Railbelt Mental Health & Addictions

Nenana Wellness Coalition
MINUTES

May 19, 2009
There were 15 people at meeting today, including: Bob & Darlene Noel, Rebecca & Bill Troxel, Bonnie Reed, Mike Anderson, Felicia Musick, Kat McElroy, Walter & Andrea Tommy, Ester Smith, Tim Horn, and Miles Martin. We enjoyed a pasta casserole with beef strips and green beans, a mixed green salad, sliced cheddar cheese with Ritz crackers, raisins and pecans, sliced apples and homemade chocolate chip cookies for lunch.

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, celebrate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska.

WELCOME followed by the READING OF MISSION STATEMENT: By this week’s chairperson, Rebecca Troxel

PRAYER: Was lead by Ester Smith, followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE.

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: There were three agenda items added by request.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes were posted at the WIN link at www.railbelt.com and submitted electronically to everybody on the WIN e-mail list.

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Jeannie Bennett was introduced and welcomed.

SPEAKERS/TOPICS:

Community Garden: Mike talked to Robin Campbell who says that seeds are already at Nenana Native Council office. The purchase order for new soil for the beds at the community garden has been generated; it is not known at this time when it will arrive.

Alternative Energy/Tour of Chena Hot Springs: Merrily said that Paul has not hgeard back yet from Bernie Karl but the two dates tentatively set for a tour of the facilities at Chena Hot Springs are May 30th or June 6th. The 6th is River Days; the 30th is traditional Memorial Day; Tim asks if June 13th might be a more viable option.

District Court House: Tim passed around a blueprint she had obtained of the new district court house building which will be constructed on the site of the old Tripod Hotel which was demolished for that purpose this week. The building is approximately 76 by 58 feet and has separate offices for the magistrate as well as a judge. It has four bathrooms, attorney consultation rooms, jury deliberation room, a waiting room, and court room. They are soliciting feedback about the plan.

Nenana Beautification Project: Jeannie suggests that we start a one time a month yard beautification contest to encourage people to make our community a more attractive place. She’d like to get gift certificates for prizes to award to most beautiful. It was suggested that an award for Most Improved would be a good idea. Rebecca asked if anyone had contacted Crowley about hauling of junker vehicles, per previous discussion. Miles said that he had talked to Endil Moore at Crowley who said that a place in the Crowley yard has been set aside. Vehicles need to have batteries removed and fluids drained. Endil indicated that to date there is no prohibition against taking vehicles with the tires still on but he imagines that at some point the fellow organizing the removal of these vehicles for Crowley will say that the rubber also needs to be removed as there is no salvage value in old tires. It was wondered if the city might still help haul junked vehicles to the transfer space at Crowleys. Miles said the city would not pick up vehicles without permission of the title holder or the property owner. He’ll see if they are still willing to use city equipment to move dead vehicles. Miles said that there may be funding available from the monies left when the Chamber of Commerce went inactive, perhaps a small 5 dollar stipend could be paid to people to encourage them to get rid of old vehicles. Perhaps the Lion’s Club would be interested in participating? Meanwhile, there are many old stoves, washing machines, water heaters, refrigerators/freezers, etc., that need to be hauled away which Crowley does not accept. Merrily suggested we create some kind of sign-up sheet which we could post, perhaps at the post office, for people interested in getting junk hauled off their property. Perhaps if we can document community interest, a process will come to light. Rebecca suggested this should be moved out from WIN, and asked who is willing to head up such a project. Ester and Jeannie both said they were too busy to head it up but they would be willing to participate. It was agreed to keep this as a running item on the agenda.

Sober House: Kat said there is wide community support for moving forward with the sober house project. The front end of the lot has been cleared although some brush will need to be removed. Ray Fox asked Chief Willie Lord if the Nenana Native Council would be willing to donate gravel for a building pad. Charlie Stevens will arrange for this to happen. Joe Verhagen is seeking permission to use the sober house for his Eagle Scouts community service project. If granted, he has offered to generate blueprints and building plans and a supplies list for a 12 by 20 foot single-story, one room structure. Additionally he has volunteered to ramrod construction of the shell of the building. Paul has volunteered his sons to help with construction. Walter Tommy, David Poppe, Ray Fox, Ray Kelly and others have volunteered to fur out the walls, insulate the structure, wire it for electric and else wise get it move-in ready. Beverley Joseph has donated a table, chairs and a small refrigerator for furnishing the place. Other community members have stepped forward with other donations of time, energy and supplies. Andrea said it is still too wet to drive out to their property on 4-mile but they continue planning a sober camp/culture camp at that location. Mike says he has a wood stove he can donate.

