Hazelton, ND

Starting Monday, August 11, 2008 from 10:30 am to 2:30 pm, Hazelton is hosting a Farmer
s Market/Flea Market/Craft Sale on Main Street. Anyone is welcome to set up a table-no charge for setting up own table. A free will offering noon meal will also be held at the Coffee Shop that day too. If there is enough interest, this will continue into Sept. on Mondays. Through this event, we are hoping to bring more people into town, especially to provide for fresh produce that many residents don’t have access to due to the grocery store being closed.

A former Hazelton student and the Dollars For Scholars organization are
both committed to helping Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock High School
graduates as they continue their education. Each year since 2000,
graduating seniors have been awarded scholarships based upon their
academic achievements, community service, personal qualities, and
school involvement. These scholarships, ranging from $8,000 for a
2-year degree to $12,000 for 4 years, were established by a former
student and resident of Hazelton in hopes that someday the recipients
of these scholarships will give back to the community as he has. The
scholarships are being perpetuated by The Giving Tree, which adorns the
hallway at HMB. Engraved leaves with each donors’ name are placed on
the tree as follows: $100-green leaf; $300-$499-green leaf with
asterisk; $500-$999-green leaf with two asterisks; $1000-$4900-gold
leaf; $5000 plus donation-amber gold leaf. This year more than $40,000
in scholarships were awarded at H-M-B.

   We have a beautiful new mall that needs to be filled. We need to have
the grocery store open. Not having a store affects the entire
community. First of all, our senior citizens, several (we could say
‘many’) of which are no longer able to drive long distances, do not
have any means of shopping on their own. This deprives them of their
right to have access to a food supply. It deprives them of their
ability to remain self-sufficient and independent. It is definitely
depressing for them.
Secondly, the high cost of fuel (transportation in general) hurts
everyone in the community.
Thirdly, getting the mall filled will provide jobs for many people.
Groceries and either some type of retail or manufacturing would benefit
everyone, not only within our town but also in our tri-community which
is our entire school district. The school district includes the
communities of Hazelton, Moffit, and Braddock and even students from
outside of that area.

Today we had a visit from 103.3 US Country-Hazelton-our “hometown” radio station. 103.3 has a tower east of Hazelton and Hazelton is it’s home base. We are excited to be working with them. Their office is actually in Bismarck/Mandan and Jason Huber, their Account Manager, came to Hazelton today to see how we can partner with them to promote our community using “our hometown radio station”.

Mr. Huber was quite impressed with our downtown business center and the HMB School. He agreed that both facilities are great assets to Hazelton and will help to attract both businesses and families here.

It will be interesting to see how we can work with “Our Radio” station to promote our community.

Living and working in a small rural community isn’t always possible, but after I attended the Rural Community Forum in Bismarck on June 13th on ways that encourage entrepreneurship, I realized that this could be a reality. After hearing what other rural communities in North Dakota are doing to survive, it made me think about what we have in our little town of Hazelton and surrounding areas and how we can make it work for us. It just takes a little imagination, research, and the entrepreueurial spirit to open your own business. We already have an available building on main street that could accommodate any type of business and a way to market those ideas through a partnership with the ND Commerce Dept. Through our local Hazelton Newsletter and community blogging, ideas to open you own business can be relayed to those people who may be interested in a new career or a way to “stay home and work in your own community”. Who knows, the right person may have the right idea to keep Hazelton on the map!

Getting food to the table in a safe, economical way to rural North Dakota is a basic need that many people take for granted, unless of course, the local grocery store closes. Many of our elderly and young families who can’t afford to travel to nearby cities due to the current high transportation costs are left with highly processed, less nourishing food that can be bought in bulk and stored for later use. Fresh produce and meat are scarce commodities.

After the Hazelton Grocery store closed its doors in December, the Hazelton Development Corp. has explored all options to re-open the store. After many months of meetings, the community has decided to partner together and find a solution. That solution is to open the local grocery store as a “community-run store”. An equity drive is currently underway to help with operations, start-up, and inventory costs. The community has been most responsive and many community members have committed funds to once again have a grocery store here in Hazelton. I couldn’t be prouder of how Hazelton works together to solve it’s own problems!

Owning a home has always been an American Dream, but unfortunately, many people aren’t able to fulfill that dream. The community of Hazelton is working to help families achieve that American Dream. Previously, the Hazelton Development Corporation had offered property and financial incentives to construct a new home within the city of Hazelton, but unfortunately the private funds received for this project are no longer available, but the interest to consider Hazelton as an affordable place to live remains. After I attended the Housing Roundtable forum sponsored by the Horizons Program and the discussion on why a Housing Demand Analysis is a first step, the Hazelton Development Corp. made the commitment to undergo this study. By leveraging funds from the Horizons program and a stipend from the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency, we will be able to cost share the analysis. This analysis will assess what housing is currently available in Hazelton, what is currently needed, and what we might need in the future. A contract with a consulting team from Minot, ND has been signed and the initial assessment of the community is underway with plans to have the analysis completed by the end of the summer.

Early this week steering committee members of the Horizon Program met to review continued progress in accomplishing Hazelton’s strategic goals.  These goals were established through a community wide survey and feedback obtained from all generations in the community.  As the regional community coach working with Hazelton, I have enjoyed getting to know each committee member.  Their commitment to helping Hazelton be a thriving community has been an inspiration.  Together they are addressing issues important to the future of the community.  From developing potential leaders and getting more people involved to taking action on reducing poverty, their efforts have made a difference.  I am thankful for the opportunity to work with a team of volunteers who consistently demonstrate the true spirit of service to a community.

Emmons County Public health nurse, Bev Voller, presented information on the Avian (bird) flu. Presenting the difference between  seasonal flu, pandemic flu and bird flu.

Encouraged by Ms. Voller, the Hazelton seniors have chosen to look into other areas of  disaster preparedness.  Are we prepared for a Chemical Spill?  How will a spill affect us?  What will it take to clean up a spill?  Who do we contact?  For answers  to these questions, join us at our July meeting.

A day filled with food fun and fellowship  was held on June 9 for the community.

The Hazelton Seniors provided the food and the fun.. We had rolls, coffee  & juice in the morning, soup ,sandwich,dessert and coffee at noon and pie and coffee, We had a free will offering basket In the afternoon we had  card making (rubber stamp-in/ punch card) and card playing. The seniors are pleased with the more than expected turn out and may possibly have another day, due to the support of the community.