Whitehall, MT

Whitehall business owners met at the Legion Street Grille to discuss Whitehall’s vision. Their comments follow:

What do you like about Whitehall?

¤ The size–keep Whitehall small, Bozeman is too big.

¤ Small town values and atmosphere.

¤ Positive place to do business

¤ Interstate access

¤ The business community is cohesive and engaged

¤ Comprehensive kids’ programs in school.

¤  Outdoor mecca (hunting, fishing, hiking, etc, positive quality of life)

¤ Customers care about the businesses and their success, become apart of life of the business and owners.

¤ Actively looking for hi-income folks who work and live at home.

What do you think Whitehall needs?

¤ Infrastructure: telecoms for people working remotely

¤ Attract younger families (Schools, sustain vibrancy)

¤ Jobs, growth

¤ Replace the tax base

Ideas for Whitehall

¤ Specific functions/events to draw people to town (like Philipsburg)

¤ Infrastructure Improvement to attract big business: 4 bars on cell phone, true high speed Internet,

¤ Streets and sidewalks & boulevard improvements: gives better impressions, will encourage people to stop, not scare them so they keep on driving

¤ Find ways to keep local population here

¤ Customer service keeps my business here.

¤ Mine is doing a good job with the business park

¤ Create identity for downtown: uniform look, part of tourism loop, rebuild downtown area, have an identity and key to draw people the way Ennis is the fly fishing capital, downtown success is my success.

¤ An identity will be great but will it draw enough people?

¤ How do we get people in off the Interstate?

Things that could be improved or changed

¤ People like to go for recreation and shopping out of town

¤ Change expectation of failure for local businesses

¤ People have to work harder (customer service) to succeed in a small town because customers have the option to go somewhere else.

¤ Support for businesses to get them up and running successfully

¤ Street light/aluminum can drive: create our own street light bases, old time look with whole town behind it.

¤  Sidewalks are a big concern

¤ Other businesses that draw people in like a waterslide or a golf course.

¤ Community Map/Old Town Business district sign.

¤ Business owners be consistent: If sign says open at 9, be there at 9.  If sick child, put a sign up that explains business is still open and not failing. Return calls.

The meeting with the Whitehall Ministerial Association to discuss the Horizons visioning process and getting the word out to the congregations went well. The need for affordable housing and quality daycare were discussed along with the potential future mine closure and the challenges our community is facing with these potential changes coupled with our current community growth.

(text by Tom Harrington)

Please read the vision statements below, and vote on which you like best. To vote, go to the bottom of this article and click on the light grey “comment” word. A new window will open, and the comment you make will be posted for all the world to see. You have the option of using a name other than your own. We will stop taking comments/votes on November 15th.

The Draft Vision Statements:

A. Whitehall is managing community change by involving citizens in a shared vision of the future. It is a process of developing an inclusive network to increase community capacity that supports a sustainable economy that improves the overall quality of life by promoting innovative approaches to provide a safe living environment with expanded economic opportunities.

B. Whitehall is a vibrant, centrally located rural community embracing change to ensure a safe, high quality of life for all generations. We celebrate our strengths as a diverse sustainable resource-based community of natural beauty nestled in the mountains and will achieve our full potential while maintaining our traditional caring and friendly atmosphere, spiritual strength and positive attitude to provide everyone the opportunity for prosperity.

C. Whitehall is a friendly and caring rural community embracing future change to ensure a high quality of life for all generations. We have a safe and vibrant economy that supports innovative approaches to provide a quality living environment with expanded economic opportunities. Our foundation is embodied in spiritual strength, helping others and maintaining a safe community.

D. Whitehall is an attractive small town that is home to people of all ages who are active in the outdoors and civic life. We are well-known for our unique character, smart planning and ample resources to meet the needs of our residents. Our central location, diverse job and business opportunities and numerous recreational amenities attract our youth back home.

