Railbelt Mental Health & Addictions

Nenana Wellness Coalition
Minutes
May 23, 2006

The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska.

There were four in attendance for the meeting today including: Kat McElroy, Miles Martin, Norman George and Mike Anderson.

The meeting was never officially called to order

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: We had no set agenda, no call for modifications

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes were e-mailed to all on the WIN e-mail list last week 05/16/06 by Kat. There has been no call for changes or addendums.

We had soup and salad for lunch, provided by Railbelt Mental Health & Addictions. The meeting opened with general discussion.

Mike Anderson stated that the students are getting ready to leave NSLC. The Center is tentatively scheduled to have the Laborer’s Union apprenticeship program construction workers staying there thru the end of June. He mentioned that the maintenance crews will be doing general repairs to the building during the summer.

Miles continues dialoguing with the people who are organizing the Art Train which is scheduled to be in Nenana for two days sometime around October 11th. The train will be in Anchorage, then Seward, then Palmer, then Fairbanks. They will stop as they pass through Nenana on the return leg of their journey. He said that the artists are Natives from the Lower 48 and that they are willing to come into the school, work with our students and do demonstrations of their work.

Miles mentioned that the Cultural Center is now open seven days a week. He believes the hours will be nine to five. Alex Ketzler is taking art work on consignment there. Norma George gave us some background about various challenges the Cultural Center has had to face over the years. She provided a timeline of events and players from 1998 onward, from her association with the Nenana Native Council, Moses Paul and Totchaket, Inc. Mike Anderson was able to fill in some information from the perspective of the City Council. It is apparent that their have been a variety of players and visions over the years and that these diverse and sometimes conflicting directions have left a legacy of mistrust and difficult feelings. We all agreed that it would be good to be able to put all of that in the past so that the Cultural Center could move forward and prosper. Norma stated that she would very much like to see the Center be used to show Native culture but also the influences and changes from when the miners came through, and then the trappers, and how it changed when steam boats plied the riverways and again when the railroad came through and again when the highway was put in. All of these have influenced Nenana culture. She thinks that Moses Paul wanted the Center to be for community education purposes as much as to showcase art and artifacts.

We had a discussion regarding community safety. Miles said he had hoped that Rita O’Brien would be at WIN as they have been brainstorming ways to get a Community Watch program going. He suggested that we might ask people from UAF department of Criminal Justice to come talk to WIN. The consensus of conversation was that nuisance crime and drug use is on the increase in our community. Miles stated that it is his observation that a lot of people who traditionally do spring hunting have not been going this year, “because they have sold their guns, to buy drugs. I don’t see them putting their boats into the water first thing as soon as the ice goes out. They’ve sold their boat motor or don’t have money for boat gas. He asked, “Who will be setting up fish camp? I see people selling their gear. The money is going for dope, and then it’s gone. Then, stealing starts happening, is happening already. Then, people start selling drugs themselves, to support their own habits.” He mentioned that he has had fuel stolen from the tank in his yard, item s stolen from his house as well as from around his shop. He expressed frustration that “Nothing is being done about this.” Mike Anderson noted his aggravation when, “We know adults in our community that are supplying alcohol to minors and no police action is taken” He cited an example from a couple of years ago that made him so angry he wanted to “take care of the problem myself,” and was told by the Troopers that he could be arrested if he took any action.

Rita O’Brien and Kat will be doing a “Spit-out” at the River Days celebration Saturday, June 3rd. Rita has obtained 50 oral drug test kits which Kat will help administer to the first 50 people who would like to demonstrate that they are taking a stand to have a clean and sober community.

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS: Thursday, 5/25/06 will be the Community Pride and Village Safety meeting at the tribal hall, 6:30. All members of the community are invited.

ADJOURNMENT approximately 2:00 PM

Nenana Wellness Coalition

Minutes

May 16th, 2006

 The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska. 

