Upriver, ID

UpRiver Community United “graduated” on June 30 from the Horizons sponsorship and now stands on its own. On Thursday, July 31st the board met at Emida and the treasurer’s report actually showed money in the account which has come from different activities such as the Saturday Flea Market in Fernwood and donations.

Yes, the Entrepreneurial Development Team reported that the Flea Market, in its infancy stage, has been showing good success. Now they are looking into the possibility of offering classes of various kinds in the community. Watch for their survey and respond as quickly as possible.

A simple project to collect and reproduce some historical photos has turned into something much bigger. So much inerest has been generated in this project that the board approved a new UpRiver Historical Society under the auspices of Upriver Community United. This new team is putting together a beautiful collection of photographs and other memorabilia including artifacts of the area. They plan to make and sell calendars to raise money to support their efforts. There will be public showings of the photo reproductions that have been made so far. Watch for more information on these developments in the future. They will also be having their own meeting, with dates to be announced, to discuss business and choose some leadership for the group. There is still time for you to get involved in this project!

Great things are happening and everyone is excited about the possibilities! You need to be a part of it all! It seems like there are no end of activities to stir the interests of young and old. One thing leads to another and before you know it new ideas are generated and new projects are taking off.

The next board meeting will be held August 25th at the Fernwood CAF building at 6:30 PM. Anyone who lives in the UpRiver communities of Emida, Santa, and Fernwood are welcome to participate in discussions and voting. The meetings are open to all.

The University of Idaho students came to the UpRiver Community to develop conceptual designs for both community centers: Fernwood (CAF) and Emida. The final drawings and proposed plans were presented on campus and at the Horizons Summit event. All the display materials were given to the communities.

The Fernwood Church stepped up to save the Fernwood Senior meal site from closing by taking over management and fiscal responsibilities from the previous provider out of St. Maries. There is also a meals on wheels available in UpRiver. The church also acquired a school bus which they are willing to make available for public transportation, particularly for special events related to the UpRiver Community and organizations.

Please visit our website: Upriver United provides a unique opportunity for our communities, with diverse viewpoints, to work together to build a thriving community.

Calendar
Check out the calendar to find out what’s new for the upcoming month! Or add special events, meetings or even your yard sale! If it’s happening, we want to know!

Business Directory
Support our local businesses or add your to the list. What a great way to let people know you’re out there. Together we make the difference.

Our Communities
Be enlightened by some local history and events of Fernwood, Santa, and Emida. This is also the place to find things to do and browse the resources our communities offer.

News
Featuring articles of local news, our monthly newsletter or browse our archives to see what we’ve been up to.

Horizons
Here is where it all started! Building a strong friendship between communities. Find out where we’re headed… and how we plan on getting there.

Links
Would you like to be linked? If you’re local, send us your information and we’ll get you on the page.

Our Group met at the Hide out on May 19 with a goal in mind of reassembling the committee.Lorelei volunteered to be note taker for the meetings. Joel had resigned as co-chair and Richard had stepped in, but said that he needed someone else to releive him, as he is already involved in and co-chairing numerous other committees. Lorelei said that she would take over. Community Pride is responsible for History Awareness, Signage, Community Day, and Clean up Day. There was discussion about a Community Day and it was suggested that we try to join up with the two other Upriver Communities and make it a weekend event with the various organizations hosting different activities. It was reported that Bud will be putting fences up around the dumpsters. Nancy asked for someone to take over the sign project as she does not have a phone nor internet access. It was reported that there is still money for restoring and copying historical photos that will be framed and displayed in various places. Our next meeting will take place June 23rd, 6:30 @ Hideout. We are looking for more people to join our committee, pass the word on to anyone you know who is interested in being involved in these important activities.

No, this is not a set of minutes for the board, and I don’t even know how everyone will feel about my putting up information on the board meeting when I am not “the blogger” for that group, so it is an informal little head’s up. If someone wants more particulars posted, they may do so or ask me to. . .

The Board (with the approval and votes of the co-chairs of the committees present) voted to include all of the committees under the board in the interest of streamlining the 501(c)3 process. It seemed to be a general consensus that this was only common sense for the sake of unity and resources and that it was pretty much the feeling that this relationship had always existed in spite of a bit of confusion. Now it is official.

There was a good turnout with representatives reporting from all of the committees. A great big Thank You goes out to all who helped with the community clean up. In recognition of your hard work and community spirit, a better thank you should be coming your way soon!

I don’t know if I will get in trouble for this–copyright issues and all–but I copied this whole blog from the Horizons Blog site, because I thought it should be posted on all of the community sites in the interest of entrepreneurship. So, here goes:

Smart Women Grant Applications

May 1st, 2008 by kellum

These days the fastest growing group of business owners is women who use their entrepreneur spirits, leadership and creativity to start businesses. According to Luz Robles, director of the Zions Business Resource Center to the Center for Women’s Business Research, in 2006, 7.7 million firms were either woman-owned or women held the majority share. Women account for 29.7 percent of all businesses in the U.S., a 42.3 percent increase since 1997. Women are having a direct impact in our national and state economy.

