Ririe, ID

Here is the most recent newsletter. In it is information for Ririe Days. You can get more information about that at www.ririedays.com

July Newsletter

The Ririe Youth Advisory Council (RYAC) recently attended a two day (April 23-24) Youth Retreat in Pocatello. This event was put on by Horizons. The theme was “Fast Forward Your Future.” What a fun-filled and informative two days it was! We were able to rent a 12 passenger van to take those in our group who signed up to go. We had ten kids in all. Those who attended were Alecia Larsen, Hailee Linsenmann, Jordan Reynolds, Jackie Kisner, Traven Davey, Hunter Davey, Brittny Egan, Anthony Richards, Amy Johnson, and Alec Berrett, along with Kathleen Berrett and George Franck as RYAC advisors. There were community youth groups from Menan, Rigby, Roberts, Rupert, Shoshone and Driggs. Horizons put us up in the Rodeway Inn for the night, and our classes were held at the Continuing Education Building. Our workshops started at 6:00 Friday night. We had an orientation meeting and then broke into groups that participated in different humanitarian efforts. Two groups made sock monkeys and hygiene kits, and then took them to a homeless shelter and the fire department. Another group went to the cannery and learned how to dry pack food and the humanitarian efforts they participate in. The last group went to the Idaho Food Bank and helped in repacking food for distribution.
Then, it was back to the hotel for some needed sleep…right!!!! Early the next morning, we were back at classes, starting the day off with a keynote speaker, Jana Kemp, who will be running for Governor for the state of Idaho this fall. She emphasized “Fast Foward Your Future,” and was an excellent speaker on empowering youth in our communities. She has written one of many books entitled, “NO!” She graciously autographed a copy and gave it to RYAC as a gift. We were the only youth group who received this book! Workshops throughout the day were Youth Councils, Financial Planning, Plan for Future, Leadership, a Futures Fair with colleges attending, and then a ropes course. The ropes course tried and tested how far a person will push themself. There was a swing, which I call a slingshot, where you get harnessed up, hoisted up about 40-50 feet in the air sideways, and then literally SHOT through the air on a bungee cord like rope! Screams could be heard a mile away, I’m sure. Then, there was a rock climbing tower that goes as high as 60 feet straight up. You have to decide how far you will go, and how you will get to the top! It was a very well thought out tower! There were spotters at the bottom who secured you by your harness and ropes in case you needed them, but it was mostly up to you to do the rest. There were 3 or 4 kids in RYAC who were refusing to do both of these events, even before we left for Pocatello! But, by the time it was all over Saturday night, every one of our kids proved themselves, and came back to Ririe with a lot of self-confidence and self-satisfaction. The “I Can’ts” and “No Ways” ended up “I want to do that again!” We were so proud of how our youth carried themselves while at this retreat, and the things they walked away with that night will last them a lifetime! We have the best youth…and they will be great leaders in the community of Ririe!
(There will be pictures posted soon)

There is a committee in town that is in charge of projects that will beautify our town. They held a clean up day on April 17 and got a lot done around town. They have lots of other great ideas and upcoming projects and would like more help. If you are interested in joining the beautification committee or would even just like more information you can attend one of their meetings which are held the 2nd Wednesday of every month at 7pm at City Hall or you can contact Kevin Huffaker by email kevin.huffaker@redjuju.com.

I know there is getting to be a lot on here but there are some more questions below that need to be answered. If you have trouble logging in you can email your responses to me at happydancer007@yahoo.com

Also- don’t forget our free finance and budgeting class on Thursday night!

More classes to come.

What new resources have been secured to assist the work of the community?

Is a system in place to maintain contact and continue to work with other communities? with your delivery system? in other partnerships?

Is a system in place to seek, receive, monitor, and report on new resources to support community work?

How will our community make future decisions about seeking further resources to support it’s plans?

What changes have been made so that our community leadership sustains partnerships with others?

What structural changes have been made in how the community does its work and makes decisions?