Envisioning Wellness: Tim reminded us that our speaker next week will be Carol Gallo who will be talking about her vision for Crystal Clusters. Tim has not yet received a photo or bio blurb so has yet to generate a flyer for PR for this. Kat said she will be unavailable next week as she and Keri have an appointment to speak with staff at the clinic about coordination of services. Mike volunteered to cook a meal. Tim reminded everyone that beginning next week and for the duration of the summer, WIN shall meet at the Meda Lord Senior Housing complex which is on 8th street.

WELLNESS THOUGHT: “It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life,
that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself. ”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Felicia: Mary C. Demientieff clinic has hired a new nurse practitioner named Amy Snedigar. Her focus is women’s health issue. Felicia did a CPR training here today and will return on the 30th to do another. She says she was amazed to find out how many Automated External Defibulators we have in Nenana: at the school, the clinic, the Civic Center and Senior Center. She is training people to use these in cardiac emergencies.

Tim: There was a Literacy Committee meeting last night at the school. They will be changing to focus from targeted to school-wide reading skills and adding math skills. The name will be changed to Parent’s Committee to reflect this change. Tim wants to find out about the Imagination Train program started by Dolly Parton to get books to pre-school students, to encourage parents to read to their very young children.
On another note, Tim says, we are still mourning the loss of our local native drum/dance group. She says that Eric (superintendent of schools) knows there is a link between cultural competence and literacy and there had been discussion regarding how to revive the dance/drum group. Mike mentioned that the NSLC drum/dance group has also lost impetus since the dance group leader left. Kat suggested the youth of our community ought to ask the NNC directly for assistance in getting a native song/drum group going again; they would be more likely to respond to a direct request by the kids. Mike said when the students come back August 18th, he can pitch this idea to them.
Saturday, 23rd of May, is a Bahai’i holy day, the Declaration of the Bab. Virginia is hosting a Devotional on Friendship at Virginia Young’s (MP 311.8 Parks Hwy.) at 7 P.M. People are encouraged to bring a song, poem, or picture that represents friendship to share. The Declaration of the Bab will be celebrated and refreshments served at 9 P.M.
May 30th Traditional Memorial Day will be celebrated with a picnic at 2 P.M. up on the hill just below the graveyard.
June 6th is River Days as well as our next Freecycle which will be at the Troxel’s beginning about 5 P.M. In Delta Junction, they will be dedicating the Purple Heart Trail.
June 7th will be the River Blessing now scheduled to be from 10 to 11 A.M. At Noon there will be a Memorial BBQ for Frank Gallo at the pavilion.
June 14th will be the Retiring of the Flags ceremony. Anyone with a tattered USA flag that needs to be disposed of in a proper manner should contact Marilyn at Coghill’s.
Ester: Says she is willing to take over administrating the Nenana Community web site. She is unable to support the monthly fees this site incurs, which Miles has ended up paying out-of-pocket. Kat suggested that they talk to Jason about using the City of Nenana’s web site to host the community page. The web site can be found at www.nenanahomepage.com for those interested in seeing what Miles has put together over the years.

Kat: Nathan Gray’s funeral will be held at Bible Baptist Church at 3 P.M. on Thursday, May 21st. There will be a graveside service afterwards at Northern Lights cemetery and a 5:30 P.M. reception at the Westmark Hotel. For those wishing to make a donation to the family, an account has been set up at Wells Fargo for the Nathan Gray Memorial Fund.
She also passed around an interesting advertisement from the Parents: The Anti-Drug campaign warning people to be careful with their medicines as much adolescent drug abuse is mis-use of prescribed medicines or pharmaceuticals.

Walter is being interviewed again by the Fairbanks Daily Newsminer for a series they are doing about alcohol, homelessness and recovery.

Rebecca: The Nenana Patchers made and gifted a quilt to Catherine Marks “just filled with love.” She said, “It is gratifying to be part of something like this.”

Bill reminded everyone about the Freecycle; people are invited to bring their musical instruments and encouraged to make some music. He says a personal, specific, invite will engender a specific response, so bring people to the Freecycle!

Merrily said that Kristi’s Quisine is open and serving the public. 832-5656. The Nenana Community Calendar web site is up and running and can be accessed on the internet at http://www.geocities.com/nenanacommunitycalaendar/home.html? (the question mark IS part of the URL).

Bonnie: There will be a Memorial Pot Luck for Nadine and Jim Liebert at the Senior Center, 1-3:30 P.M., Tuesday, May 26th at the Senior Center.

Miles says he has tents, etc., he uses at the Fair, available for use during Freecycle if the weather is inclement.

Mikes: We are losing kids tonight and tomorrow, from NSLC. By Thursday evening they will all be gone.

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None

ADJOURNMENT: 2:15 P.M.

Nenana Wellness Coalition

                                            MINUTES 

May 12, 2009

 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, celebrate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska. 

We had 13 participants today, including: Beverly Joseph, Maryellen Robinson, Paul Verhagen, Rebecca Troxel, Larry Jensen, Walter & Andrea Tommy, Bonnie Reed, Tim Horn, Bob & Darlene Noel, Miles Martin, and Kat McElroy. We enjoyed potato soup, mixed greens and tomato salad, pecans & raisins, sliced bananas,  and sliced cheddar with Ritz crackers for lunch.

 

WELCOME: Followed by the READING OF MISSION STATEMENT: By this week’s chairperson, Tim Horn

 

PRAYER: Was lead by Walter Tommy, followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE.

 

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: There was one request for modification in the agenda.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes were submitted electronically to the WIN e-list and posted to the WIN link at www.railbelt.com by Kat. Paul had several suggestions for changes he said that he would email for inclusion. 

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: No guests today.

We had a brief discussion engendered by a question from Andrea in regards to the efficacy and side-effects of various medications on different ethnic groups. Her question was sparked by information she had received about the efficacy of Novocain in use for control of dental pain for Alaska Native peoples. Kat said that to her knowledge there was no solid research tracking efficacy of medications by ethnicity; in fact most pharmaceutical trials target adult white males so that is the limit to the greatest body of research. She suggested Andrea talk to Mike Carson who has provided some anecdotal information about this issue.

 

SPEAKERS/TOPICS:

 Community Calendar: Paul Verhagen utilized one of the NSLC student computers and gave a brief demonstration of the Nenana Community Calendar to date. He demonstrated the web site, http://www.geocities.com/nenanacommunitycalendar/home.html? (the question mark is part of the URL, Paul says) and showed people how to navigate it.. 

Community Garden: Miles Martin had several large starts from his greenhouse which he passed out to interested parties. These are plants for the seed conspiracy and the goal is to track what grows best, how, and where. Miles has flats of starts in his greenhouse, including even carrots, which he had good luck starting in the greenhouse previously. Kat has seeds, including herb seeds, if anyone wants to give early starts a try. Marilyn has granted permission to use the empty lot by the Parrish Hall to expand the current community garden. Paul volunteered his sons to use the bob-cat to help move soil and fill raised beds. Miles reports that Robin may be able to obtain fencing to keep out stray animals. David and Kat still have plenty of manure to share.

 

Nenana Clean-up Day: This is still scheduled for Friday, May 15^th. It has been noted that Kindergarten through 4^th grades will be in Fairbanks that day, attending a Civil War Re-enactment. The staff at the school has expressed concern for the well-being of younger children in light of several recent dog bites/dog attacks. Discussion ensued regarding strategies to deal with the “loose dog” problem in our community. This is an issue WIN visits regularly. There are many loose dogs in Nenana; not all of them are vicious or dangerous, but attacks occur frequently enough that there are many people who are afraid to walk around town. Beverly Joseph said that she had been bitten last winter; because she is sight impaired, this is especially problematic for her. She understands that the animal who attacked her has subsequently been put down but she experiences fear whenever she is rushed and barked at by any dog as she walks around. Paul suggested that someone take lead on this issue and draft an ordinance to submit to the city council allowing for citizen citations to owners of loose animals. The citations would require identifying information including name, date, location of the incident, witnesses involved, etc. The purpose of the ordinance would be to allow the city to fine owners of animals deemed to be dangerous. Paul suggested that first time offenses could be waived if the owners would agree to tag their animals for identification. It was suggested that we bring this up at the Village Pride/Community Safety meeting Thursday night.

