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"Commonwealths & Communities...
Identifying Key Assets & Understanding Their Benefits for All"
18th Annual Southern Plains Conference
Wednesday, February 7th, 2007 Crowell Activity Center
(on Commerce Street, west side of the courthouse square)Crowell, Texas (located at the intersection of U.S. Highways 6 & 70, in Foard County) |
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Ogallala Commons is a resource development network offering leadership and education to incubate common wealth for communities in the High Plains-Ogallala Aquifer region. To learn more about our organization, visit our website (www.ogallalacommons.org) or for questions concerning this conference, contact Darryl Birkenfeld, Director, at 806-945-2255
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Purpose of the Conference
For 7 years, Ogallala Commons, a nonprofit development organization in the Ogallala Aquifer region, has been slowly building a network of communities... towns and counties collaborating together like the Red River Regional Cluster... to create sustainable futures by investing in the twelve commonwealths illustrated above. Commonwealths are endowments... they are the gifts that form the resource base for all economic, ecological, and social life in any community. If these commonwealths are squandered or depleted, then communities become locked in cycles of decline. On the other hand, when communities can invest in and grow these commonwealths, then residents find hope, build innovative businesses, and work toward a desired quality of life. The Ogallala Commons Board of Directors as well as local people in the Crowell area will be sharing what they have done to create their jobs in the Southern Plains, and will look forward to learning with those who attend the conference and afternoon workshop/tours.
This year, the Southern Plains Conference will serve as the first training/learning day for teams from partner communities in the Red River Regional Cluster. Ogallala Commons encourages high school students and interested adults from communities in Castro, Swisher, Foard, Knox and Baylor Counties to attend this conference... and learn what the commonwealths are, what they look like in our communities, and how they can provide multiple benefits to those willing to invest in them.
Schedule
| 8:00 am | Registration, Exhibits, & Hospitality
Family Cow Milk & Fried Pies
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8:30 am | What are Commonwealths? An Overview
Darryl Birkenfeld, Director, Ogallala Commons Remelle Farrar, Community Development Director, Foard County |
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9:00 am | How are Commonwealths Enhanced by the Red River Regional Cluster?
Remelle Farrar, Community Development Director, Foard County & the Crowell Team |
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9:20 am | Group Exercise: Identifying Commonwealths in Your Community
(Participants will work individually, and in small groups) |
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10:10 am | Break |
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10:30 am | Understanding Community Capacities:
An Effective Strategy for Building Up the Commonwealths |
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11:10 am | Introduction to Commonwealths Fair & Tables
(Participants will have four 15-minute sessions to visit different tables featuring enterprises and assets that represent the 12 commonwealths) |
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11:20 am | Commonwealth Fair Sessions |
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12:20 pm | Lunch
(Pork Steak, Backstrap, Sausage & Brisket Catered "Texas State Fair-Style" by Foard County Friends & Neighbors) |
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1:30 pm | Outdoor Workshops |
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4:00 pm | - Large Wind Farms and Community-Scale Wind Energy
Tony & Dottie Neal, turbine owners from Bovina, TX
Byron Neal, USDA Experiment Station, Bushland, TX
Charlie Bell, Foard County Judge, Crowell, TX
- Creating Place-Based Learning Events for Your School and Community
Russell Graves, AgriScience Teacher, Childress High School
Crowell Schools Art Program
Water Festivals: Darryl Birkenfeld, Ogallala Commons
- Building Local & Regional Food Enterprises
Family Cow Dairy, Raggedy Creek Processing,
And Crowell Design Company
Bob Mailander, Director, RMFU-Coop Development Center
Kim Barker, rancher, Oklahoma Food Cooperative member
- Re-Design, Re-use, Re-purpose: Community Development
ORCA (Office of Rural Community Affairs) representative
Rolling Plains Management Corporation
Healthcare / Eldercare Opportunities
- Building Your Community's Sense of Place:
Agri-Tourism, Heritage Festivals, Arts & Culture
3 Rivers Foundation
TPPR-Pease River Partners
Remelle Farrar, Director, Texas Prairie Rivers Region |
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Conference Registration
Adults and high school students from Red River Regional Cluster partner communities will receive free registration for the February 7th conference. Registration for all other participants is $35 per person.
Early Bird Registration for February 7th Conference: $25 per person
(payment must be received by Friday, Feb. 2nd)
Make checks payable to: Crowell Development Corp. and mail them to:
P.O. Box 164, Crowell, TX 79227
Name ______________________________________________
Address _____________________________________________
Phone ______________________________________________
Email _______________________________________________
Accommodations in Crowell
Contact Remelle Farrar at 806-255-0909 or Carolyn Henry at 940-684-1530
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