Cando, ND

This seasons Farmer’s market is half over as the weeks go by and the vegatables, etc. come and go with the season.  The spring vegetables are gone, lettuce has gotten bitter, radishes, peas, spinach etc are gone, oh, there are some lettuces just right for now. Not mine, I had a spring garden.  Now I am depending on fruit.  Raspberrries are half picked, the gooseberries are done, what is left I will make up myself in a raspberry-gooseberry pie recipe found on the computer. And it will be September before the bumper crop of grapes will be ready.  The chokecherries are few, the apples are just getting ready.  Others have corn and tomatoes, cukes, and squash, all kinds of vegatables that I didnt plant.  At least not this year, it was a different gardening year, seeds were planted but the rains didnt happen at the right times and so… what came, came. And I didnt have time to replant,  Thank God, there is always next year!

 We are having more people come to Farmer’s Market, mostly the older ladies and it is good to see that they want the best of vegetables and fruits, the organicly grown products.  Churches Ferry Day is Sat. Aug 30th so will have to get ready to sell some items there. Maybe I will have to do some sewing projects for that if I cant find any garden products. Here’s hoping for a nice sunny day.

Once again, Horizons has met a need in Cando.  When the Community Library was new (1999), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation donated a computer, server and printer to us.  It has been updated, and 3 others added, but it was time to replace our first NEW computer.  How could we afford this?

 The answer came through Horizons and its committees.  The computer and printer awarded for doing the required blogging has been donated to the Library!  Today the initial part of the installing was done AND many books from the NDSU Extension Service Center for Community Vitality Horizon Program were donated to the Library.  Come in and see the help we’ve been given!

A special thanks to Gail Getty for doing all the background work: arranging to get the computer and books, and now delivering all of these good things.  We are hoping to get this new computer networked with the computer at the main desk so that anyone can access our “card catalog” (Concourse Opac), something we have not had for a long time.

THANKS again for the many things that have been done to keep the Library open and improvements added!

This has been a busy week for 46 or so Cando kids who have been involved in this year’s summer theater performance of The Velveteen Bunny. What an opportunity for all these kids as they learned to sing and dance and act! The performances were Friday night and Saturday morning.  Cando has so much for the kids who live here and for some of the Grandchildren of  Cando families who come to be a part of this.  Actually some of these kids had parents who were in the plays as they were growing up and now want their kids to have the same fun experiences!   This is great for everyone!!

With only a couple of days left of summer vacation, at least calendar wise, let us review what has been available for the kids of Cando.  First, right after school let out last spring, there were at least 3 Vacation Bible camps, then started baseball and softball. Next came swimming lessons. Then there was the summer art camp for grade and junior high kids, and Kinderart for the younger kids.  And then summer theater.  And tennis lessons.  Some time had to go to piano lessons and Library summer reading programs.  No wonder the Moms’ are ready for the kids to go back to school,,, they are worn out taking the kids to all the events!  And there are events out of town to go to also, like camping, gynmastics and guitar lessons.   Where was the summer free time?  Time to just sit and watch clouds, look for frogs or pretty flowers, leaves or feathers.

Does success happen over night? Some say it does, but it took them twenty years to say it. Is success simply a matter of luck, not sure, but any failure. What is the key to success? What we make it! Tracy

Rain today! This is good for our garden’s! I see many garden’s starting to grow now that we are getting some rain.
Then we will be canning those veg’s soon huh! Does anyone have any good tips or recipes, that they would like to share?
Sharing ideas, tips, and recipes helps us all save money. I’m wishing for all to have a great growing season, good luck to all!

Where has the month gone?  Into history!  And what have we accomplished?  I like the thought that it’s not always what we have done, but what we’ve been that counts.

The positive response re: the Library was appreciated!  We are SO GLAD to know that there is support and our doors can remain open.  Another plus was over 80 hardcover books donated from the Bisbee School Library when they closed, and we were able to get a great buy on some children’s paperback books that we didn’t have.  Some shelves were also purchased; now to decide how to fit them into our Library!!

A special little thing happened last week at the Library: the 6 weeks of the Summer Reading Program was completed so we didn’t have a Story Time.  Two young girls (11 years old?) came and asked if they could do Story Time for 2 or 3 weeks!!  That’s leadership developing! and we are grateful.

Another note of interest for the summer is that the attendance at Farmers Market has been very good THE FIRST HOUR! and then, we wait!!!  Hours have been adjusted twice since the beginning of the Market to see if we can find a time that is best.  Maybe just being open 1 hour is the answer for our small community??    Any suggestions?

 
Cando celebrated the 4th of July with a big parade on the 5th of July.  It was quite a car show with around 60 cars entered plus 1 tractor and a motorcyle or two and one pickup closed the parade with a homemade lighthouse with red/white/blue flags in the back.

There were family reunions, class reunions and school reunions around and all these brought people to Cando.  Plus one Cando graduate of years ago and now a photographer from Colorado had a photo show in the Audi art gallery.  It was a hot day and just after the show and shine, there was a brief downpour with a few small hailstones.

Next year with be Cando’s 125th birthday so many BIG EVENTS are being planned. Just wait until then!!!

Here we are, at the end of a road that began many months ago. On this road we have traveled, we saw improvments, change, and community pride.
This program has been an amazing trip for me. I have learn so many things about poverty. Hoping some day it will help me save the world, hahaha!
It has been great working with all of you, and you all have done a great job! One Day At A Time! Tracy

 Horizon’s has kept us busy for 18 months and there were times when the end didnt seem in sight and now today,  the 18 months are done.  And now we have to look back and see all that we have done.   We will see that there were things that we wanted to do and they didnt get done, and there are many things that we did get done.  So they weren’t big things, big projects etc. but we did do a lot of ‘things’.  And if all we did was to keep a positive attitude and work together and encourage each other and the town, well, that was something that cant be measured.   I know that I learned a lot, I attended a lot of events, I know that I benefited from all these 18 months of activities.  And I know there were others who did also.  So, let’s celebrate, and then let’s keep on doing what we can for our town and community.  Thanks Horizons for all that you did and gave our community of Cando.