Discussion ensued in regards to strategies for engaging a wider portion of the community into Clean Up Day efforts. Bob Noel suggested re-branding the event, changing the name from Clean-up Day to Community Pride or Nenana Pride Day. Kat mentioned that Marilyn had Nenana Pride hats at Coghill’s for sale. Paul suggested getting individual church groups involved. Andrea asked about the old barrels, rusting car hulks, etc. that surround our community. Is there no way we could tackle cleaning that up? Paul suggested involving the Yukon Interior Watershed Council. http://yritwc.org/ It was also suggested that we contact Crowley as they have been involved in hauling junked vehicles and other hazardous waste out from villages along the river system. Miles said that he would be willing to ask Endil Moore about this.

It is unknown at this time if bags for clean up will be available Thursday night at the Village Pride/Community Safety meeting. 

Alternative Energy/Tour of Chena Hot Springs: Paul Verhagen has proposed Saturday the 30^th of May for the tour of the hot springs and meeting with Bernie Karl. It was noted that this is traditional Memorial Day and will this be a conflict? Inquiries will be made.  

WELLNESS THOUGHT:  Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today.
It’s already tomorrow in Australia. Charles Schultz  

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Rebecca made multiple announcements:

Wednesday evening, May 13^th, the Spring Concert will be held at NCPS.

Thursday, the 14^th, Village Pride/Community Safety meeting at George Hall, 6:30 P.M.

Friday is Clean-up Day culminating in a picnic at the school.

Friday evening Tae Kwan Doh is doing pizza for a fundraiser. Call Virginia Brown, 347-0345 if you would like to purchase a pizza to help them raise funds to go to the tournament in Washington state. Pizzas will be delivered between 5 and 8 P.M.

Saturday, May16th will be delivery of food boxes.

Also Saturday is the Walk For Life in Fairbanks. Susan at the school is organizing a contingent to participate in memory of Cindy Ronnader.

Saturday, June 6^th, will be our next Free-cycle. It will be at the Troxel’s place (509 First Street), starting around 5 P.M. There will be live music. People are encouraged to bring their instruments.

Adam White will be going to Seattle for gall-bladder surgery June 8^th.

 

Walter: Announced that he has been on nicotine replacement patches; this is his third day. He got the information about patches from the Quitline people when they interviewed him about traditional Athabascan beliefs and attitudes about tobacco use. He was applauded loudly by WIN at large for this brave move. He said that the 4-mile sough site is still very wet; the road is impassible and they had to walk in. He’s been making prayers about how best to use the land and how to begin the process to built a culture camp/sober camp there. It will be a couple of weeks before we can begin building anything back there.

 

Bob: Where there is no vision, people perish. You people have a good vision for your community and wellness.

 

Kat: Rosemary’s son-in-law, Nathan Gray, passed away Friday night in a motorcycle crash in Fairbanks. Rosemary is in Fairbanks with Annie and their four children. Funeral arrangements are being made.

We are having a Sober House Envisioning/Planning meeting tonight at Kat and David’s place, around 7:30 P.M. Soup will be served.

 

Beverly: Is willing to speak at the Village Pride/Community Safety meeting Thursday night about her experiences with loose dogs in Nenana. She requests Paul to make a dummy citation to show people how that idea would work.

 

Maryellen: Thursday, May 14^th, in Anderson, there will be a senior lunch at the city building, noon-2 P.M. On the 22^nd, 7 P.M. they will have an adults Game Night.

  

ADJOURNMENT: 2:10 P.M.

Nenana Wellness CoalitionMINUTES 

May 5, 2009

 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, celebrate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska. There were 13 in attendance today, including: Merrily and Paul Verhagen, Kat McElroy, David Poppe, Andrea Tommy, Maryellen Robinson, Virginia Young, Carol Gallo, Mary Alexander, Bonnie Reed and Elder and Sister Noel and Tim Horn. We had pasta and chicken with mixed vegetables and green salad, sliced cedar cheese, Ritz crackers and pecans & raisins for lunch. 

