NEWS & EVENTS

Bang is on board
By Mike Christopherson, Managing Editor
Crookston Daily Times

April 23, 2004 - Only a few days after agreeing to become the coordinator of the Crookston Vitality Project in mid-March of this year, Carrie Bang took an extended trip to Montana to visit family. She didn’t return to Crookston until after Easter.

But anyone who thinks that such a long time away from Crookston and her new job would have Bang playing catch-up upon her return simply doesn’t know Bang.

“I certainly don’t want to make it sound like I’m not paying attention while I’m driving, but I’ve had all kinds of things going through my head, and I’ve been jotting down some really quick notes to myself, more to just remind me later of what I was thinking about,” she said. “You know, before it’s lost forever.”

A long time ago, members of the CVP committee concluded that at some point in the process they were going to need some help, someone whose main focus would be the Vitality Project, someone who could coordinate things and bounce ideas off the committee. Simply put, someone in charge to run things on a day-to-day basis.

But committee members spent months discussing just how to go about securing that help. On one hand, there was the belief that an outsider, someone unfamiliar with Crookston and its residents, would be the best bet. It worked during Project 2000 in the mid-1980s, when an outside, independent consultant was brought in to lead the effort. Anyone who had anything to do with that ambitious initiative still recalls how the consultant came in with no biases, no prejudices and no grudges, and told it like it was. He wasn’t afraid to speak his mind, even if it ruffled a few feathers. He was blunt as he pointed out what Crookston was lacking, but also served as a motivator when he described what Crookston could become, with a little hard work and dedication.

But, on the other hand, the Crookston Vitality Project was, and still is not, a city-driven project. While it’s tied to the Crookston Development Authority, it is not flush with cash and, therefore, the committee is hesitant to fork over almost $100,000 to have bring an outsider in to, some on the committee would argue, tell community leaders very few things they don’t already know.

So, once committee members decided that the best, and most financially prudent route would be to secure the services of someone local and familiar, all they had to do was agree on a person. While a few names were tossed back and forth, it didn’t take long to arrive at Carrie Bang.

Very soon after being initially approached about the possibility of her leading the project, Bang sat down to a meeting with Dan Wolpert and Kari Thompson, the former one of the original leaders of CVP and the latter the executive director of the Crookston Development Authority who has helped guide the Vitality Project.

“The very first thing they said to me was that if I was going to dive into something like this, I had to love Crookston,” Bang said hours before departing on the previously mentioned extended visit to Montana. “Good heavens, I think anyone who has any idea who I am knows how much I do love this community. My love of Crookston runs deep.”

A list of her interests and activities makes that abundantly clear. She has a long history of involvement in “Showboat,” the Riverview Follies, Riverview Auxiliary, Blast to Bede and Wellness Works. Also, for 21 years she was a prevention specialist for the Minnesota Institute of Public Health.

Bang wasn’t involved with Project 2000, but she followed it in the local media and is a big believer in its successes. While knowing that the Crookston Vitality Project is not simply an update of Project 2000, she sees parallels nonetheless, and embraces them, too.

“Communities like Crookston need direction, various goals for us to focus our energies on,” she said. “The improvements to this community that can be attributed to the work than went into Project 2000 were simply fabulous, and if we could parlay the Vitality Project into something that shows what’s truly important to the citizens of this community, then it will be no less fabulous.”

Bang admits she needs to bone up on her Vitality knowledge. She knows a brief history of where the project has been and what led its leaders to seek her out, but she’s no CVP expert. She also freely admits she’s no technology guru, and, while she will no doubt excel at rallying Crookston residents and generating enthusiasm about the project, the nuts and bolts part of the data gathering process will be a challenge to her as well.

Which is why Eric Swanson, who is coordinating the Carpenter’s Playground at Wolpert’s First Presbyterian Church, has been recruited to help out in both the technology and data-gathering arenas.

“I think the two of us together will add up to a pretty good team,” Bang said. “Without him, it might take me five times longer to do something that, technologically speaking, is fairly elementary. But with him helping out, he can do those sorts of things much more efficiently, and we can keep moving along.”

So what is the biggest attribute Bang brings to the table?
“Oh, talking is definitely my strength. Absolutely,” she said. “Anyone who knows me at all will tell you that when I care about something, I don’t lack for enthusiasm. And from what I’ve heard, the Vitality Project needs a little bit of that as we head into this next level of activity.”

Some type of event to bring the community up to speed on the Crookston Vitality Project is in the works for the fall. It’s not known what form it will take, but Bang is bouncing lots of ideas around in her head. Initially, it was envisioned as some sort of Vitality Project kick-off event, but committee members concluded that it would be fairly difficult to kick something off when it’s been going on for more than two years.

“I have a lot of ideas about it, but I need to get a feel from the committee of just what it is they’re looking for,” Bang said. “I don’t want to come in from way out in left field. But at the same time, you can’t have some run of the mill event or you’ll be disappointed in the numbers that come out to check it out. At this point, I’m going to mention some of my ideas, but I’m also going to listen, listen and listen some more.”