There were  eleven in attendance for the meeting today including: Patty Burns, DeAnne Stevens, Bear Ketzler, Bonnie and Blaine Reed,  Kat McElroy,  Paul Verhagen, Moses Paul, Rob Thomason, Miles Martin and Mike Anderson.

 

The meeting was called to order at 12:12 PM.

 

Prayer was led by this week’s chairperson: Paul Verhagen

followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE which was recited by all. 

 

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: We had no set agenda, no call for modifications

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes were not yet available.

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS:  Ms. Patty Burns and Ms. DeAnne Stevens joined us today. They are with the MapTEACH Project

http://www/dggs.dnr.state.ak.us

           

 

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

           

            MapTEACH—Patty and DeAnne passed out copies of the Alaska GeoSurvey News, the newsletter for the State of Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS).  They made a brief report on their MapTEACH activities. They are funded by the National Science Foundation. They do education and outreach to Jr. high and high school age students. It is a collaborative project with DGGS, UAF, and the University of Wisconsin/Madison. They are charged to “develop a place-based geoscience education program for middle- and high-school aged students in rural Alaska that emphasizes hand’s-on experience with spatial technology (GPS, GIS and remote sensing imagery) in conjunction with traditional activities.” They have been working with students and elders around the area to that avail.

Patty and DeAnne have been communicating with Moses Paul regarding his endeavor to get a state funded Trails Project to map out and establish the traditional use of the trail that runs along the top of Toghalthele and across out to Six Mile. They have encouraged him to collaborate with the Nenana Sports Association who have also expressed an interest in mapping out and establishing the traditional use of old trails in our area. They see their project as being able to be of assistance in that endeavor as their efforts to use local students and elders doing GPS exploration and mapping of those trails can be used as Match in the grant proposal. They stressed the importance of documenting wide community support and collaborative efforts so that our various local entities won’t be competing against one another for the limited funding available for such processes. They said that what they bring is: map-making, trail-identification abilities and technical assistance to the table. Discussion ensued.

Miles indicated that local dog mushers are concerned about maintaining use of the trail system due to differing land use considerations. He cited conflicts between mushers and snow-machiners as an example.  He mentioned bird-watching, stated it is an under-developed tourism activity that would be enhanced by having marked trails.

Paul stated that the Nenana Sports Association wants to work together to enhance use and develop co-operative use. He stated that Ken Eggleston would be working on a grant proposal. He suggested that Moses Paul get together with them to make a joint proposal.

Moses spoke of efforts since 1992 to get recognition of traditional use trails between Minto and Nenana. His goal for the trail, he said, is to “get it opened, get community awareness of it, so people will use the trail.” He stated that from the top, “you can see the Brookes Range, the Alaska Range, Minto valley, all of the Tanana Valley.”

Miles mentioned the top of FAA hill, “People have traditionally gone up there, now it’s been made a secured area and we can’t use it.” He suggested that having maps to establish traditional use would help prevent things like this from happening again. He voiced concerns about how this information could be mis-used once it has been passed on to the general public.

There was more general discussion regarding how WIN, Moses Paul, MapTEACH project, students and the Nenana Sports Association can work together to demonstrate collaboration and hopefully satisfy everyone’s goals.

 

Robert Thomason gave us a report and preview demonstration of the soon to be on-line Nenana City Public School web site. It is quite impressive. He stated that it will likely go up to six releases before the web site is finalized. He said that parents will be able to go online to check their student’s assignments, grades and schedules as well as to pull up school policies and school board meeting minutes. He says that he will be reviewing it with various community members seeking feedback and suggestions.

Robert announced:

            Spring Concert, Wednesday 5/17/06 at 6:30 PM

            Clean Up Day, Friday 5/19/06—followed by a picnic at the ballpark

            Graduation, Sunday, 5/21/06 at 2 PM

He also noted that next Thursday, 5/25/06 will be the Community Pride and Village Safety meeting at the tribal hall, 6:30. All members of the community are invited.

Robert reported that House Bill 16 passed which will result in our school district receiving an additional 500 to 600 dollars per month per student for NSLC enrollee. He says that they are working on the budget for next year.