WELCOME: By this week’s chairperson, Bonnie Reed, followed by the READING OF MISSION STATEMENT.

 

PRAYER: Was lead by Paul Verhagen, followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE

 

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: There was one call for modifications.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes were submitted electronically and posted on the web site at www.railbelt.com by Kat.

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Paul introduced Elder and Sister Noel who will be in Healy for the next two months. He4 is a retired college professor and his wife a retired church administrator. They are from Utah. They have spent ten months in Dutch Harbor and six months in Seward.

           

 

SPEAKERS/TOPICS:

Alternative Energy/Tour of Chena Hot Springs: Paul Verhagen explained that while attending an Interior Builder’s Association meeting, he had an opportunity to speak at length with Bernie Karl who has been doing some remarkable things at Chena Hot Springs. Paul framed his remarks by referencing comments made two weeks ago at a WIN Envisioning Wellness presentation by Mara Bacsujlaky, who is a sustainable Communities Agent for the UAF Cooperative Extension Service, that the village of Holy Cross was food self-sufficient for 75 years because of the garden they maintained. In recent years, as it became easier to fly or boat supplies in, the garden was abandoned.

 

Chena Hot Springs was originally built and developed during the early mining days of the Fairbanks area. It is over 50 miles from Fairbanks. There is a road out to there but no other infrastructure. They are off the grid. There have been multiple previous owners over the years. Bernie Karl purchased the resort at Chena Hot Springs when the former owner defaulted on a state-secured loan.  One of the first things he did was to get rid of the huge diesel-fueled generator and replace it with a geo-thermal system so that he can heat and light the many structures at the resort.

 

Paul described various projects that Bernie Karl has brought to fruition at CHS. One example was the Ice Museum. He had brainstormed various strategies to increase visitorship at the resort and decided that he wanted a year-round venue to display ice sculptures, which he knew to be a big tourist draw.  He built a huge igloo/ice palace and had ice sculptures installed therein, only to have the entire $60,000.00 operation melt come spring in a huge lake of water. He did not consider this to be failure, however. He took the 50,000 color post cards he’d had printed depicting the ice museum, attached small glass vials filled with the ice-melt water, and sold the post cards for $4.95 each.  Two subsequent runs of 8 thousand postcards have also sold out. Bernie Karl has since redesigned and rebuilt the Ice Museum, (cooling it now with one of the world’s largest absorption chiller, powered by the geo thermal hot water, using a process similar to a propane refrigerator) which has been standing for five years now, summer and winter. Paul said this is an example of Bernie’s philosophy that “Failure equals practice. It is only failure, when a project does not succeed, if you give up.”

See URL www.yourownpower.com/Ice/Chiller/  

 

Meanwhile, Bernie had contracted with engineers from United Technologies Power (a subsidiary of Carrier Refrigeration); together they built a geo-thermal powered low temperature Organic Rankine Cycle powerplant which provides electricity and lights to the 40 buildings at the resort. See URL www.yourownpower.com/Power/ 

 

 He built a large greenhouse to utilize the excess power this system created, and determined to grow his own produce for the resort restaurant. He bought LED lights for the greenhouse that optimize in the red and blue spectrum upon which plants thrive. See URL www.yourownpower.com/Horticulture/Greenhouse/

 

His real goal with the generator system, however, has been to figure out how to make it small enough that it would be practical as home-scaled Combined Heat and Power unit (CHP), supplying heat and electric power to the home. The prototype unit spins at 140,000 RPM’s. It was a challenge to figure out some of the engineering details. He had his prototype built in China. He is looking for demonstration projects. The system makes use of the Delta-T, the difference in hot and cold water temperature, to create electricity. It does not require boiling hot water. The 140 degree f. water of the hot springs, for instance, is sufficient. Bernie talks of the possibility of drilling wells ten thousand feet deep most anywhere, (not for home scaled use) because for every hundred feet down you go you get a one degree increase in water temperature. He believes that this Delta-T temperature difference can be instrumental in helping to solve the energy woes of rural and remote Alaska, and help to make us less dependent on petroleum-based energy processes.

