Ogallala Commons Newsletter: January 2011

High Plains Food Coop Builds Success for 2011
By Donn Teske, OC Advisory Council Member & President, Kansas Farmers Union

Back in 2005, the Kansas Farmers Union collaborated with Ogallala Commons to host a two-day training workshop in Lindsborg Kansas focused on direct-sales of agricultural production. The theme was “Regional Food Systems & Marketing Opportunities” and the workshop looked at the Oklahoma Food Co-op and their success up to that point. A farm couple attending the meeting who I had never met before was Chris & Sherri Schmidt from Oberlin, KS.

From that meeting, efforts were launched to form the High Plains Food Co-op, with the help of many but mostly the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union Co-op & Economic Development Center and Ogallala Commons.

I’m proud to say that Kansas Farmers Union and Ogallala Commons are two of the charter members of High Plains Food Co-op (HPFC), which is a group of over 40 niche food producers in NW Kansas, NE Colorado, and SW Nebraska. Chris Schmidt is now the NW Kansas state director for KFU and he is the president of HPFC, and is doing a great job. Their customer base is the Denver, Colorado-Front Range area, and orders for their products are taken online and then delivered by volunteers on scheduled routes to designated delivery points where the customers come and pick up their products. I was shocked last year at the HPFC Annual Meeting when it was reported that their annual sales for 2009 exceeded $29,000! The co-op was hardly off the ground, just in existence since May of 08! I was REALLY shocked at this year’s Annual Meeting, when reported sales for 2010 exceeded $49,000! Trend lines are suggesting that they should double in size again by next year!

Kansas Farmers Union had a very, very small role in the development of this co-op with almost all credit due to the producers themselves (like Chris Schmidt) and organizers like Chris Sramek, and the technical support of Rocky Mountain Farmers Union. So please take the opportunity to check out all the products and the ever-expanding producer list at the High Plains Food Coop website (www.highplainsfood.org). Where else would you have a chance to taste Yak meat?


Community Health Spotlight at Southern Plains Conference
By Darryl Birkenfeld, OC Executive Director

Living a healthy life doesn’t just depend on individual choices, but also on the health of the community where people live. On February 16, Ogallala Commons and its partners invite the general public to learn more at the 22nd Annual Southern Plains Conference, with its theme, “What Makes Communities Healthy? “ to be held at the Community Hall and Home Mercantile in Nazareth, Texas.

“Community health is multi-faceted…it involves economic, social, mental, physical, environmental, emotional, and spiritual wellness,” notes Darryl Birkenfeld, Director of Ogallala Commons. “Community health is exactly where involved citizens can have a great impact. Participants attending the conference will learn the basic indicators of community health, along with factors that indicate a lack of health. There will also be excellent resources and tools offered for improving community health.”

The conference begins at 8:15am with opening remarks, and historical presentation about health on the Southern Plains by Michael Harter entitled, “A Salubrious Country.” Elaine Sullivan, an educator and counselor from Dallas, TX will offer a keynote address entitled “Understanding and Appreciating the Development of Wellness.” At 9:15am, a 5-member panel will illustrate the basic aspects of community health in their presentation, “What Makes Communities Healthy?”

After a morning break for refreshment and viewing exhibit booths, conference participants will be assigned to teams of five members, and given a walking and interviewing task. The assignments will be conducted in the village of Nazareth, to help participants learn through making observations about community health and discussing assets and challenges in their own communities. After a delicious lunch, Fr. Ken Keller, pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church, will speak on “Dealing with Unhealth: the Flipside of Striving for Health” In addition, there will be two presentation on resources for building healthy communities, and a closing presentation entitled, “The Promise of Health: Action Steps” moderated by Tabitha King, a Texas Tech University student and a Rural & Community Health intern for Ogallala Commons.