The four draft vision statements listed below were put together by compiling information from:
1. “Whitehall 2010″ visioning work from 1996
2. Horizons Study Circles in 2006
3. 18 community listening session in the fall of 2007
4. Over 100 elementary student drawings
5. Comments that have been posted on this blog site.

Surveys were mailed to all Whitehall residents and all those people who live in a ten mile radius of Whitehall. Those survey results and the comments and votes posted on the blog will be combined to tweak and finalize the vision statement that is brought to the City Council for formal approval.

Are you interested in quilting or other fiber needlework arts? The Quilt Jam and Fiber Fanatics Guild is an organization in Whitehall. Our purpose is:
 To promote cooperation and exchange of ideas among those persons in or engaged in quilting and fiber arts.
 To further the education and skill levels of the members of this guild.
 To preserve the heritage of quilt making and fiber arts and promote related activities.
 To provide opportunities that will encourage community interest in quilting and fiber arts.
 To promote philanthropic ventures.

Guild membership is open to anyone and meetings are held the first Wednesday of each month at 6:30 pm. Interested? Stop by the Cozy Mountain Quilt Shop at the corner of Legion Avenue and Division Street in Whitehall for who to call and where to meet.

(text by Glenna Waltee)

The purpose of the Whitehall Garden Club is to stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening, to share the advantages of membership by means of educational meetings and field trips, and to restore, improve, and protect the quality of the environment through educational programs and action in the fields of conservation and civic improvements.

It’s aims and objectives are to:
 Encourage friendship through gardens
 Encourage civic beauty
 Study the fine art of gardening in all its aspects
 Co-operate with other chapters furthering the interests of horticulture and conservation.

The Whitehall Garden Club meets the first Wednesday of each month starting at 9:30 am for social time, coffee and goodies, 10-10:30 is the business meeting portion and from 10:30 until Noon is the educational program time. Some of the programs over this last year have been about Petunias, Begonias, Global Warming, Montana’s Noxious Weeds, Herbs, Design Display, Hypaturfa Container Making, Succulents, Greenhouses, and Xeriscape Gardening.

During the summer the Whitehall Garden Club has sponsored a Garden Tour, Flower Show and presented monthly Golden Spade Awards to recognize the achievement of an individual or family who beautifies their home and or yard through the use of flowers, plants and greens capes.

The Whitehall Garden Club is a member of the Montana Federation of Garden Clubs and more information can be viewed at www.MTFGC.org.

(text by Glenna Waltee)

Four drafts of the vision statement were presented for comment at the Community Center October 11th at 6:30pm. Refreshments, trivia games and prizes punctuated the evening as participants were encouraged to circulate, read the material gathered through the visioning process, and comment on the various questions posed throughout the room as well as on the draft visions.

Check back for pictures of the evening. The actual drafts of the vision statements have been posted as a separate article. The next steps in the process are: collect the data from the surveys and incorporate that information with our existing data, and then combine the best elements of the four existing draft statements. To give input on the draft vison statement, go to the October 17th “Draft Vision Statements” article. Scroll up!

104 elementary school kids turned in drawings depicting what they would like to see in Whitehall’s future. They are displayed at tonight’s visioning event. After tonight, they will be displayed at the elementary school.

Each kid got a coupon for a free ice cream cone at A & W when they turned in their picture. Thanks to Michelle at A & W for helping sponsor the event!

Today we hung out in the new Community Room at the middle school and held mini listening sessions with kids from each High School study hall. In all, 57 kids came down to talk with us throughout the day. It was a fun day – the kids had some great stories and some interesting observations. As you would expect, there was a lot of variation, but there were some common themes and surprising findings.

Many kids said they really liked Whitehall. They like the size of the town, the location, the great hunting and fishing opportunities and all of our great amenities (the pool, skatepark, movie theater, rodeo arena, library etc). Kids liked our restaurants, especially KFC, the Chinese Restaurant and Crzy Bear pizza. Many kids thought that our medical clinic was really a great and they thought the school was great too.