 

WELLNESS THOUGHT

Paul read aloud two columns by Ben Stein, writer of the weekly column “Monday Night at Morton’s.” One column suggested that the real heroes in life are those who are willing to sacrifice their own lives or personal comfort for the betterment of society as a whole or for other individuals. It compared Hollywood stars who earn six figure salaries to military personnel, police officers or firefighters and asked which actually is doing the greater good. The other column asked people to reflect upon their own propensity to take offense easily by any perceived slight and suggested we might all check our own attitudes. Discussion ensued.  

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

Bonnie announced that The Nenana Senior Center has received the grant for a new bus. She didn’t have details of the new vehicle. She noted that the Senior Center has been increasingly busy.

 

Kat said that Traci is in Anchorage. Her nephew was the victim of a hit-and-run in Seward and was medi-vac’ed  to Providence Hospital. It is unknown how long she will be there though she reports that the injuries are not critical.

She also said that Rita O’Brien is ordering 50 Spit Tests to administer during the River Days celebration. The goal is to get 50 people willing to demonstrate that they are clean and sober, and to take photographs to make a poster for public display.

 

Paul announced that there has been further case law in Alaska affirming the rights of an accused person to have a jury “of their peers.” This means that in the future more and more felony cases will end up being tried in the rural communities in which the offense took place. This supports his proposal of getting a new court house for Nenana.

     

ADJOURNMENT approximately 2:00 PM

Nenana Wellness Coalition
May 9, 2006
Minutes

Meeting held at the Lynx Den at the Nenana Student Living Center

Present: Donald Charlie, Rose Allen, Rob Thomason, Blaine Reed, Bonnie Reed, Ralph Lindquist, Earl Polk, Tim Barker, Miles Martin, Paul Verhagen, Karen Lord, Kat McElroy, Mike Anderson, Rita O’Brian, Norma George

Meeting began at 12:25

Meeting conducted by Kat McElroy
Prayer by Bonnie Reed
Pledge of Allegiance led by Kat McElroy

Miles Martin – Chamber of Commerce

Miles reminded us that the Art Train is scheduled to arrive in Nenana this summer and has asked them to get us more information that he will pass on to us as he gets it.

Rob Thomason – Superintendent of Schools

Rob announced the sad news that Ralph Lindquist is leaving. Ralph has spend many years guiding and helping develop the Nenana Student Living Center into the successful program that it has become. We will be sad to see Ralph leave and wish him the best in his new adventure. Rob also introduced Earl Polk as Ralph’s replacement. Many people in the community have come to know and like Earl from his many visits to Nenana over the last few years helping at the school and student living center. We hope that he will enjoy his stay here and look forward to working with him.

Tim Barker – Alaska Native Veterans

As do most of us, Tim wears many hats. Today he reported on the progress of the Nenana chapter of the Alaska Native Veteran’s Organization. They have 34 active members and were recently told that the Nenana chapter has made more progress since its inception than Fairbanks has made since its inception long before. They have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday) at 7:00 PM at the tribal hall. They also have a project scheduled at both cemeteries for Memorial Day during which they will spruce up the graves and area around the graves of all veterans. Paul Verhagen informed them about the Interior Alaska Cemetery Project of the Fairbanks Genealogical Society and suggested that they might want to work with them on their project because it would of great value to the veterans to know of where all the veterans are buried. He suggested that the veterans set up a pavilion at the cemeteries with a map and ask people who come to visit relatives to help them plot the location of any veterans that they are aware of and that if they then share that information with Paul he will get it incorporated into the larger project of eventually identifying everyone possible in the cemeteries. Tim stated that benefits is the big message that they are trying to get out all veterans. Many do not know what they are entitled to. Their efforts at making native allotments available to vets who were in Vietnam during the war is coming to a conclusion and it looks like they will have accomplished their objective! He also showed us a shotgun that he is working on that will be raffled off to help Shirley Demientieff cover her medical bills. It looks like it will be beautiful and quite a help to Shirley.

