Troy, ID

Let’s thank Shishona Thurston for making the effort to travel all the way to Boise in May to get certified to write grants for Troy’s community work. Troy Horizons paid for her registration and travel expenses to do this. Michele Vachon is working with Rune Frossmo, the owner of the Old High School, to find grant money for the renovation, and now Shishona will be able to help her.

Shishona has also helped organize work parties at the Old High School and a community meeting on June 12th with facilitator Jim Witham to help the entire community (different organizations and segments of the population) think about how they want to use the Old High School. Moreover, working with the Troy Historical Society, she helped put together a T-shirt for this amazing project (coming soon), so that everyone can show their pride and commitment to making this vision a reality!

Thanks Shishona!

Are you interested in helping organize a Troy-Moscow marathon?  If so, please call Shishona @ 835-5049.  The Latah trail between Troy and Moscow is slated to be finished early September.  The marathon would be the kick off of the trail, grand-opening if you will, and would be in late September.  This could turn into an annual event that could bring some revenue into Troy.  We are also looking at pairing this with Scandinavian Days and make it a weekend event.

Hi!
My husband Oscar at Oscar’s Computer Service is working on a regional informational website: Latah Central Anyone who would be willing to check out the website and give us suggestions, it would be much appreciated. Also, if you have a local business, you can find information on the website about how to advertise there.Holly

On Saturday, June 14, we will have a BBQ for the people who come help out at the Old HS.  Spread the word!  RSVP to Shishona @ 835-5049.  For working, wear icky clothes, bring leather gloves, possible eye protection, and water.  Some jobs stir up dust and dirt in their area, so bring face masks if you have some.  We have some face masks, but depending on how many people are there, we might not have enough.

 Meet at the Old HS at 10 am.  Work for 2 hours.  BBQ 12-1.  Work for 4 hours. Possible movie in the gym via projector.  If movie is showed, bring cushions, chairs, and blankets.  Further information on this will be posted.

Wow.  What excitement!  This project is such a great benefit to the community.  Several people attended the workday and we got a lot done.  Most of the old boiler has been cut away and a lot of old wiring was taken out.  The girls showers had already been demolished and we hauled out all of the rubbish from this.  It is hard to imagine having to use those showers.  We were given a tour of the building and perspective plans.  What a gem to have!

Future workdays are scheduled for every Saturday this summer (excluding playground workday - July 11 and Troy Days - July 19)  A BBQ is planned for next Saturday, June 14.  Come help out and enjoy some food!

We have just been informed of a great opportunity that is available tomorrow, Tuesday, June 10 in Stites, ID at 6 pm.  This Small Business Planning Seminar is hosted by Stites and free to anyone who would like to attend.  Troy Horizons will pay for your travel.  Stites is bringing in Tom Old of Alta Vista Consulting to conduct the seminar.  Please see the attached flier.  business_plan_seminar_tom_old_0610081.pdf

UI Extension, Horizons, and Two Degrees Northwest have partnered up to bring you a Cooperative Business Workshop.  It will be June 25th from 9am-4pm at the 1912 Center in Moscow and is free to attend.  Please see the attached flier for more information. coopflyer2nd.pdf

This article was printed in the May issue of Troy Talk Newsletter 

Spring is among us and we are again thinking of yards, gardens, and consuming water for everyday summer activities.  Now is the time to look into installing rain barrels to help with the cost of higher water usage and to help with conservation of our most precious resource. 

• Rain barrels conserve water and help lower costs (a rain barrel can save approximately 1,300 gallons of water during peak summer months).
• Rain barrels reduce water pollution by reducing stormwater runoff, which can contain pollutants like sediment, oil, grease, bacteria and nutrients.
• Rain barrels are inexpensive and easy to build and install

What is a rain barrel?
A rain barrel collects and stores rainwater from rooftops to use later for lawn and garden watering. Water collected in a rain barrel would normally pour off your roof directly or flow through roof gutter downspouts and become stormwater runoff. Depending on your yard, this runoff can travel onto paved surfaces and eventually into a storm drain.              