Those who wish to attend the Feb. 16th conference can register online or by mail (a $40 Early Bird Discount is available until Jan. 28th). It is also possible to register at the door for $50 per person. To see a complete brochure and to register online, visit: http://www.ogallalacommons.org/southernplainsconference.html

Sponsors for the 22nd Annual Southern Plains Conference are Ogallala Commons, the F. Marie Hall Institute for Rural and Community Health at Texas Tech University, Castro County HealthCare, Swisher Memorial Hospital, and Texas Farmers Union. For more information, contact Darryl Birkenfeld, Director, Ogallala Commons, at 806-945-2255 (darrylb@amaonline.com)


OC Stewarding Natural Resources - Teaching about Playas
By Julie Hodges, MS

Playa Festivals and Conservation Education Days would not be possible without the amazing folks who give their time and energy to making memorable presentations during these events. Recently Ogallala Commons hosted a luncheon to thank these talented and dedicated folks for all that they do. Also, OC Intern Sarah Le has produced a video about Playa Festivals. It is available to watch on our Playa Festival Blog (http://playafestival.blogspot.com) or on You Tube!

Below is a brief description of all of the folks who help make Playa Festivals possible.

DAVID HAUKOS, Ph.D.
David Haukos, Ph.D is a professor at Texas Tech University and a biologist for US Fish & Wildlife. At each Playa Festival Dr. Haukos presents two learning modules. The first is "Playa Overview" where Festival participants learn what playas are, what they do, and why they are important from this leading expert. Dr. Haukos also teaches "Playa Plants," a natural fit for the co-author of "Common Flora of the Playa Lakes." Dave will be relocating to Manhattan, KS in February, but will continue to assist where possible in OC events.

GAIL BARNES & JASPER THE BARN OWL
Gail Barnes is the Educator for the South Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and Nightwings, two nonprofits in Lubbock, Texas dedicated to rehabilitation of injured, orphaned, or ill wildlife. Gail is state and federally permitted to do programs with educational animals (wildlife that could not be released back into the wild). She is usually the highlight of Playa Festivals delighting the children with Jasper the Barn Owl, and several other raptors that travel with her.

JIM STEIERT
To delight Playa Festival participants with duck calls and pseudo thunderstorms is author and waterfowler, Jim Stiert. Jim's presentation, titled "Playa Buffers & Waterfowl" illustrates challenges faced by playa wetlands and the ducks and geese that depend on playas for habitat.

DARRYL BIRKENFELD, Ph.D
Not only is he Executive Director of Ogallala Commons! Darryl Birkenfeld teaches students about an array of subjects, including soils, macro invertebrates, and amphibians. His presentations are filled with stories about his personal experiences on playas. Dr. Birkenfeld also assists in leading the field trip to a playa on Day 1 of each Playa Festival.

JULIE HODGES, MS
Julie Hodges is the Education Coordinator for Ogallala Commons. She teaches Bird Identification and Nature Journaling at Playa Festivals, as well as serving as a guide at each Playa field trip.

USDA-NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE Personnel
At each Playa Festival a representative from the county NRCS office assists in teaching and scouting out field trip locations. This is an important and vital role for Playa Festivals.

From left to right, Jim Steiert, Darryl Birkenfeld, Gail Barnes, Julie Hodges, Dave Haukos

Ogallala Commons Newsletter: December 2010

Adventures in Community Leadership Training:
Early Efforts, New Initiatives

By Chris Sramek, OC Board Member, Atwood, Kansas

Back in 2006, Rawlins County, Kansas initiated a Community Leadership Training Program, through assistance and training from Ogallala Commons. Those efforts built a foundation for a stronger leadership training initiative in the fall 2008, with consultation Rawlins County leaders and our local HTC - KHP Leadership Team, The group began planning a Community Leadership Program which included content from S. Covey’s book, Speed ofTrust, and integrated portions of the adaptive leadership framework from the Kansas Leadership Center (KLC). The program’s design was to link community youth linked to adult members, to provide relationship building and mentoring opportunities between generations, and provide a more challenging extension of previous community leadership programs. The program would engage participation and cross generational dialog with others in the community through an interview process. The original goal was to start the new Leadership Program in the fall of 2009, with a $1,000 grant obtained from Atwood Second Century, but scheduling to the school calendar and planning challenges delayed the start until the fall of 2010.