Zions Bank is committed to working with women to make their dreams a reality by offering a series of micro-grants for women. The 2008 Zions Bank Smart Women Grant enables deserving women with hopes of starting a community-oriented business or project to have access to funding to make this a reality.

Grants are open to female residents in both Utah and Idaho and are awarded in six different areas including small business start-up and expansion; child and elder care; community development; continuing education and teacher support; health and human services; and arts and culture. Community review panels will select the grant recipients.

Applications are available online at www.smartwomen.zionsbank.com and are due by July 31, 2008.

We had our first Newsletter Alive meeting with representatives from all our Upriver Action Committees. Here’s some highlights from my notes of the meeting.

Community Structure: Currently working on fixing up our old community buildings, have added electricity to parts of the Emida Community Center. Starting the process of planning a new community building in Fernwood. We’ve completed draft bylaws for our new organization, Upriver Community United, Inc. The first annual meeting will be November 29th at the CAF building, agenda includes approving new bylaws and electing our first board of directors.

Community Pride: Planning to have regular highway cleanups in the spring and fall, local sections of the highway are still available for adoption. Collecting information for the signs, the first one will be at the Santa Y. Arranging for chain link fencing around dumpster buckets on three sides. In planning stage for an annual Upriver Community Festival. The Upriver school district has received a grant, “Gear Up”, to mentor poor kids and help them go to college.

Entrepreneurial Development: First priority projects are an internet business directory and a cell phone / wireless internet tower. Long term goals include: Community Economic / Business Centers in each village, an Annual Upriver Community Festival, Technical & Business Classes and Training, Physical and Technical Infrastructure Development, and Commercial Awareness (local business association).

Communications: We continue to work on developing our internet website, blog, and monthly newsletter. On the internet we continue work on the business directory and community history / culture. Looking into improving our newsletter distribution via email and post office. The new monthly newsletter deadline is the 1st Thursday each month.

Horizons Steering Committee: We are here to support the other committees. Have received two $10,000 grants, one from NW Area Foundation, and one from the University of Idaho. These monies come with strings attached, rules about where we can and cannot spend the money. More grant money is available from Horizons in June if we meet their criteria.

Lots more was talked about, come to the next meeting January 31, 2008 at the Emida Community Center for new face to face reports.

Held on October 8, 2007. Present: Carlene Carney, Nancy Corbin, Jim Craft, Melody Eckroth, Harry Eder, Joanne O’Dwyer, Debby Powell, Richard Pullman, Judy Turner, Scott Whealy, Stephaney Williamson

We got back copies of the Articles of Incorporation for “Upriver Community United, Inc.” that were stamped by the Secretary of State of Idaho. The Benewah County commissioners want us to have an entity to work with before they allow Upriver to repair, maintain, and manage the CAF community building in Fernwood.

There are new community buildings in Kamiah and Deary, we can visit to get ideas. Some ideas for our new building; seniors, recreation, library, youth, theatre, kitchen, coffee shop. Harry Eder is willing to donate one or two acres for a new community center, located about 100 yards past Crystal Creek rd on the north side of the Hiway. It could be used for a possible trade with someone in town.

The county currently pays $3,400 yr for the existing CAF building. The kitchen is not up to code and cannot be used by the public. We need lots of base trim and electrical outlet covers to finish the building. Both bathrooms need to be completely remodeled with additional toilets. Horizons grant money cannot be used for materials to refurbish the CAF building. Debby will determine if the county has ownership of the CAF building. Scott and Stephaney will inspect the CAF building to look at what needs done.

Stephaney Williamson and Candy Crocker will create some draft bylaws for us to review next meeting. We will hold officer elections for Upriver Community United at the next meeting.

Jim Craft wants to build a gazebo for the community, somewhere.

The next committee meeting will be on Wednesday, October 24 at 7pm at the Senior Center.

Encouraging Small Business in our Community
October 8, 2007

Present: Jane Alley, Richard Alley, Michael Lape, Brian Primer, Richard Pullman

Brainstorming:

• Classes / training
• Small business incubator
• Community Economic Centers (area for business, not community center bldg.)
• Infrastructure
• Cell phones
• High speed internet
• Community Blog to develop ideas
• Need a shipping presence (Fedex / UPS)

We discussed town common areas with a strip of businesses, community center building, park with bandstand or gazebo, parking areas. Business buildings should be appear in the style common in the west 100 years ago. Possibly wooden sidewalks.
Possibly hold business development seminars with multiple speakers on multiple topics.
Can we cater to out of state hunters?
Look for investors to bring capitol into the area. Possibly to invest in buildings with space for our local entrepreneurs to rent.

Next Meeting: October 29, 2007 1pm to 3pm in the basement at the Fernwood Church.