Harlowton, MT

When Harlowton English students finished reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Relin, their teacher challenged them to pay-it-forward by thinking of something they could do to improve someone else’s life. She taught them that sometimes we make the world better—not by confronting terrorists or building schools on the other side of the world—but by simply being who we are. They were asked to write an essay describing what action they chose, what effect it had on the receiver and what effect it had on them. Following are some of the statements made by students about what they learned from helping someone else.

 “There are very few things that produce more meaning than a simple task aimed to help out a neighbor or friend.”

“I felt so light hearted. It made me feel good to know that I was giving something that could help comfort a child.”

“I realized that no matter the time or money I am spending…I am benefited from it.”

“Sometimes you do something so much you don’t even consider it a good deed.”

 “Even though I was tired after the work was done, I was very satisfied with myself. I had done a good turn for the town that has been so good to me.”

“I guess it is hard to say why I did what I did…I didn’t acknowledge the favor I was doing as a good deed until I realized the impact it had on her.”

“It put a smile on my face and made me realize I live a privileged life with people who love and care for me.”

 “We talked about how helping someone gave us a better feeling of accomplishment than when we did something for ourselves. I could not help but wonder: what would the world be like if everyone did something nice for some else every day?”

Our Town Hall Meeting on Underage Drinking

 Harlowton is one of 1600 communities nationwide to receive a $500 grant to hold town hall meetings on underage drinking. Around 100 Harlowton young people, public officials, parents, community leaders and organizations in health, education, law enforcement, highway safety, and business met at Hillcrest Elementary on Wednesday, March 19th to talk about the local problem of underage drinking. The town hall meeting was held to raise awareness of the dangers of underage drinking, and steps that parents, community leaders and concerned citizens can take to combat and prevent it. Using a survey developed and filled out by Harlowton junior high and high school students, small groups discussed the following questions: Is there a problem with underage drinking in Harlowton and what does it look like?  Why is there underage drinking in Harlowton? And what could be done to address the issue?            Eight groups unanimously decided that underage drinking is a problem in Harlo and suggested many possible reasons. Groups also suggested several distinct areas where Harlowton residents can make a difference in the local use of alcohol. First, all adults need to set a better example for youth by not drinking or drinking responsibly themselves. Second, parents need to know what their children are doing, repeatedly let kids know that drinking is not acceptable, and make sure there are plenty of alcohol-free activities available for their children. Third, the community needs to reduce advertising of alcohol products, increase early alcohol and drug education, and change the culture of acceptance of underage drinking, which includes equal punishment for anyone who breaks the law. The community needs to send a clear and strong message through their behavior and their legal system that underage drinking will not be tolerated. Detailed results of group discussion and information about future meetings can be found at the local web address: harlowton.communityblogs.us.       Harlowton’s second Town Hall Meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 2^nd at 7 p.m. at Hillcrest.  Everyone who is concerned about this problem is encouraged to participate in making Harlowton a safer and healthier community for our children.

We have all been deeply affected by the the alcohol related deaths of some of our local children.  It is time to do something to change the underage use of alcohol in our community.  Please join other parents, youth, law enforcement, pastors, educators, and health professionals at Our Town Hall Meeting on March 19th to work together to find a solution to this situation. 

WHAT:  Our Town Hall Meeting

WHEN:  March 19, 2008 from 7:00 until 8:30 

WHERE: Hillcrest Elementary

WHO:    Anyone and everyone who wants to be part of the solution

WHY:    Because we live in a community that wants to stop this senseless loss of our most precious resource—our children.

OTHER: Healthy refreshments will be served and door prizes will be awarded.  Day care will be provided at the Honey Bear Day Care for those who want to attend the meeting.  If you will need daycare, please call 406-632-4728 to let us know before the meeting. 

You must be present to be heard and to learn how you can help.   

In the fast pace of day to day activity it is some times hard to keep up, especially with the happening of the community in which we call home. The Midtown Market has just recently placed a community bulletin board in their entry way to help keep every one informed and intouch. The bulletin board will be used to post upcoming events, meeting, notices, etc. So stop by and what’s happening or post your own items so we can all stay connected as a community.

During Holiday vacation, the elementary students at Hillcrest are working on Paying it Forward projects around the community.  They are on the look out for things they can do to help out in their community!  Maybe shovel snow before sledding, or visiting a neighbor or someone in the nursing home.  It will be exciting to see all that they accomplished when break is over and they turn in their Mo-mentum cards.  Lets all keep the Mo-mentum going in Harlowton.

When a local book club read the book Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, the members took Dr. Mortenson’s message to heart. The book club decided they could best spread the message of bringing peace to the world through education — one school at a time by starting at home. When Harlowton High School’s English teacher said she would like to teach the book to her seniors but didn’t have funds in her budget to purchase the novel, the club bought the books for the class. Upon completion of their study in January, the book club will present them with a note explaining why the books were purchased for them and asking them to “pay it forward.”

After gathering input from the community surveys and meetings and several revisions, we have completed a Vision Statement for Harlowton. 

Vision Statement:

Harlowton is a community with a common vision and ideals.  It is a vibrant, nurturing town that appeals to people of all ages, races, colors and creeds.  We encourage civil discussion and participation by our citizens, and we mentor our young and old. 

We are dedicated to investing in first-rate education and understand that education is life-long, so we offer wide-ranging academic and vocational learning opportunities.  In equal measure, we support a healthy lifestyle for all of our citizens  and, to this end,  provide excellent health care and health care facilities.   

We are committed to building and maintaining a successful, entrepreneurial economy with a small-town atmosphere where young people have opportunity and seniors can find security in retirement.  We support this economy by shopping with our local merchants whenever we can. 

We recognize and value our responsibility and connection to each other and our history, natural resources and environment, and we are committed to improving Harlowton’s quality of life by investing in our infrastructure and providing our citizens with recreational opportunities.

The Horizons Steering Committee distributed surveys thru the fall to collect input to write the community vision statement.  The results from the survey have been compiled and are now available.

Community Survey Results

Harlowton is pleased to have recruited a new V.I.S.T.A, which is a Volunteer In Service To America. A V.I.S.T.A’s responsibility is to aide in areas that are needed around a community. The program is funded by Horizon’s Montana Community Foundation, Harlowton High School, Wheatland Memorial Hospital, and Wheatland County. The new V.I.S.T.A will be working in the field of wellness and health.

Lea comes to us from California where she graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbra. She is very excited to work with all the people in this community, she is here to listen and get involved, to be a service to the people. Lea wants to make connections and reach out to everyone to activate the ideas and goals that people see happening in the community. Her main goal is to uncover the gifts that she knows every person has. Lea is ready to get involved and meet the members of this community.

This community never seems to slow down.  We just keep getting things done, and that impresses me.  The group who attended leadership plenty in the spring decided that rather than decide on one project together as a group, we should each give a little extra in our home, yards, where we work and around the other places that are important to us. 

 We are going to beautify Harlowton one good deed at a time and then, pay it forward.  The idea was so exciting, we could continue working on the projects we were passionate about and make those stronger and better.  The project is designed so that we all have something meaningful to contribute to make our community a better, more beautiful place to live.

If you have a story of Harlowton’s MoMentum, wheather it was your own deed or one you saw someone else doing, Post it here!