Here are the main goals of our Speed of Trust Community Leadership Program:

• 1. Work on community trust building: Based on J. Williams’s surveys in 2007, trust was identified as a central issue in the community slowing development progress.
• 2. Connect older and younger community members: Based on the HTC - KHP youth assessment

  completed in 2008, youth engagement and involvement was identified to be a significant concern.

• 3. Build leadership capacity: Building stronger, more competent leaders is a key factor in being an even more successful community in the future.
• 4. Engage more leaders: Major community challenges require more ideas, input and assistance

  from a broader segment of our community than ever before.

Program invitations were mailed to 20 high school youth leaders and 40 adult community leaders with the intent of having an equal representation of youth and adults of varying ages in the program. The first Speed of Trust class had 16 enrolled in session 1 in September 2010 and 14 graduated in session 4 in November. The program consisted of (4) two hour working sessions held in the new RCHS band – concessions addition and homework assigned was to conduct 2 to 3 community interviews and various readings from S. Covey’s book and KLC curriculum.

In session 1, the class was paired into youth and adult partners based on outcomes of a Color’s personality mapping exercise, and then partners chose community members of various ages with whom to conduct an interview. Ten community assessment questions were assigned to be used in the interviews. In session 2, the class discussed and analyzed the responses from 36 interviews, and then prioritized the issues and outcomes to importance to them. In session 3, the class dug deeper into the core issues from the interviews using KLC technical vs. adaptive diagnoses and S Covey’s 13 Trust Competencies. Then they choose the key youth leadership issue of “Getting youth opinions and involvement in community decision making” and diagnosed it deeper. In session 4, class partners made interpretations and observations from another community stakeholder’s perspective on the youth leadership dilemma, using KLC technical vs. adaptive diagnoses and S Covey’s 13 Trust Competencies. The community stakeholders considered where government, school, business, health, families, youth, middle age, elders, ag community and rural County residents north and south. When diagnosis was completed the class discussed several experiments or interventions they could do as a class to fix the dilemma. They also discussed the choice to do nothing, because the issue was too big to make change. To conclude, the class evaluated likes, dislikes and the effectiveness of the program meeting original goals and had a graduation pizza party.

The course had three main outcomes:

• 1. The class wants to participate in two more sessions this spring to: 1. Work on including

  leadership curriculum in the class room and 2. Include more KLC and SOT content.

• 2. The program should be repeated next Fall and Spring with a more diverse group.
• 3. Individual interest in KLC training in Wichita and the Ogallala Commons Summer Internship program.

The Speed of Trust Leadership Class (Back Row left to right): Kurt Dillon, Heather Horinek, Heidi Foster, Keaton Argabright, Rachael Grafel, Delbert Schmidt, Cody Green (Front Row left to right) Chris Sramek, Jenni Sramek, Summer Castens, Abbey Wolters and Pattie Wolters. not pictured Sarah Green, Audrey Basgall and Julie Britton.

Regional Meetings Bolster Internships
By Darryl Birkenfeld

Ogallala Commons recently conducted three regional meetings with partners in our Community Internship Program. On Nov. 16^th, Darryl Birkenfeld traveled to Atwood, KS to meet with partners from Western Kansas and Nebraska. Similar meetings were conducted by OC Education Coordinator Julie Hodges and Darryl at Clarendon Community College in Clarendon, TX on Nov. 28^th and at Abernathy City Hall in Abernathy, TX on Dec. 2^nd. Those who attended these meetings included: County Judges, business owners, high school teachers, Community College faculty, community leaders, and personnel from the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

A key outcome of the morning meetings was to obtain feedback from partners regarding the benefits of Community Internships, and the challenges that need to be dealt with and improved upon to build successful internships. Another main outcome was to provide information and new tools to partners, in order to help them recruit capable candidates and build realistic work plans to engage the interns. After a lunch break, the afternoon session was spent reviewing the OC Community Internship Guidebook, so that partners would have a more comprehensive understanding of the main elements of the program.