Paul Verhagen – Peak Oil/Sports Association/Diversion Program

Peak Oil - Paul shared information about a class he attended in Fairbanks last Friday where they spent six hours discussing the oil situation in the world. He was introduced to the writings and teachings of a man named Hubbard who demonstrated that within a few years (2009 projected) the world will have hit the peak of oil production and that since many are realizing this the current price trends will continue to increase. Kat McElroy said that there is a great deal of information available on line for anyone who Google’s Peak Oil. Paul suggested that we should be aware of this information as it will affect all of our long term planning from building construction to budgeting for our various organizations and agencies.
Sports Association - He also told us of the status of the proposal from the laborers to build a building for us at our racing facility. To date they have enough donations to cover the cost of building the foundation and are working to get the rest.
Diversion Panel - Paul reported on the status of the diversion program after which Earl Polk suggested that he call Evelyn Day in Bethel at 543-6706 and fax some information on the program to her fax number at 543-6712 (fax), and also that he contact Loren Lisa, Dennis Cummings, and Michael Perker.

Rita O’Brian – Alaska Native Education Grant

Rita brought us up to date on the status of her grant and shared with us what is happening with Native Youth Olympics. ANEG was successful at getting 40 – 50 kids trained as Emergency Trauma Technician this year, they have purchased CAD software so that kids at the school can have CAD instruction next year, they are about to begin a six week summer construction academy, they are continuing to work with Railbelt on the proposed “spit-out” and plan on tying it together with the ride for sobriety. Neil Charlie, Charlie Stevens, Guy Peters and others have agreed to speak out against alcohol and drug abuse.

Karen Lord – Grant to Reduce Alcohol Abuse and Prevention

This grant ends this year too. It will “officially” continue until September 30th. There was an article in the Fairbanks paper yesterday about the schools’ Hawaii trip (that was partially funded from this grant) and how well our school did in the competition. Graduation is scheduled for May 31. There is a Native Council youth dinner at the tribal hall at 6;30 PM. I working to wrap up the grant Karen found some computer generated flyers and forms in the program computer from when the Wellness Coalition was just starting. She thought we might want continued access to them. She agreed to email copies of them to Paul and Kat and she gave hard copies to Paul to include with the minutes. Her consideration in doing this was greatly appreciated.

Donald Charlie – Behavioral Health

Don’s program is supporting the May 25th event and a picnic at the river bank on June 7th.

The meeting ended at 1:40 PM.

Minutes submitted by Paul Verhagen and subject to correction or modification. If you see any errors or wish to make corrections please contact paulverhagen@prodigy.net or call him at 907-378-545.

Nenana Wellness Coalition

May 9, 2006

Minutes

 

Meeting held at the Lynx Den at the Nenana Student Living Center

 

Present: Donald Charlie, Rose Allen, Rob Thomason, Blaine Reed, Bonnie Reed, Ralph Lindquist, Earl Polk, Tim Barker, Miles Martin, Paul Verhagen, Karen Lord, Kat McElroy, Mike Anderson, Rita O’Brian, Norma George

 

Meeting began at 12:25

 

Meeting conducted by Kat McElroy

Prayer by Bonnie Reed

Pledge of Allegiance led by Kat McElroy

 

Miles Martin – Chamber of Commerce

 

            Miles reminded us that the Art Train is scheduled to arrive in Nenana this summer and has asked them to get us more information that he will pass on to us as he gets it.

 

Rob Thomason – Superintendent of Schools

 

            Rob announced the sad news that Ralph Lindquist is leaving. Ralph has spend many years guiding and helping develop the Nenana Student Living Center into the successful program that it has become. We will be sad to see Ralph leave and wish him the best in his new adventure. Rob also introduced Earl Polk as Ralph’s replacement. Many people in the community have come to know and like Earl from his many visits to Nenana over the last few years helping at the school and student living center. We hope that he will enjoy his stay here and look forward to working with him.

