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Vol. 60, Issue 202
How a small town changed its economy Cranbrook hears about a community in South Dakota that turned its future around – and it all started with a group of passionate teenagers S a lly MacD on al d Townsman Staff
Cranbrook got a visit this week from the head of a South Dakota community revitalization project, who inspired hundreds with the story of how a group of high school students changed the town’s path. Kathy Callies from Howard, South Dakota spoke at the Cranbrook and District Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, October 17, before speaking at the College of the Rockies on Wednesday evening. She shared how in the late 1990s, a high school teacher challenged the entire school of 200 children to look at the economy in Miner County, South Dakota. “It’s an extraordinary story about very ordinary people working in a place they love and their hometown,” said Callies, who is part of the Miner County Community Revitalization Project, now the Rural Learning Center. The county has a population of 3,000; its
city Howard contains 1,000 of that population. In South Dakota, there’s a six per cent sales tax, of which four per cent goes to the state, and two per cent to the county.
“The real power of this story is that all at once these high school kids said no. No more ‘used to be’.” Kathy Callies But the population had been declining for more than 90 years, and businesses were struggling. Many young people would finish high school and go elsewhere to study. The larger centre of Sioux Falls is only an hour’s drive and many people would do their shopping there. “It used to be a great place to be. It used to be where you wanted to raise a family,” said Callies.
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Annalee Grant photo
ACCESS SUCCESS: Stop Gap has made Cranbrook a little more accessible with the installation of seven new ramps at local businesses this week. Lori Montcalm launched the project a few weeks ago, teaming up with Home Depot to create the brightly coloured, portable ramps. They were installed for free at Big Picture Audio Video, Juniper Lanes, Pages Book Emporium, Xerox Columbia Copiers, Heidi’s Restaurant and Kathy’s Kitchen. Accessibility to all six businesses is just a phone call away now that the new ramps have been delivered. Montcalm said anyone needing them should phone ahead to the business so an employee can set them out and assist. Pictured is Keith Haycroft, owner of Big Picture with Team Depot captain John Sutherland with the new ramp as Montcalm gives it a try. For more information on Stop Gap and how to get a ramp for your business contact Montcalm at (250) 489-3739 or email her at lmontcalm@shaw.ca.
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