NEWS & EVENTS

CVP initiative reaches out to those new and not so new to Crookston
By Mike Christopherson, Managing Editor
Crookston Daily Times

September 15, 2005 - Whether you've called Crookston home for 10 days or 10 years, if you still feel a bit out of the loop and don't really feel like this is your community, a gathering set for 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 19 at the public library might be just for you.

The Newcomers Gathering, designed to bring people together to meet and mingle, was born out of the Crookston Vitality Project. One of the sectors created as part of the CVP, the Community Leadership and Involvement sector, identified as a goal the need to reach out more to people new to Crookston and show them ways that they can take ownership in their community.

"We're reaching out to both the new and the still fairly new people to our community" said Ann Graham, head of the Community Leadership and Involvement Sector. Graham and Karen Bang are coordinating the Newcomers Gathering initiative.

"There's no real limit on how long you've been here," Graham continued. "If you've lived here a few years but you still feel somewhat out of touch, we're hoping you'll come out and meet some people who might feel similar to you."

The goal is to make the Newcomers Gathering a monthly event. It could be at different sites, and Graham said local service clubs might be asked at some point to host individual gatherings. Even if the early gatherings fail to attract the numbers that Graham and Bang are hoping for, Graham said that they're going to give the effort at least four to six months to catch on.

There hasn't been a Welcome Wagon-type of effort in Crookston to reach out to new residents for many years. The Chamber of Commerce teamed up with Otter Tail Power Company to make contact with new residents when they opened accounts with the electric utility, but Graham said privacy issues leave "a lot of holes" when it comes to extending a welcoming hand to Crookston's newest residents.

Graham is keeping her fingers crossed that Crookston's Newcomers Gathering will take off like a similar initiative in Alexandria. There, "newcomers" are only allowed to attend the periodic get-togethers for three years. "It's turned into a huge, fun social gathering," she said. "People are sad after their three years are up."

Monday's inaugural gathering will take place in the library's sunroom and will wrap up by 8 p.m. Kids are welcome, Graham said, and refreshments will be served.

"People want to feel welcome and many want to get involved but it's just a matter of being given an opportunity," she said. "We challenge community members, employers and members of the service clubs to invite new people to attend or, better yet, offer to pick them up and accompany them."

For more information, call the Chamber of Commerce at 281-4320.