Here are some helpful websites to give you more information.  You can search for rain barrels on the internet or find them at your local garden supply and hardware stores.  A rain barrel can simply be a garbage can that sits under a downspout or heavy runoff point from your roof.  It does not have to be expensive or fancy.  Here are some websites with good information on them: 

http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/pi/rainbarrels.htm

http://www.harvesth2o.com/faq.shtml

http://www.uri.edu/ce/healthylandscapes/rainbsources.html

Brought to you by Troy Horizons Water Committee

For more information, contact Shishona @ 835-5049, shishonathurston@hotmail.com

Rune “cordially invites you to a work day on Saturday, June 7 starting at 10 am running until about 3 or 4 pm (whenever the dump closes)”.  The goal for this work day is to haul all of the unwanted items that have been ripped out of the lower level to the dump and to move the items that we are saving to another location of the building.  The first 500 lbs taken to the dump is free, after that, Rune will pay any dump charges that are incurred.  We currently need pickup trucks, horse trailers, wheelbarrows, leather gloves, safety goggles, and bodies to work.  If you can not commit to the whole time, that is ok, any little bit helps.  Whether it is for 2 hours or for 6 hours, please show up to help with this project.  If you do not have a pickup truck, then just show up and help load the trucks we will have there.  Bring your family, bring your friends, spread the word.  The more the merrier.  As I am writing this, the boiler and associated pipes are being cut out courtesy of some hard working people and a blow torch provided by Pete Abbot.  This is one of the items we need to haul away.

As this project progresses, there will be many more work days in the future.  We are working on getting a schedule together of those days. 

This is an exciting opportunity for Troy.  Please help us make this building into something for you to enjoy, that will be beneficial to the community everyday!  This project is a large undertaking and we would love your suggestions and support in whatever form you can provide.

Contact info:   

Rune Frossmo, Owner – 835-2000

Shishona Thurston, Horizons – 835-5049   shishonathurston@hotmail.com

Michele Vachon, Grant-writer and Environmental Specialist - mvachon@uidaho.edu                          

Rune Frossmo, the owner of the Old High School, is now back in town.  He is very excited about giving this building back to the community in whatever form the community wants.  The first step in this process has been dedicated to the Troy Historical Society.  They have been given the lower level of the Old HS to call their own and work is in progress to get their area completed.  In the meantime, Horizons is going to be talking to various groups/organizations/individuals to find out how you want this building used.

With this in mind, we have invited Jim Withim to talk to us and become our facilitator to collect ideas and information.  If you would like to be included and share your thoughts, please post comments on our blog.  We would like to generate discussion in Troy on this exciting project.  If you would like to be contacted and included in this conversation the blogs will be checked regularly, or you can email me Shishona Thurston @ shishonathurston@hotmail.com

According to wikipedia; “Poverty (also called penury) is deprivation of those things that determine the quality of life, including food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, but also “intangibles” such as the opportunity to learn and to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens.”  To me, poverty is not just about money.  It is the lack of education, training, communication, connectedness to your community, services (health, media, safety…), transportation, etc. 

 Where do you see poverty in Troy? 

Heidi Reierson and Julie Redford, who have been key contacts for Troy Horizons are both moving out of the area.  They will be greatly missed!  The new contact information is now:       

Shishona Thurston         604 S Main, Troy, ID 83871    (208) 835-5049   shishonathurston@hotmail.com

If you would like to get involved with Horizons or have ideas for projects we can work on, please contact me!

If you need help getting going with blogging, this beginners blog manual is a great source!  blog-manual.pdf  For additional help, look to the top left of your screen where it says “My Account”.  Hover your mouse over this and there will be a drop down menu.  Move your mouse over “Support” and click once.  This will take you to the WordPress Support website where there is lots of good information on how to blog on this website. 

Good Luck!  Remember, you can’t break anything, so don’t be afraid to try things out.  Any questions, please email me:  Shishona Thurston shishonathurston@hotmail.com 

Troy, ID - Archive - Welcome to Troy’s Community Blog!

Troy Horizons is exploring the idea of partnering with Potting Shed Creations to build a community garden. There is a site near their building that they would like to develop into a garden if there sufficient interest in the community. They are interested in working with Horizons to further explore the communities’ interest in this project and later to mobilized volunteers and resources for getting the garden started. In addition, the City of Troy has some grant money for city landscaping projects which could be accessed to help play for gardening supplies. We are looking for individuals or groups in the community who would like to become involved in this project. To learn more, call Heidi Reierson at 835-4088!

Since partnering with local business during the Visioning Rally, Horizons has been able to develop a lot of new partnerships with business owners. The Entrepreneur Team has many members who are business owners and we are in the process of recruiting more people to take part in the 2° Northwest Project we are pursuing. You can learn more about this by going to the link in the right margin that reads “What’s 2° Northwest ”. It’s located under the title “Pages”. Also, please feel free to leave a comment. We’d love to know what you are thinking!