In the aftermath of these meetings, OC received helpful comments and some new pathways for recruiting new partners to support Community Internships. Besides giving information, the meetings allowed partners to meet and interact with one another, re-igniting the enthusiasm it takes to build and sustain internships. Above all, the gatherings were about making sure that our partners are equipped to work with us to support the 40 Community Internships that we expect in 2011!

Community Internship Partners from Texas share ideas at the meeting in Abernathy (l to r): Morgan Dezendorf, High Plains Food Bank, Amarillo; Clay Wimmer, 2010 Community Intern from Abernathy; David Graf, Texas AgriLife Extension Agent from Tulia; Lydia Villanueva, Director of CASA del Llano in Hereford; Mark Castillo, Spanish Teacher from Hart High School; and Fr. Ken Keller, pastor of Holy Family Church in Nazareth.

2010—Ogallala Commons Best Year Ever!
By Darryl Birkenfeld

Starting a nonprofit with a mission targeting parts of 8 states is an ambitious undertaking. Can it truly be done? In the years 2003-2008, Ogallala Commons had to work through building an identity and overcoming limitations. Now we are finding our niche, and 2010 can be remembered as the pivotal year when OC really turned a corner. Here is a list of several highlights of our banner year:

First, OC was greatly aided and dramatically improved by the work of Julie Hodges. During her 6 month internship from January to July, Julie designed a new OC website, helped conduct 5 Conservation Education Days, while working on the Southern Plains Conference and 2 Local Food Field Days. Julie also completed the materials and interpretative panel for the opening of the Playa Classroom. Just as important, Julie created our Community Interns Blog, a year-round, real-time resource for our interns spread across five states. During her succeeding 6 months as OC Education Coordinator, she coordinated 14 Playa Festivals in Texas and New Mexico (check out the Playa Festival blog:http://playafestival.blogspot.com/ ), in addition to designing guidebooks, brochures, and flyers.

Second, OC established a significant education outreach in 2010. After years with only a few annual events, OC now offers monthly education events that included Youth Engagement Days, teacher trainings, youth entrepreneur fairs, conservation education for landowners, intern orientations, tours, and Playa Festivals at school sites—all told, 30 educational events that instructed over 2,500 attendees in one year, the most ever!

Third, OC grew another vital part of its mission: fostering a sense of place. Our commemoration of the 75^th Anniversary of Black Sunday and the Dust Bowl at the Southern Plains Conference was certainly a highlight for the 150 who attended. Our illustration of 12 Key Assets of Commonwealth of Ogallala Commons resonated with hundreds of people who viewed it on our website or saw it as part of our “Treatise on the Commons” that was published on the website: On The Commons (to read the treatise, link on this link:http://www.onthecommons.org/content.php?id=2749). A growing number of communities are learning about the commonwealth embedded in the unique landscapes, cultures, and stories that form their sense of place.

Fourth, through our evolving Community Internship Program, OC is actually building resilient communities. In 2010, OC and its community and institution partners created 33 internships in Texas, Kansas, Colorado, and Nebraska. These interns added tremendous value to their communities and institutions, while developing their skills and gaining work experience. These interns also learned much more about their hometowns, and were able to explore career options that can bring them back in the future. In 2010 alone, OC interns earned $65,000 in stipends from their work experiences, contributed 330 hours of community service, earned 27 hours of college and graduate credit, and submitted over 200 blog entries and 600 photos through the OC Community Intern Blog (www.ogallalaintern.blogspot.com). By year’s end, OC community building work of engaging youth and creating community internships was recognized in the December newsletter of the RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship.

Thanks to all our partners for making the vision of reinvigorating the commonwealth grow into reality. Finally, OC would not have had a banner year without the committed work and insights of our Board of Directors and Advisory Council. With your continued involvement and support, we look forward to 2011!

Teri Reed from Friona, TX, a 2nd place winner at OC's Regional Youth Entrepreneur Fair on Nov. 9th, receives her $1,000 prize check from the two donor partners: Cargill Feeders, Inc. (represented by Bil Anderson of Lockney, TX), and John Bertsch, a Certified Financial Planner based in Plainview, TX. (Photo taken by Thomas Reed)

My First Official Year with Ogallala Commons
By Julie Hodges

When it came time for me to find a place to do my internship, Ogallala Commons seemed a natural fit. First of all, it operates in my home - a place with landscapes, history, culture and other “heritagey” things that I am passionate about preserving. Second, the people associated with OC are interesting, talented and inspiring. And to top things off, it was a place where I could use my skill, training and talents to do something good and not be trapped in a windowless basement in the process!!

