eating and the community is dedicated to meeting this need even if food delivery is required. (A separate strategy of Horizons is meeting the transportation, housekeeping, shopping,and delivery needs of the elderly in the community).

So on January 2 four of the Cafe owners and several BDCI board members met in the school building library to dialogue about the cafe, its future, and its meaning to the community. The number one concern of the cafe owners is to find more help, or to find someone who will take a full-time position. BDCI offered to help by advertising through its website and the “Bowdon Guardian”, supporting the idea of signature foods offered at the cafe; planning and installing decor; and looking at a possible remodel of the kitchen. Long-term goals were discussed and a future meeting of the group was suggested.

The dialogue was pertainent to the goal of “Supporting Local Business”. It’s hard for the community to see itself as growing and thriving when rural North Dakota is changing so fast. The 12 leaders who stepped out to buy and save the cafe 6 years ago responded to a need. Now they will become leaders in looking at the needs a small town and its rural components will have in the future. The January gathering was a recognition that both entities care very much for this community we call Bowdon-Chaseley-Heaton and want to work together to weather the changes of this world and look for opportunities for our community to thrive.

The Bowdon Guardian is back. When the Horizon Action Forum voted to publish a local newsletter, three members began firing off ideas for the publication. They were subsequently assigned the privilege of getting the job done.
After some minor delays the paper took form. Issues concerning format, content and publish dates were quickly ironed out and the first issue was mailed Friday, January18th.
The new editors, Carolynn Ondris, Linda Widicker and Carol Hadley compile information such as articles submitted by pastors of local churches and timely health advice by Candace Kreiter, FNP. Cottage industries help keep our community strong and we feature several with each issue. Carolynn, Linda and Carol write articles and Linda is responsible for the attractive layout. Also, find historical nuggets, community calendar and recipes, a kid’s korner and swap shop. Bowdon Development Center, Inc. contributes quarterly reports from their activities.
BCDI furnishes the funds to publish and mail the Guardian. Readers are urged to submit material for publication.

Community Commentators
Bowdon’s Community Visioning process, the fourth step in the Horizons Program, which is sponsored by the Northwest Area Foundation, got off to a great start when participants were greeted by the usual North Dakota spread of good food when they walked into the Bowdon Auditorium on a recent Sunday evening.  Thirty-five people gathered to make comments on nine different categories that were an outgrowth of the paper survey that was sent to 220 households in the Bowdon-Heaton-Chaseley community.  From the 78 responses to the paper survey, the Group Decision Center  from NDSU created an interactive program to gather opinions, solutions, volunteers and more from the highly motivated, community-oriented participants. Laughter, a little frustration from the new-to-computers-crowd, and energy emanated around the room as we used the 35 laptops to answer questions, make comments, and make comments on others’ comments in the pursuit of a vision for our community.

At the completion of the evening, the Bowdon Horizons Steering Committee was given a complete overview of what our community views as important and actionable issues, along with practical solutions and ideas. In addition, many people volunteered to particpate in the implementation of the actions needed to realize the community’s vision.

In a meeting that followed soon after the Group Decision Center night, the Steering Committee and a few other volunteers met to distill the process into measureable goals with doable action steps. Those goals and actions are posted on the blog site. Just look in the column on the right hand side of the page to see them all.

Ready! Set! Go! Bowdon!

Recently, Patti Patrie and Laurel Jones attended a conference/workshop in Mandan, ND, under the auspices of Headstart that addressed the issues of poverty and moving from one economic level to another.

The workshop instructor, Monica Bein, mbein@tulsa-health.org from Oklahoma gave participants many personal anecdotes that illustrated the need to identify the “hidden rules” in any organization or group and to find ways to make experiences in accessing information and services user friendly.

Patti and Laurel purchased some books that are available at the Community Library and also received a workbook to accompany the books.

In the planning are workshops for the community to apply what Patti, Laurel, and Laurene Heintz–who attended an earlier conference on the same topic–have learned.

Congratulations Bowdon on your new fitness center!  I can’t wait to see it and what a great addition to your community.  I hope you’ll take some pictures and share it with us on your blog sometime. Sounds exciting!

P.S.  Your blog looks great!

Lynette Flage, ND Horizons Director 

Beginning on January 8, Bowdon residents began computer classes at the Tech Center in the school under the instruction of retired library media teacher, Laurel Jones. The classes are free to the public and are an outgrowth of the Horizons Program.
Under the auspices of Bowdon Development Center, Incorporated (BDCI) and the Bowdon Centennial Museum and Library, the former school library has been turned into a community lending library and a technical center with six computers that have high-speed internet access. The computers came from the Fessenden-Bowdon School after they upgraded their technical system. In addition, several community members have donated monitors and other peripherals.
The classes take place once a week on Tuesday evening at 7:00 with a repeat on Wednesday at 1:00. The students are easily able to follow the teacher’s instructions because she uses an LCD projector that is on loan from the NDSU Extension Service in Fessenden So far, students have learned internet skills and what’s in and on their computer.
Everyone’s welcome–just call Laurel at 3633 to make sure there’s room. Oh, and there will be no classes during the last week of January and the first two weeks of February, as the teacher is taking off!

What’s a blog, and why should we care? Recently, Pam Stewart and Laurel Jones completed blog training for Horizons at Harvey, ND (and Pam Hoff received all of the materials to self-train). Blogging is one of the newest, best ways to inform people about what’s happening in the community and getting opinions and ideas in response.
A new way of communicating via the internet, a blog is short for “web log” and is similar to an on-going community diary. All residents of the Bowdon-Chaseley-Heaton community, as well as any other interested people, are invited–urged–to participate in our new blog. Welcome aboard!!
By the way, we’re getting ready to update the Bowdon community website, and we invite your input. Click on the link and the tell us how the website can better inform and enlighten you. Let use know right here.