 

Paul said that Bernie has converted half of his fleet of vehicles to hydrogen power which he produces at the resort; the other half of the vehicles are electric powered, which he also produces. His many years in the recycling business cause him to view waste products as potential profit. He has just completed building a huge new recycling center which he intends to convert waste products in raw materials and energy. In light of our ongoing dialogue on community preparedness, Paul is interested in organizing a tour of Chena Hot Springs by members of WIN and key community leaders, towards our mutual goals of health, wellness, sustainability and economic viability. He is thinking it would be sometime towards the end of May or the beginning of June. It seems to him that a weekend day would work best for the most people.

 

Mary Alexander said that there would have to be buy-in across all domains of the community if we were to be able to create a successful demonstration project for a new technology. She spoke of her frustration at Senior Housing, dealing with the Interior Housing Authority, trying to get use of some old solar panels that are lying abandoned in Fairbanks. Because they were purchased for some other use, IHA cannot release them for use here in Nenana, thus they sit unused by anyone, “a waste.” She described her sense of frustration when change is impeded due to rules or policies that cannot be flexible to adjust to changing circumstances. She knows that the school will be replacing their boiler system in the future; she would like it if this was viewed with an eye towards long-range costs/benefits rather than the typical economic “best deal” bottom line approach. Decisions about investments in our infrastructure should be viewed holistically.

 

David Poppe talked about the new waste-wood boiler system that Delta/Greeley school district is installing to heat their 20 acre school complex in Delta. Due to innovations in wood-heat gasification, they can burn wood cleanly and with about a 90% system efficiency.

 

Kat said that she would like to see a two story greenhouse in that big empty space in the middle of the school. Referencing remarks Mary had made last month when we were talking about sustainable agriculture in our area, the school could use the green house to build math and science curricula, engaging the students in real-time hand’s-on learning. With teacher buy-in, we could dramatically change the dynamics of learning. Because of the student living center, there is the potential of new ideas going back to all the many villages our NSLC students represent.

 

Virginia Young asked what community-wide buy-in would look like. After discussion, it was agreed that it would have to be bottom up as well as top down. Mary spoke to the need to re-energize the community. Strategies suggested included approaching various city, school and tribal entities personally to explain some of our ideas and encourage people to participate in the tour of the hot springs and a dialogue with Bernie Karl.

 Lively discussion ensued regarding some of the potential barriers to moving forward with a demonstration project utilizing some of Mr. Karl’s ideas. Elder Noel said that Dutch Harbor has just installed a third large diesel generator to supply that community’s energy needs. There is potential there to develop energy production from nearby volcanic activity, but it has never been invested in to any degree as petroleum was cheap. What would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop now costs millions or hundreds of millions. All over Alaska, people are struggling with the rising costs of fuel, coupled with high unemployment and cash-strapped governing entities. It was agreed that we would need to work on unifying and energizing the community. It is understood that much footwork would need to be done. Tim Horn suggested that we keep this as a regular agenda item to revisit frequently. 

Nenana Clean-up Day: Will be May 15. It was noted that the K through 4^th graders will be gone that day on various field trips. Clean-up will be followed by a picnic at the school, out by the cafeteria. At this time, it is not known if the tribe or the city will be doing a pick-up of major trash. Perhaps this is something that can be clarified during the Village Pride/Community Safety meeting on the 14^th.

 

WELLNESS THOUGHT: Nothing to it, but to do it. Eleazar Baker

  

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Bonnie: The Seniors will have a trip on the Riverboat Discover on May 21^st Boarding time is between ten and ten-thirty in the morning. Cost is 5 dollars, open to all seniors.

Tim: Wednesday, 6:30, at Nenana School, the Spring Concert.

Community Pride/Village Safety meeting at the George Hall beginning 6:30 P.M. on May 14^th.

Tae Kwan Doh will be holding another fundraiser to defray expenses for their trip to Washington state, pizza, on May 15^th.

The Here Comes the Sun Fun Run, 1 mile walk and 5 K run will begin in front of the Civic Center at 10 A.M., Saturday.

Graduation is on the 17^th, at the school. 2 P.M.

The Bush Vet will be here on the 18^th.

Carol Gallo will be our Envisioning Wellness speaker on May 26^th.

 

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None

 

 

ADJOURNMENT: 2:15 P.M.