Harlowton, MT

Through a partnership between the Wheatland County Sheriff’s Office and Horizon’s , there will be two youth representatives at this year’s 10^th National UDETC Leadership Conference.  The conference offers an adult track and a youth track.  The Sheriff’s Office sends two adult representatives each year as part of an Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws grant.  The Sheriff’s Office was only going to be able to send one youth to this year’s event, but through the partnership, now the community will benefit from two attending.  This year’s conference is being held in Nashville, Tennessee.

The two youth will participate in networking and educational opportunities.  The youth track is centered around developing and maintaining youth run programs to help reduce underage drinking.  The youth are given assignments and topics to speak on.  The program assists in developing youth in the areas of public speaking and leadership.  This aids a community by providing training to already strong youth in successful ways of implementing programs.  The first youth networking event will be on Wednesday, August 20^th, this event will introduce the youth participants to what is expected of them, how the conference is organized and a general social event.  Over the next three days, the youth will be kept busy from nine-o’clock in the morning until nine-o’clock at night.  The information that is crammed into these days can help leaders of tomorrow, be leaders today.

Wheatland County receives $400.00 from a Triangle Communications through their Community Vitality Grant to begin their Drug and Alcohol Free Scholarship! 

The scholarship is a positive incentive for youth in the community to remain Drug and Alcohol Free through their school career and to serve on the Youth Team to promote a safe community.  The community is honoring their choice to serve as community leaders and positive examples.  When youth grow up in a culture tolerant of alcohol use, they are likely to continue that cycle. We are working promote a culture where the underage use of alcohol is not tolerated to prevent poverty and alcohol abuse later in life. If you would like to contribute toward the scholarship, please contact Jean Wallace with the partnership for youth or Mandie Reed with the Wheatland County Extension Office. 

On February 19, 2008 six local community members attended training at the Health Education Center at Wheatland Memorial Hospital to learn more about serving on County Boards, Districts, Commissions and Committees in Montana.  The training was sponsored by Wheatland County Extension.  Paul Lachapelle, MSU Extension Community Development specialist covered topics such as Montana’s Open Meetings Law, Code of Ethics, Wrongful Discharge, Discrimination, Robert’s Rules of Order and the use of motions.  Each attendee also received the handbook for members, local government officials and citizens covering these topics as a reference.    

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.