Tolna, ND

Head Coach Brent Luehring and the Dakota Prairie Knights Babe Ruth Baseball Team extended their season this year as they once again made it to the ND State Babe Ruth Tournament.  The tourney was held in Wishek, ND on July 30th-August 3rd.  This is the 6th straight season that Coach Luehring has taken the Knights to the State Tournament.

The Knights brought home a 5th Place finish at State and ended their season with a 16-6 record.  Congratulations to the coaches and team for all their hard work and success!

I’m finally getting a chance to blog a bit about our awesome local Memorial Day Cemetery Services provided by our area Legion Post members…And just before the next holiday, the Fourth of July

We are so thankful for our active American Legion Post members and also the great women of the American Legion Auxiliaries.  These folks make our Memorial Days memorable.

The tributes to our veterans who have passed on are observed at each of the local cemeteries - Warwick, Sigdal, Tolna and Pekin.  Then a great chance to see friends and relatives home for the holiday weekend is found back in town at the Memorial Day Potluck Dinner.  Thanks to all who make this possible. Keep up the Good Work.

 I stopped in at the Pekin Art Show yesterday at the same time that the residents of the McVille Healthcare Center were there.  They seemed to be captivated by a large (slightly larger than life) felted sculpture created by Novina West. 

Some of the residents even had have to have their pictures taken by “Forester”.Novina worked on this project for the past couple of years.

It was made entirely of wool except for the thin wire armature which gave him a back bone and which provided a starting point.The full title of the sculpture is: Forester- A Good Study in Bad Wool because he was made from wool that really wasn’t fit for anything else.

Novina says, “I think all of the wool is local with most of it coming from Crysti Bjorlie and a friend in McVille.”At the reception for corporate buyers, artists and others, “Forester” not only won first in the textile division, but he also took “best of show”.  

“You could have knocked me over with a feather when I heard that I won; I was so excited!!”, Novina said, “Thanks to all of you who kept encouraging me!” 

If you are a Facebook user, check out the Tolna Days 2010 page.  Post your memories of past Tolna Days, if you wish. 

Tolna was one of the 15 rural towns who participated in the Horizons program from 2008-2010.  One of the requirements were to blog on this site.  The prize for sufficient and appropriate blogging would be a computer.  Here’s what Lynette Flage, NDSU Extension Community Leadership Specialist writes: 

 “This e-mail is to inform you that your community has done a great job blogging and we would like to now provide you with the incentives we talked about early in the program.  Your community will receive a computer and small laser black and white printer for use in a public place.”

Hoooray!  We did it!  

The next step is to find an appropriate place to place it. 

Hey, kids, start looking now for your turtle to run in the race during Tolna Days, July 9 - 11.  Turtles can be any size and you are welcome to decorate your turtle and even name it, if you wish.  Prizes will be offered for the fastest turtle. 

SBAUS SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Pre-Business Planning SessionThursday, June 10^th, 2010 4:00 – 5:00 pmLakota Community CenterThe Small Business Administration will conduct a free Pre-Business Planning Session for those interested in learning about starting a new business.  Participants will be provided with start-up guides and other materials.  Discussion will center on:1.      Creating a unique competitive position2.      How to write an effective business plan3.      Financing options for starting a business4.      Registering your business with the proper governmental agenciesSeating is limited, so please call the Lakota City offices at 701-247-2454 to pre-register.Business Preparedness Planning WorkshopThursday, June 10^th, 2010 6:00 – 8:00 pmLakota Community CenterThe Small Business Administration will conduct a free Business Preparedness Planning workshop for area businesses and organizations.  Discussion will center on the various steps needed to create an emergency plan for helping your business prepare and respond to an emergency.  Businesses can be disrupted by many different kinds of emergency situations resulting from storms, equipment failure, and even human interaction (intentional and non-intentional).   Issues to be considered include:1.      Vulnerability Assessment2.      Threat Prevention Steps3.      Creating a Plan for the Immediate Aftermath4.      Business Resumption PlanSeating is limited, so please call the Lakota City offices at 701-247-2454 to pre-register.

  From the beginning of the Horizons Program here in Tolna it has been made clear that communication is a main concern for area residents.

Getting information out to the public on upcoming events is always a challenge. The more opportunities available to us the better.

So, in addition to the local web site, blog and bulletin boards, let’s welcome the Town and Country Informer.

Town and Country Informer will be printed at the beginning of each month (except this one that went in the mail today). It will be mailed to outlying residents for a only a couple of months as a trial. Copies will be available at local businesses. You can also have it e-mailed to you by contacting Carrol Dahl at carlyl@gondtc.com.

In order to share information we need to be given information. We need YOU! 

Submit event and activity information by contacting Carrol Dahl, Joan Gleason or Novina West. Or send your information to carlyl@gondtc.com.

We are also looking for brief news articles on ongoing or past events, welcoming new neighbors or new family members, weddings and so on.

We have limited space so items will be printed according to available space. But we may hold onto it until next month! So start submitting now! 

Here are the results of the survey that the Horizons Communications Committee (Carrol Dahl, Novina West, Joan Gleason) put together for the March 2 Tolna Horizons meeting:

• Do you feel that you are adequately informed about community events and activities:  Yes (12)  No (6)  No answer (6)
• If not, how would you like to be informed (several checked more than one box even though they answered the first question that they felt well informed or didn’t respond to the first question)?  Newsletter (13)   Newspaper (5)  Tolna web site (6) e-mail (3)  Someone wrote in phone as their only preference
• If by newspaper, which one?  Messenger (10)  Lakota American (4)  Checked both newspapers (1)  Neither newspaper (8)
• I am currently residing in:  City limits (16)  outside city limits (8)
• If the decision is made to publish a monthly newsletter, I might be interested in writing some of the articles:  Diane Poehls, Ed Poehls, Gayle Klefstad

Thanks so much for your cooperation in this survey.  We realize it was only a small percentage of the community who participated but even this helps.  We will be meeting this morning to discuss how to proceed with improving the communication.  Cooperation from you will be needed from you. 

Please contact any of the committee members with events for the calendar.

Tolna Bay is growing! 

Brett Poehls, president of Tolna Community Club, presented an impressive drawing of the future Schmidt Family Boat and Recreation Area on Tolna Bay at a recent Horizons/Tolna Community Club meeting. 

In order to get this project off the ground, community help and donations are needed.  The club is anticipating lots of donated labor, but still expects to need approximately $19,000 to move ahead with the project.  The future recreation area would include bathrooms, lighting, boat parking and ramp, picnic shelter, primitive bath and camping, beach area, swimming and dock.

Work has already begun on the project, which will be built on land owned by Grace Schmidt.  Trees are on order, to surround the future recreation area.  A sign is in the planning stages.   The club is working on unique and exciting ways to promote the city of Tolna, the only city on Stump Lake.

How would you like to be a part of this project?   Are you interested in taking your family camping and fishing on Tolna Bay?  Make plans to help this community project grow even more.  Donations can be mailed to Tolna Community Club, PO Box 203, Tolna, ND  58371.

Remember:  Your next five walleye are only 1 1/2 miles north of Tolna!!