NEWS & EVENTS

To Wolpert, the process is critical
By Mike Christopherson, Managing Editor
Crookston Daily Times

April 23, 2004 - Dan Wolpert, pastor at the First Presbyterian Church in Crookston, has at no point in the Crookston Vitality Project process been identified as the leader of the group. But he is very much a leader of the initiative, sometimes grabbing the reins from the get-go, and in other instances taking on leadership roles when no one else on the committee is quick to do so themselves.

It was Wolpert who, way back in 2001 when CVP didn’t even exist, suggested that mental health, social service and spiritual leaders in the community who had gathered because of a small League of Women Voters grant try to accomplish something more significant than, say, a mental health awareness day. It was Wolpert who though it was important that everyone sitting around the table three years ago share their stories, their frustrations and their successes as part of a series of conversations before they could decide what exactly they should try to do as a group. It was Wolpert who, once CVP was well underway, volunteered to serve as a sort of master of ceremonies/facilitator at the Nov. 1 (2003) retreat at the Northland Inn. And it was Wolpert who stressed all along, when the CVP committee figured that some type of outside help would be necessary, that an outside consultant would be too expensive, and would probably not offer much in the way of new information that committee members didn’t already know.

And, today, it’s Wolpert who believes the process currently underway as part of the CVP initiative is just as important, and maybe even more important, than whatever outcomes result from the entire effort.

“I think we’re doing well; I really do,” he said. “And the main reason I feel I can say that is because I think we’re starting to look at this in the proper way.”

In doing so, CVP stakeholders are realizing that the process as a whole is just as significant as the specific contents that make up the process, he said.

“Yes, we need to have results, but that doesn’t mean we have to be results driven all the time,” Wolpert explained. “How is this going to impact the people involved and the community involved? That’s what we need to get at, not so much a laundry list of things we absolutely have to do.”
Wolpert realizes that the CVP committee has been “at this” for quite some time.

“And maybe you look at where we’ve been and where we are now and you conclude that this hasn’t born much fruit,” he said. “But the specifics of the content are very much in progress, so stressing results at this point, I don’t think, is the way to go about it.”

Instead, Wolpert prefers to look at the number of people, whether it was at various CVP committee meetings, at the Nov. 1 retreat, or on the street at any random time, who have touched base at some point with the Vitality Project.
“Each one of those people, maybe a hundred or so, has their circles of influence and activity, and each one of those people at some level has at some point been thinking about what we’re doing,” he said. “They live in Crookston, this is their home and they want to help see to it that it remains a good place to be for a long time.”

Then, Wolpert envisions, imagine if those 100 people told another 100 people about the Vitality Project and what it could mean for Crookston. “Then those new 100 people think about it, and then maybe they talk to their service club about it, or someone in their congregation, or in the park while their kids are playing,” he said. “That type of process flow has an incredible impact, I believe. I feel that this is the type of thing I’ve been seeing as this process has moved along. I have spoken to people and had people speak to me who are very seriously thinking about how they can make this a vital community now and into the future.”

It’s not like those people haven’t thought in those terms before, but CVP has served to bring those thoughts to the forefront, Wolpert believes. “This process is getting a lot of positive attention,” he added.

Not that the process is everything. Far from it.

“Obviously, in the end, I hope we have some great report or summary of findings or whatever that has a real practical use for this community,” he said. “We need goals, and we need to meet some of them, hopefully most of them. That’s all wonderful and necessary. But in my mind I think there’s a more intangible result that is equally significant, if not more. And in that regard, I think we’ve been a big success already, and on some level we’re just getting going full steam with this.”

Hiring Carrie Bang as project coordinator (Wolpert’s assistant with his Carpenters Playground at the church, Eric Swanson, will assist her with technology and data gathering) is a “huge milestone,” Wolpert said. “I think it’s been pretty clear to the committee for quite some time that we were going to need some help with this, and we had a lot of discussion on what kind of help that would be. I think the fact that we made a decision on that is huge.”

Despite heading west to visit family for several weeks only days after coming on board, Wolpert said Bang has nonetheless hit the ground running. “She’s bursting with ideas, she’s jotting notes and sending emails,” he said. “It’s on her mind, it’s a primary focus for her, and that’s something we’ve lacked. Everyone on the committee has been interested in the Vitality Project, but it probably has occupied one percent of our time and mental energy. This will be Carrie’s thing, her focus.”

Wolpert knows there has to be some formality to it all, especially when it comes to collecting data and acting on that data later on.

“I would expect informal offshoots and formal offshoots,” he said. “The city government, it’s up to them to decide what they as a unit feel they should pursue, and what they shouldn’t pursue.”

But, for example, Wolpert believes that hockey interests might be able to pair up with tennis people, or maybe soccer people, too, as part of a formal committee that gathers some clout by joining forces to get something accomplished.

“Maybe that happens, and maybe it doesn’t,” he said. “But through this process, they will know each other better and know what each other wants to accomplish, and maybe they’ll know some ways that they can help each other meet those goals. I see a whole series, a whole range of results in that realm. I see some new, formal structures and some strengthened, informal networks where everyone’s goal is to make this community run. It’s all equally important, and equally good.”