Linton, ND

Cheryl Dupuis spoke about losing her daughter to a drunk driving accident.
Her daughter got in to her boyfriend’s car after he had been drinking and
he ran a stop sign. He walked away, but Danae did not and died in the
hosptial. The presentation was called Denae’s Song. The presentation was
for all 9-12 graders in Emmons County, held in Linton. Sponsors for the
Denae’s Song presentation was: Emmons County Interagency, Bank of Hazelton,
Security State Bank, Strasburg State Bank, Kem, and BNC. There is a
website to check out Denae’s song, it is www.danaessong.homestead.com

 
The three high schools in Emmons County were nominated on behalf of the Emmons County Interagency for an award at the Region VII Safe and Drug Free Communities Coaltion Appreciation Banquet.  The schools include: 

Linton Public School, Steve Nelson, Superintendent
                                              Strasburg Public School, Jim Eiseman, Superintendent
                                              H-M-B Public School, Brad Rinas, Superintendent
 
The superintendents and staff of all three schools have been an important part of our local coalition in providing ATOD and Safe Community programs in our community. Through the school newsletters and parent bulletins we have been able to distribute information about upcoming programs or concerns to students and parents in a very efficient manner.  We have been able to distribute the CHOICES Magazine through Parent/Teacher Conferences.
 
The schools have allowed us to use their facilities for Safe Nights, Kids Fun Fairs, school lyceums, among other programs.  The schools have been very cooperative with each other in providing student bussing as we rotate the location of these events around the county.  They make available the kitchen and kitchen staff when meals are being served during a program as well as janitorial staff to assist with set up and clean up after events.
 
Teacher and counseling staff are available to help students plan activities such as Safe Night during school hours.  This arrangements allows easier access to involving students in planning activities and in the process, assists with developing  leadership  skills in our youth.
 
Our coalition would not be able to offer the level of programs in our community that we do without the support and cooperative working arrangement with our schools in Emmons County
 

A small group of Linton Residents met to discuss the beautification process of the city of Linton and also the two parks within the community.  Many ideas have been tossed around in an effort to get the ball rolling on this project.  A future meeting will be held with collaborators to secure designs for the community and the hope is that a theme will evolve for the community to follow.  This is a high priority to the residents of Linton and its exciting to see new developments with this project.  Stay tuned for further progress on this exciting venture!

The Linton Senior Center Members have been on the move raising funds for their new building project.  In the short time they have been fund raising, they have managed to secure over $25,000.00 to put towards the project.  This does not take into consideration the time, effort, and supplies that have been donated to the project.  A meeting has been planned to include the youth of the community in the decision making to come up with new and innovative ideas for the center.  A tour has also been planned to a neighboring community for ideas and advice on how to run the center.  Other developments on the project are in the works, so stay posted for future updates!  If you would like to help out with this project, feel free to contact the Emmons County Extension Service for more information.

Linton Lion President Virgil Hulm presents Linton Park-board member Ken Schneider with a $2,000 check as part of the club’s pledge toward the swimming pool improvement fund. The Lions run a variety of projects raising money for many causes in the community. Last year the pool was redone, and the new water slide will be open this spring.

Grandma’s Kuchen of Westfield, ND was featured on the 12/12/2007 airing of New Morning with Kimberly Whitfield (Hallmark Channel). This video is the segment of the show about Grandma’s Kuchen and Westfield.

Update on 03/08/2008: One of the men in the video, Jerry Van Beek, passed away just recently. His wife, Marilyn, has now moved away. With that, Westfield lost a big chunk of its population and has only two or three permanent residents left. I was going to describe Jerry as the one with the cowboy hat, dark glasses, and deep voice - but it’s easier to say he is the only man speaking throughout the video segment.

Nodak Homes provides low-income and elderly housing in 4 units in Linton. The grant will be used to update the shingles, siding and windows on the three 4-unit buildings.

October 10th, 2007, the citizens of Linton had the opportunity to take part in a state of the art community chat. The NDSU Group Decision Center was on hand to set up their bank of computers to gather public opinion. In the afternoon the high school students had the opportunity to use the technology to talk about their hopes and dreams for Linton. The students expressed a great deal of community and school pride.

At 5:30 the rest of the community was invited for a Horizons sponsored meal at the school. Those in attendance were than invited to use the bank of computers to gather their ideas and opinions about Linton. The popular vote from the meeting showed that there should be a more adequate senior center, the movie theater needs to be brought back and improvements need to be made to Seeman Park so it is better utilized by the public. There were also many positive comments about Linton’s LIDC Director, the outstanding teachers, the great school system and overall community spirit. GO LINTON!!

A number of community volunteers have stepped up to work on many of the issues discussed at the community meeting. Keep watching for more progress in Linton.

The Emmons County Commissioners have approved the installation of an elevator and upgrade of the main floor restrooms. This will shape the courthouse to comply with American’s Disability Act (ADA) requirements for public buildings.

Construction will begin within the next one to two months.

The Coyote Country 4-H club is keeping busy. Projects recently completed are: made Christmas ornaments and delivered them to the assisted living apartments; helped the Lions Club buy and wrap Christmas gifts for the needy children in the community; collected pop tops for the Ronald McDonald House; made Easter baskets for the folks in the assisted living apartments; helped raise food donations for the Linton Food Pantry and collected recycled eye glasses for the Lions International Drive for countries that cannot afford glasses.