We asked what kids would like to see in Whitehall in the future. Again, not total agreement, but numerous commonalities. Many said that they wanted to retain Whitehall’s small town feel. Like many adults, they also would like to see less litter and more law enforcement. They wanted to see a new park with picnic tables, playground equipment, swings and maybe even a fountain.

We heard an underlying desire for better understanding of youth by adults in town. One kid said “We can’t just hang out because people think we are getting into trouble.” There was a desire for more places to go and things to do for youth, especially at night. One girl said “We can’t even go out at night. You are looked down upon if you are out at night.” Someone else wanted youth representation on the selection and planning of community events so that events better reflected the interests of youth.

Some things surprised us. A number of kids said that they would like to see more diversity in town. With more people from other cultures, and more cultural events in general, we would have more interesting food, interesting people and different music. Diversity and openness to diversity was of interest to many. Another fairly common comment was the desire for more adults in their 20s and 30s living in town.

We asked about the kinds of jobs that kids would like to see here, specifically to replace mining jobs should the mine close. Some said they wanted high paying jobs so that they could come back and live. “You are not going to make a living earning grocery store wages, housing is too expensive.” Several kids mentioned that they would like a hospital – either as another amenity or as a place that they could come back home to and earn a good wage once they are out of school.

Much of the conversation revolved around improved and upgraded recreational opportunities for youth. A very common interest was a better outside basketball court and the ability to get into the bowling ally again. A number of kids mentioned that the rodeo grounds were great, but that they could use some improvements such as bleachers and stalls. Adding a golf course to town was also a fairly frequent wish of youth. Numerous other recreational opportunities were mentioned including more shopping opportunities, lazer tag, paint ball, dirt bike/motorcross etc. Adding an animal shelter was mentioned by almost every group.

More to come on the great conversations we had with the city council, ranchers, senior citizens, middle school student council and 4 H’rs today.

A good session with the Rotary club this evening, facilitated by Janna Kincheloe of Judith Basin Montana. To start the conversation, Rotarians filled two full pages of butcher paper with great things about Whitehall. Come to the session on the evening of the 11th to see the full list.

Rotary’s ideas for Whitehall’s future included (in the order they were suggested):
• Developing a theme for the storefronts and general architecture of the business district such as in Phillipsburg, Three Forks and Ennis have done to create a welcoming appearance and unique quality for the town.
• An animal shelter.
• A more pristine residential environment.
• More business opportunities to keep young people here.
• Maintaining the smaller size of the town with controlled or healthy growth.
• Boost the employment and tax base for town with clean industry.
• Maintain our water resource and beautiful environment.
• A golf course.
• Public transportation with regular trips through town or better network to match up those with time to drive with those in need of transportation.
• Programs available to curb drug abuse.
• An expansion of local government’s boundary beyond the city limits to allow more people to participate in local government.
• Efficient 911 service with better mapping so that responders can find homes where assistance is needed.
• Increased funding for teachers.
• Increased awareness and better local services for low-income people, including a directory of services, centralized service center or a community or visitors center were people can easily access information on medicate, medicare, food stamps etc.

Next up? Ranchers at the Ranchers Roundtable at 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Thanks Janna for coming to Whitehall to help us facilitate our many small group sessions!

What do like best about Whitehall?
What would you like to see change?
What is important to you to keep OUT of Whitehall?
Who or what do you see as major employers in Whitehall 10 years from now?

If you have taken part in any of the sessions to discuss Whitehall’s future, it is possible that you have thought of additional comments you would like to make in any of the above categories that were discussed at your visioning session.

If you haven’t been to a visioning session, feel free to post your ideas anyway! There are many sessions scheduled all over the community between now and October 11th, so if you are interested, check the paper or call the extension office for more information, 287-3282.

Click on the small gray “comment” word directly below this post to leave a reply. We’ll get it to the people making the vision statement!