Conde, SD

The Vision is out, the Fun Night was a success, we’ve made trips to the SD State Capitol, we have learned how easy it is to reach our Legislators by e-mail and we have campaigned to defeat Senate Bill 23 that would have shut the doors on our school. And we couldn’t have done it without the “C” Team. You see, we are the “C” Team; we’ll never make it to the Dome. We are here to work with Conde, the PLACE TO CALL HOME!!!!!

We have had 14 people on the “C” team, many new to the leadership in our small town. The year 2007 was not kind to us with the flood in May and Senate bill 157 telling us our school under 100 students should close. The flood let some move away, the threat of the closing of the school left panic and some moved away from our enrollment. The clouds of fear loomed over us. However, with the Horizons Program awareness we have plans in place to rebuild what we may have lost and gain more than we thought!
Our letter writing campaign to the Legislators and Governer of last spring created a great willingness to become aware of what is going on in State Government and we have added new and different people coming forward for the cause of “SOS”, or Save Our School. It has been awesome to work together, getting to know more people and banding together to create community spirit for the cause. Of course, the job isn’t done yet; however the grey gloom of loosing people because of the probability of shutting school doors has brought more sunshine to our hearts than what winter wants to allow. Senate Bill 23 was defeated and calls have been made to other schools in the same situation to create an even broader band to keep our schools, therefore, letting us keep our small towns. KELO TV did a news story on our school tonight, the South Dakota Magazine had an article edited by the Editor from a letter writen by someone from California. This is giving us more exposure.

If poverty is gloom and doom, we were in a very high percentile; however working together, broadening our leadership skills, workingtogether will see us through.

The old saying of “you don’t know until you ask” became so true for our Fun Night, or Conde’s Vision of “I hate winter” fun night. We had at full count 116 people in attendance and people helping with all the activities that had never been asked before. Friends asked friends and if the number of young children could make a difference we should have plenty of students for our school.

The “C” team is getting bigger and we have only just begun!

This article was in todays Aberdeen American News and we found it on Federick’s web page. So thanks to them and the AAN for a great article about poverty. It’s a real eye opener! And with it coming up in Horizon’s more than we can say…it fits in perfect.
And let’s face it, once we understand it we help change it. It’s about working as a community and in unity.

State poverty level rising
In 2005, rate reached highest level since 1997
By Dennis Gale, Associated Press Writer
Published on Thursday, January 10, 2008
SIOUX FALLS - According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, South Dakota’s overall poverty rate in 2005 rose to 13.6 percent - the highest level since 1997.

The statewide poverty rate in 2004 was 12.9 percent.

The 2005 figures indicate 100,765 people in the state lived below the poverty level in 2005.

In 1997, the rate was 14 percent, with 100,537 people below the poverty line. That and 2005 were the only years in the past 10 to surpass the 100,000 figure.

The percentage has been higher. In 1989, 14.8 percent of South Dakotans were at or below the poverty level.

According to the 2007 federal guidelines, the poverty level for a family of four was $20,650 a year.

Some better, some worse: Most of the counties with the highest poverty rates include Indian reservation land. Ziebach County, in north-central South Dakota, had the highest percentage of people living in poverty: 51 percent.

The rest of the 10 counties with the highest rates were Todd, 46.7 percent; Corson, 41.9 percent; Shannon, 41.8 percent; Buffalo, 39.3 percent; Bennett, 34.2 percent; Mellette, 33.4 percent: Jackson, 32.8 percent; Charles Mix, 30.2 percent; and Dewey, 28.3 percent.

Lincoln County had the lowest percentage of people in poverty in 2005: 4.7 percent.

The Census figures also listed children living in poverty. For those under age 5, the 2005 figure for South Dakota was 24 percent, up from 22.2 percent in 2004. The highest rate in the 10 prior years was 26.6 percent in 1995.

Overall, 18.3 percent of South Dakotans under age 18 were living below the poverty level, the Census bureau figures show. Todd County had the highest percentage: 58.7 percent.

Statewide: The statewide median household income in 2005 was $39,265, the Census Bureau reported. The figure has risen almost every year during the past 10 years. The median in 1995 was $29,426.

The measurement means half of the households in a given geographic area had higher incomes and the other half had lower incomes. Some statisticians feel it’s a better indicator than average household income because it is not dramatically affected by unusually high or low values.

Buffalo County’s $16,868 was the lowest median household income among the state’s 66 counties. The $59,583 level in Lincoln County was the highest.

This article

We’re here at the “I Hate Winter” Party in Conde and having a great time.  We had a very good turn out.

There’s a big Bingo crowd right now, all intently playing for their chance at Conde Bucks. 

They’re bowling on the school stage using the Wii system - girls against boys the last time I checked.  Wonder who’s ahead…. 

Everyone’s getting decorated over at the face painting booth.  A young one just ran past with a hissing snake on her arm (painted on by Mary Ann Taylor). 

The ring toss is getting some action.  It’s a challenge though, they are definitely earning their bottle of Conde water or pop on that game.  

Those that aren’t playing games are busy visiting with their neighbors. We always need opportunities to get caught up with friends in the community. 

The subs were very good.  We certainly filled up.  Later on tonight we’ll learn who’s lucky enough to win a door prize - Thank you “C” team for organizing this fun night!

“My wife thought we ought to come” MH Jensen

He collects phonographs, and likes to look for them on Ebay. 

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I came to tonights event to take pictures for the Conde News to let everyone around us know that we believe in our town and our school and will do anything to help it grow.

Tina