Troy, ID

I received this forward from my mother-in-law.  I spent the whole day at a Washington and Idaho Horizons networking meeting in Post Falls and after reading this tonight, it got me thinking.  Please read through to the end and post your answer to the query. 

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a
well. The animal cried piteously for hours as
the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the
well needed to be covered up anyway;
it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.He invited all his neighbors to come over and
help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began
to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the
donkey realized what was happening and cried
horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement he
quieted down.

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds
of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well
is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of
our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out
of the deepest wells just by not stopping,
never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.Remember the five simple rules to be happy: Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.Free your mind from worries - Most never happen.Live simply and appreciate what you have.

Expect less.NOW ………… Enough of that crap . The donkey later came back,
and bit the farmer who had tried to bury him.
The gash from the bite got infected and
the farmer eventually died in agony from septic shock. MORAL FROM TODAY’S LESSON:When you do something wrong, and try to cover
your ass, it always comes back to bite you.After you’ve read this story, think about Troy.  Would you characterize Troy as the Donkey or the Farmer?  Does Troy deal with what its situation is and figure out solutions or does it try to cover up?  Which category would you say the citizens of our community are in? Do you think that we preserve our old things or get rid of them?

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

I show my community spirit and pride by getting involved in activities, such as Horizons and the Old HS project.  I also feel that making our new house, the old Hospital, look attractive and presentable also shows this.

How do you show your community spirit & Pride?  What outlets for showing this would you like to see here in Troy?

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                          

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!

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!

We are looking for local artists or individuals/groups with special talents who are interested in participating in a community meeting to discuss the possibility of Troy taking part in the 2° Northwest cultural tourism project. This project aims to increase tourism in small northwestern communities by creating, distributing, and promoting an artisan trail guidebook. The Troy Horizons Entrepreneur Group is focusing on this project as a way to improve the local economy. If you are interested in taking part in this meeting please contact Nancy Hampel at nancmh@yahoo.com, 835-3313 or Heidi Reierson at heiditenaya@hotmail.com, 835-4088 for more information.

Action Plans!

Each of the Troy Horizons Action Teams has created a plan of action to guide future work goals for their team. These plans lay out short term goals, long term goals, potential resources, and anticipated impact for the work the team plans to accomplish. You can view these goals by clicking on the appropriate team name in the Pages menu to the right of this post.

Co-Leader, Shishona Thurston, shishonathurston@hotmail.com

This group would like to address the current water shortage issue by focusing on conservation. The first step in this process is to collect information on the history of this issue. At the first meeting, City Council Member Mike Dimmik will be providing an overview on what the City has been doing to address this problem. Other information on conservation will also be presented. This meeting will take place on Monday, October 19th from 7:00-8:30 at City Hall.

Co-Leader, Nancy Hampel, nancmh@yahoo.com

The Entrepreneurship team will be exploring a variety of possibilities such as supporting existing business owners, encouraging entrepreneurial development, developing a small business investment club, and taking part in a cultural heritage tourism project. One other possibility that has been mentioned is the development of a community garden. We have identified a possible partner for this project, but we’d like to determine if there is enough community interest to move forward so we’d like to hear from you about this issue as well. Then next meeting for this group will be on Wednesday, November 14th from 6:30-7:30 pm at City Hall.