New Idea- Today I was reading an article about the last 8 one room schoolhouses in the state and how some people in ND government want them closed. :evil: The people of these communities really want to keep them open and look at this as another example of city folks forcing things on them. They would have to bus their kids to schools over an hour away and I dont blame them for being upset.
Then it hit me- we are always talking about how we care about our rural communities-what if we took a pro-active approach and did some fund raising to help these schools. This would be a call for Chris H. and whether or not he approves of this- but what if the Nodakoutdoors members formed a group of people in different parts of the state to do some fund raising. We could use the money to help support projects that are important to rural areas? If we made sure that our recipients knew that this is part of a Sportsmans Group (as we are), it might go a long way in helping restore the image of the Free Lance Hunters. We would be helping them support traditions that are important to them, while making them aware of how important hunting traditions are to us. This school(s) project could be the first of many! It is important to this rural community-why not help save it? Maybe if we (city folk) used our wit and connections to raise some serious cash-the mindset of rural ND may change if they ACTUALLY saw us trying to help?? What if we raised funds to help family farmers hurt by the drought? Maybe send food/money or gift certificates. We could probably get a lot of donations from city businesses? Imagine being a family farmer (who allowed access to free lance hunters) and 2 days before Christmas you get a $25.00 or $50.00 gift certificate for fuel from the local Cenex, (or some other appreciation gift-such as a Christmas turkey), courtesy of the No Dak Outdoors Sportsman Association. I realize it is not alot-but it would go a long ways towards showing rural ND that we CARE and want to HELP. More of a you scratch my back-I scratch yours sort of thing and maybe we can scratch these "guides" right out of ND-(sorry just wishful thinking)
I think it would go a lot further in restoring some level of trust amongst rural communities in ND, but it is a start. It may take 5-7 years before we see a mindset start to change-however if we do something now I may live to see some positives changes?
:wink:
