A book titled “Landscapes of Minnesota” (published by Minnesota Historical Society Press) recently came out that is causing a bit of an stir.  An opinion the authors (two prize winning University of Minnesota professors) try to make a case for is that we should look at abandoning small towns in southwest Minnesota because “they’re no longer useful” .  Their comments were made on page 296 of a 315 page book and the direct quote is, ” Southwestern Minnesota has too many tiny towns.  Places that originated as agricultural service centers have lost their reason for being, and they are too small to grow.  Wise public policy might buy out their residents and allow them to live elsewhere”.  

For all of you living in southwestern Minnesota (or other tiny Minnesota town) any thoughts on this theory??

This is coming right up in about a week, quite short notice, but I thought the project might be of interest to Horizons communities.  It’s put on by Agricultural Safety and Health at Extension.

The “Minority & Immigrant Farming Conference” will help small, beginning minority and immigrant farmers learn how to apply for a farm equipment loan; meet landowners willing to lease or rent land; sell food safely; and calculate farming costs. The conference will include interpreters and presenters whose goal is to assist minority and immigrant farmers who are already selling to a farmers’ market or are considering it. Participants will also tour two vegetable growing operations that use a variety of planting and harvesting equipment.

The “Minority & Immigrant Farming Conference” will be held Friday and Saturday, March 7 and 8, 2008, from 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. at Como Lakeside Pavilion in St. Paul, concluding with the bus tour to two vegetable farms. To register, call the Minnesota Food Association at 651-433-3676.

More information about the conference and registration can be found in the brochure (Hmong, Spanish, and English). Translators will be available.

Website Engages Presidential Candidates

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity
Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity: Foundations Ask the Presidential Candidates What They’ll Do for America, an initiative of the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Eos Foundation, was created to build momentum for national action addressing poverty in 2009. The initiative has invited the presidential candidates to answer five questions concerning poverty and economic opportunity. Spotlight will also seek to provide other opportunities for the candidates to set forth their views on these important issues, including a forum in Washington, DC in May 2008. Recent reports, analyses, and data on poverty and opportunity, profiled on the Spotlight website, will be readily available to policy makers. Visit the website listed above for details on the initiative.

Rails to Trails out of Washington, D.C. is recruiting 20,000 people to pledge to walk and bike more this year and use their vehicle less this year. Horizons communities around the state have identified actions to address poverty in their community. Many have identified our cultural reliance upon personal vehicles as an impediment to thriving communities. There is little public transport in rural areas and safe-bike ways are forgotten. Rails-to-Trails is an organization that has addressed this concern positively around the country, including in some of the Horizons communities. Take the pledge to support the effort to reduce our reliance upon oil and to build healthier communities where people are at the center. Visit their website to take the pledge.

A question I’ve heard over and over in Horizons communities throughout the state, starting way back in Study Circles, is, “how much exactly is enough to make ends meet?”

The Minnesota JOBS NOW Coalition has a great tool that can help answer this question for your area: the Family Wage and Budget Calculator, available on their website. You can find your county, enter a family size and number of hours worked per week outside the home (one adult working, two adults working full time, etc.), and based on regional data and basic, no-frills budget amounts for food, transportation, child care, etc., it will calculate the hourly wage needed to support a family under those conditions.

A community blog is only as good as those who use it - both those who blog and those who check it to get the latest news, information, and discussion. If you want people to visit your blog, you have to let them know that it is out there. People will rarely, if ever, stumble upon your blog by themselves (But it does happen, just ask the bloggers in Chisholm!).

Here are some easy tips for promoting your community blog:

1. Send out an email announcement introducing your blog to the community. Start by sending it to your friends, and having them pass it along to their friends. Or find a contact who owns a list with many subscribers, such as local businesses, schools, chambers of commerce, or other.

2. Include your blog address in your email signature. Just add your community blog URL to your email signature by changing your options to have it automatically included, or by manually typing it each time you send an email to people you think might be interested.

3. Do some good, old-fashioned self-promoting! Create business cards or fliers and leave them out where community members gather. Contact your local newspaper, community newsletter, radio or television station and ask them to do a story on the blog.

4. Link to other websites. Other nonprofits, chambers, government agencies, local businesses, and even other bloggers often have a designated area where they link to like-minded organizations - similar to the sidebar option on your own community blog. Don’t be afraid to ask others to link to your blog, and be sure to return the favor.

5. Have a contest! Similar to the contest the Minnesota blog just announced. Drive people to your blog by offering them incentives to participate.

6. Have a Blog Night where you teach others how to blog. Some communities in other Horizons states are holding blog nights where they do a seminar on what the blog is, it’s role in the Horizons program, and how to blog. It’s a great way to spread the word, create community, and get more individuals blogging.

The community blogs are an important tool for increasing communication and helping you to create change though the Horizons program. There is no single solution that will work to get all communities involved. Be creative and be proud of the work you do on the blog!

Introducing the first in a series of four community blogging contests!!!

Leave a Comment - You Could Win a PRIZE!

Leave a comment by February 29th answering the following question and you will be entered into a drawing to win a community organizing book for your community.

“What Horizons moment has given you the most joy, hope or fulfillment?”

But wait, there’s more! The community that logs the most comments will also win Chamber Bucks for use at a community event! Be sure to leave the name of your community as well so we can keep track of which community has the most comments. We will only count one comment per person, but feel free to share as many of your thoughts as you’d like.

Winners will be notified on March 1st, which is also when next month’s contest will be announced.

Good luck and happy blogging!