I was honored and excited in June when Darryl asked me to stay on with Ogallala Commons not as an intern, but as the Education Coordinator.

Throughout my internship and as OC’s Education Coordinator, I have worked harder, more passionately, with earlier and later hours, and on the most diverse set of projects than I have ever encountered at any other job in my life. I have done much of this from my home office. However, I have also traveled a total of 7,683 miles to 19 communities in 4 states, given my “how to id birds” talk over 50 times, introduced 1,500 students to the idea of nature journaling, read over, reviewed, graded or logged in over 3500 assessments, surveys, evaluations and questionnaires, given 5 big presentations (“big” means presentations to large groups of grownups at meetings where jeans were not appropriate), helped to coordinate 31 community internships in 6 states, managed 3 blogs, overhauled one website, completed an outdoor classroom, written one grant and a couple of grant reports, attended countless meetings, upgraded my cell phone to the “unlimited plan”, etc.

In my “spare time” I was a mom, a grad student, a volunteer at the South Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, added a bedroom onto my house and in November my boyfriend and I eloped in New Mexico and then came home and began a consulting firm called Prairie Workshop, LLC. I am now Julie Hodges and I have gained two new sweet daughters (to go along with my daughter Rhiley) as well. I look forward to another busy year at home and with OC.

Julie Hodges and Jason Hodges in Taos, NM after the wedding!

Stewarding Natural Resources,
A letter from the Education Coordinator…

2010 was an exceptional year for Playa Festivals and other Ogallala Commons (OC) environmental education efforts. Here are a few highlights:

We conducted a total of 5 Conservation Education Days throughout the panhandle of Texas during the early spring of 2010. These events were similar to past events where we train teachers and educators before they host a Playa Festival. The 2010 twist was to invite landowners to learn alongside and network with educators over a meal. We offered a delicious lunch, intriguing presentations on playas, the Ogallala Aquifer and federal programs for playa conservation as well as a unique opportunity to mingle. Through all 5 of these Conservation Education Days, Ogallala Commons educated a total of 68 teachers and landowners. The events were a great success, reaching a new group and continuing to energize area educators.

On June 8^th of this year, OC opened the world’s first Playa Classroom, an outdoor education center with interpretive panels, classroom space, rainwater harvesting, a xeric garden--- all set along the edge of a 20-acre playa in Nazareth, Texas. Dubbed as “A place to see, touch and experience a prairie wetland,” the Playa Classroom was visited by an estimated 400 people of all ages.

The Playa Classroom was the site for Ogallala Commons’ first-ever Playa Management Field Day on August 20^th. The Field Day was attended by 45 people—NRCS staff, OC interns, and 17 landowners! Of those 17 landowners, 14 reported one or more playas on their properties, and based on the acreage estimate that they wrote down in the surveys, our Field Day education presentations can potentially impact the management of 445 acres of playa basins.

September and October 2010 were busy months for Ogallala Commons and the wonderful folks that help us put on Playa Festivals. This past fall we bravely dove head first into 7 weeks of full calendars, logging hundreds of miles on pavement and dirt roads, criss-crossing the Southern High Plains with binoculars and journals in hand. All in all, over 1,500 5^th graders, their teachers and communities were engaged in hands-on learning through 14 Festivals. We also created the Playa Festival Blog – check it out - http://playafestival.blogspot.com/ and a Playa Festival Web Page!! – check it out too! - http://www.ogallalacommons.org/playafestival.html

Coming in 2011…

We have a few things up our sleeves for 2011 including:

• 1. A Playa Trunk full of resources for educators
• 2. A Video about Playa Festivals that will make you smile
• 3. Even more Playa Festivals than last year!!!!!
• 4. Playa Classroom expansion and additions