 

Tim Barker – Alaska Native Veterans

 

            As do most of us, Tim wears many hats. Today he reported on the progress of the Nenana chapter of the Alaska Native Veteran’s Organization. They have 34 active members and were recently told that the Nenana chapter has made more progress since its inception than Fairbanks has made since its inception long before. They have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday) at 7:00 PM at the tribal hall. They also have a project scheduled at both cemeteries for Memorial Day during which they will spruce up the graves and area around the graves of all veterans. Paul Verhagen informed them about the Interior Alaska Cemetery Project of the Fairbanks Genealogical Society and suggested that they might want to work with them on their project because it would of great value to the veterans to know of where all the veterans are buried. He suggested that the veterans set up a pavilion at the cemeteries with a map and ask people who come to visit relatives to help them plot the location of any veterans that they are aware of and that if they then share that information with Paul he will get it incorporated into the larger project of eventually identifying everyone possible in the cemeteries. Tim stated that benefits is the big message that they are trying to get out all veterans. Many do not know what they are entitled to. Their efforts at making native allotments available to vets who were in Vietnam during the war is coming to a conclusion and it looks like they will have accomplished their objective! He also showed us a shotgun that he is working on that will be raffled off to help Shirley Demientieff cover her medical bills. It looks like it will be beautiful and quite a help to Shirley.

 

Paul Verhagen – Peak Oil/Sports Association/Diversion Program

 

Peak Oil -  Paul shared information about a class he attended in Fairbanks last Friday where they spent six hours discussing the oil situation in the world. He was introduced to the writings and teachings of a man named Hubbard who demonstrated that within a few years (2009 projected) the world will have hit the peak of oil production and that since many are realizing this the current price trends will continue to increase. Kat McElroy said that there is a great deal of information available on line for anyone who Google’s Peak Oil. Paul suggested that we should be aware of this information as it will affect all of our long term planning from building construction to budgeting for our various organizations and agencies.

Sports Association - He also told us of the status of the proposal from the laborers to build a building for us at our racing facility. To date they have enough donations to cover the cost of building the foundation and are working to get the rest.

Diversion Panel - Paul reported on the status of the diversion program after which Earl Polk suggested that he call Evelyn Day in Bethel at 543-6706 and fax some information on the program to her fax number at 543-6712 (fax), and also that he contact Loren Lisa, Dennis Cummings, and Michael Perker.

 

Rita O’Brian – Alaska Native Education Grant

 

            Rita brought us up to date on the status of her grant and shared with us what is happening with Native Youth Olympics. ANEG was successful at getting 40 – 50 kids trained as Emergency Trauma Technician this year, they have purchased CAD software so that kids at the school can have CAD instruction next year, they are about to begin a six week summer construction academy, they are continuing to work with Railbelt on the proposed “spit-out” and plan on tying it together with the ride for sobriety. Neil Charlie, Charlie Stevens, Guy Peters and others have agreed to speak out against alcohol and drug abuse.

 

Karen Lord – Grant to Reduce Alcohol Abuse and Prevention

 

            This grant ends this year too. It will “officially” continue until September 30^th. There was an article in the Fairbanks paper yesterday about the schools’ Hawaii trip (that was partially funded from this grant) and how well our school did in the competition. Graduation is scheduled for May 31. There is a Native Council youth dinner at the tribal hall at 6;30 PM. I working to wrap up the grant Karen found some computer generated flyers and forms in the program computer from when the Wellness Coalition was just starting. She thought we might want continued access to them. She agreed to email copies of them to Paul and Kat and she gave hard copies to Paul to include with the minutes. Her consideration in doing this was greatly appreciated.

 

Donald Charlie – Behavioral Health

 

Don’s program is supporting the May 25^th event and a picnic at the river bank on June 7^th.

 

The meeting ended at 1:40 PM.

 

Minutes submitted by Paul Verhagen and subject to correction or modification. If you see any errors or wish to make corrections please contact paulverhagen@prodigy.net or call him at 907-378-545.