Stanley, ND

Daycare is an issue for most towns and city.  Two new daycares will be opening in Stanley.  Dianne Hellman is opening a daycare at the elementary school.  She is in the process of remodeling but is hoping to be open soon.  For more information, please call Dianne Hellman.  The second daycare opening is Rachel Neimitalo.   She purchased a house in town across from the elementary school and is also remodeling.  For more information, please contact Rachel Neimitalo.

Stanley welcomes new businesses!

For other daycares, please link to the Stanley webpage  www.stanleynd.com

Saturday, April 26th was ‘Scrap The Day’, an annual fundraiser to benefit the Stanley Community Activity Center. Those attending could view products from different vendors, work on their scrapbooks, register for door prizes and participate in a silent auction.
Organizer Backy Reynolds credits Kathie Dazell for being instrumental in helping her plan this event. The event raised over $900 for the Activity Center.
The operation of the center is funded through generous donations from individuals and business and fundraisers like ‘Scrap the Day’.
Every weekend the center is open with between 30 and 40 kids enjoying everything it has to offer. During the week, the center is available for pulic use including karate classes, Bible studies, private parties, Boy Scouts and more.

Nick Bruhn, a 13 year old from here in Stanley invented a board game entitled “Dog Pile”. The game is for up to four players, and has the ultimate goal of being the last dog or last dog team on the dog board. Using pieces that are pictures of dogs, players roll the dice and see if they can send another player’s pieces to the dog pound.
The idea for the game came when Nick was in Grand Forks with Paul Olson of ND Vision Services and was given the assignment to invent a board game. Nick displayed his new game to an audience at Marketplace for Kids in Minot on April 8th. He was approached at Marketplace for Kids by Ag Commissioner Roger Johnson about possibly selling his game, which Nick is now considering. GREAT JOB NICK!

Volunteers fromthe City of Stanley gathered together on a cold stormy spring saturday morning, to revitalize the city pond area. Workers converged on planting 40 trees, picking garbage, rocks and filling holes. The morning concluded with a noon meal served at the memorial building.
Volunteers from several groups in Stanley including, 4-H, church groups and service groups made up the 70+ volunteers who helped to beautify the city pond.

Mountrail County Farmers Union held a noon lunch for $1 for any community member wanting to come out. The $1 fee for lunch represent the amount producers receive, which is estimated to be only twenty cents of every food dollar. The other eight cents is made up of marketing, processing, wholesaling, distribution and retailing costs.
The event was organized to make the public aware of how little of the food dollar spent actually goes to the producer in rural america. In a press release from the ND Farmers Union President, Robert Carlson, he stated that “High energy costs, inflation, world markets and stock inventories are driving today’s food costs, not the prices farmers receive for their crops and livestock.

I visited with Dustin Stammen, a student at the Stanley High School about what he thought was fun and what he’d tell someone who doesn’t know Stanley, what Stanley would have to offer. He told me that archery was fun for his friends, family and himself. What he liked most about hunting around Stanley is the wide open spaces and not a lot of people to hinder his sport. He and his family hunt deer, elk and moose in the fall and turkey in the spring. He told me that he and his dad as been successful in bagging deer and turkey but the elk and moose hasn’t been so successful. During the winter, Dustin, his friends and family go the community building on Tuesday nights to practice archery up stairs. They have targets already set up. There is no fee to practice. He has taken the time to help anyone who needs help in archery and whether he knows them or not. So if you get the urge to know about archery on a Tuesday winter night, it sounds like the community building is the place to be. I bet you’d find Dustin and his family there too.

thanks Dustin!

Tri Jen and Hidden Treasure Store is a place in Stanley that is a must visit.  Tri Jen is a lunch and coffee shop specializing in variety of espressos and blended ice drinks located in the Hidden Treasure second hand store.  Many people with disabilities are working to keep the store going.  Some of those jobs are washing, tagging, stocking and ironing clothing.  Hidden Treasure received donations of articles from all over and volunteers along with Tri City Cares individuals turn those articles into our Hidden Treasures. Hidden Treasure collects small toys like beanie babies that are sent to the soldiers in Iraq which they give them to the children of Iraq.  These toys are perfect for soldiers to carry with them because they are a soft toy.  Personal items such as toilet paper, small size shampoos, deordant and portable food items such ramin noodles and hard candies are always welcomed for care packages  for our soldiers.  

“Retired Senior Program (RSVP)-  These are amazing volunteers that give thier time and talent to the store by acting as cashier, pricing clothing and doing many other jobs.  We wouldn’t be able to keep our doors open without them.” reported Lynn Petz.

“Besides a place to work, it is also a service to the community.  Tri City Cares individuals are very proud of being able to give back to the community.” Says Lynn Petz

There has been much discussion on how the local area businesses, hospital, and schools can compete for workers with the higher paying jobs created by oil activity.  There is always good and bad that comes from change.  The local economy is doing well but the fear of losing the economy possibly in the next few years scares a lot of citizens and businesses. Increasing the wages now to compete with the rising economy and having to stay at those wages when things start to cool off is a concern.  Please comment on this issue.  It would be nice to know your opinion.

Last night, Tuesday March 25, 2008, the Stanley School District hosted a public meeting to discuss the future of the school district.  Stanley is looking at being stable in student numbers and with the increase of oil field activity the financial end is looking good.  Concerns of the public were available housing for new people moving into the district, providing laptops for large amount of new students (Stanley provides laptops for all students grades 5-12), building improvements and bussing.  These are just a few comments made at the meeting. The Stragetic Planning Minutes will be posted on the school’s website www.stanley.k12.nd.us

Barb Reese, Jim Hennessy and Randal Reese attended classes for advanced bloggers, today. Our plan for the future is to get more people to start blogging on our website.