Belt, Mt

june-2010-community-calendar.pdf

may1-community-calendar.pdf

contributed by: Gary Gray

The Belt Theater Company has been awarded a grant in the amount of $70,520 to replace the roof and install HVAC units on the historic 1916 Knights of Pythias building which contains the theater.
The grant process was competitive and drew 135 applications from all over Montana. Of those, 54 received grant monies and only 11 applicants, including the Belt Theater, were fully funded.
The funds awarded were part of HB 645 which provided nearly $4 million for historic preservation in Montana.
Once the remainder of the application process is completed and approved the project can move forward and will be completed this summer. AT Klemens Company will perform the work and estimates it will take about 2 weeks to complete the project and will utilize about 10 employees in the process.
A public meeting will take place prior to May 7th, 2010 to address any environmental issues that may arise from the project. The public will be notified of the meeting time and place and will be given an opportunity to comment on the project.

Make plans to attend the annual Belt DECA Carnival on Sunday April 18, 2010. The festivities begin at 4:30 PM and DECA advisor Keith Hoyer promises another funfilled event. Keith said they have several new games and events this year along with some of the oldies but goodies. DECA qualified 11 students for nationals this year so please show your support for all of the students hard work

contributed by Wendy Palmer

We attended the Horizon’s meeting and dinner. It was informational and the food was great! How exciting that we will get another $8500.00 to improve our community! Also, I would like to add that the Horizon Project gave money last year to help the Belt Celebration Day be the success that it was. We just had our first BCD meeting for this year and I hope that many talented members of our community volunteer their time or talents again to make this year a success. Anyone interested in coming to the meetings is encouraged to come to the next meeting on 04/22/2010 at City Hall.

By Ashley Korslien/KRTV News

Students at Belt School got a chance to learn about life’s lessons outside of the classroom today. The News Station’s Ashley Korslien was there for the inspirational speech that aims to transform personal tragedy into triumph.

Motivational speaker Bobby Petrocelli lost his wife 24 years ago to a drunk driver who crashed into his house, but instead of dwelling on the loss, he transformed it into a positive life lesson, and is now sharing that lesson with students around the country.

He said, “The whole premise of my program is for people to understand that negative decision making and negative choices is based upon pain and hurt within their life.”

Belt High School students learned about Petrocelli’s key message, which he sums up as: ten seconds is all it takes to change a life forever.

Petrocelli says no matter how small or significant, every decision made will have a profound impact on your life.

After hearing Petrocelli speak, Student Kelli Kolar said, “I feel the ten seconds is very do-able for people…it’s just easy to take time and help make a difference in someone’s life.”

Belt business teacher Keith Hoyer noted, “I thought the students were very touched by his speech. He mixes in humor (and) of course tragedy. He blends it all very well together to come up with a message we really wanted to students to get through, and that was, choose positive.”

Petrocelli says speaking to young students is especially important because of their vulnerable phase in life, stating, “You matter; we want everyone to walk out of an assembly knowing they matter, they have importance and they have a place in this world.”

He continued, “The greatest thing is to know that maybe I said something, I did something, I responded in a way that brought hope to somebody else and maybe got them on the right path.”

On November 5, 2009, Belt Public Schools was notified that it had received a Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation for Healthy Montanans grant for $21,452. The grant was a result of Keith Hoyer and JJ Drummond working together to address a need in the Belt Community. Both Keith and JJ were active participants of the Horizons group and served as facilitators of the Leadership Plenty training. As part of the leadership training, Keith and JJ had the opportunity to meet with community leaders and hear their concerns. One of the concerns that came from the meetings was the lack of a wellness center where people could get a cardiovascular workout without having to travel to Great Falls. After hearing people’s concerns, Keith and JJ pursued grant opportunities that would address this community need. The Leadership Plenty training was instrumental for training in writing the grant. Keith and JJ held several meetings (how to conduct a meeting was one leadership topic) and were able to work with many diverse attitudes and opinions (another topic) to come up with what turned out to be a winning combination. Currently there are over 100 people who have attended an orientation and have signed up to work out in the newly constructed wellness center. On average, 40 to 50 different people use the facility on a weekly basis. Horizons Leadership training was an invaluable resource in helping both Keith and JJ work towards meeting a community need.

The Belt Youth Leadership Group and Horizons have teamed up to bring a guest speaker into Belt on Thursday, April 8, 2010. Bobby Pertocelli will give a talk to the school assembly at 10:30 am on Thursday and has agreed to give a community talk that evening at 7:00.

Bobby Petrocelli’s story is one of personal triumph and hope following a devastating tragedy in his life. One night he went to bed in suburban America, a happy man with a loving wife. But when he woke up dazed in his kitchen, his wife was dead and his life forever changed. The pickup truck that crashed through his bedroom wall was driven by a man who was more than twice legally drunk. Bobby often shares how he fought through the darkness to triumph; how he drew upon his faith and friends; and how he came to love again. As a high school teacher and coach, his love for youth inspired him to take his dramatic story to audiences nationwide. He is the author of several books, including “10 seconds Will Change Your Life Forever”. He is now a motivational speaker who shares with youth the power of their decisions and how to build a strong foundation for their lives. His coaching background and expertise with youth have made him one of the top communicators in his field.

Please mark your calendars and plan to attend worthwhile event !

On March 26, 2010, 25 community members gathered in the school cafeteria for a discussion on Visioning. According to the timelines set out, the Horizons project is in it’s final stages, which concludes with the Visioning section. According to the 25 members present that night, Horizons is just beginning The Horizons committee has made great strides to partner with local business and clubs to ensure the continued growth and expansion of community development in our town. These businesses and clubs include City of Belt, Pacific Steel, PowerTech, Belt Valley Bank, Strobels Rental, Belt Theater Co., Belt School, Ace Hardware, Belt Deca Club, Belt Youth Leadership Group and L. V. Jackson Agency. The meeting centered around how to best spend our remaining grant money of approx. $8500.00 to benefit the most people possible. Ideas ranged from park playground equipment to helping with the pool and boys and girls club, to improved communications networks. After numerous suggestions and discussions, it was decided to request our grant based on several projects instead of limiting to only one or two. Everyone in attendance felt the projects selected would most closely follow the recommendations received in the survey as well as those received during the initial community meetings last spring. We estimated that nearly every member of the community would or could receive benefit from one or more of these projects. In addition, these projects followed the top recommendations received from the surveys. The committee is currently finalizing the budgets for each project and the final selections will be posted shortly ! Check back often for updates !

belt-survey-2009.pdf During the Belt Celebration day in July 2009, Horizons members conducted a written survey of willing participants. The survey was used to evaluate the attitude about the communuity. It asked 3 questions: “What do you like most about Belt”, “What do you like least about Belt”, “What’s you vision of Belt in the future”. We received a total of 71 completed surveys and the results are attached for review. Please click on the link belt-survey-2009.pdf at the beginning of this article. This information has helped us identify resources to sustain the community work that has been done to reduce poverty and provide opportunity for people in Belt. The Horizons Steering committee has been reviewing these results and ideas were presented at the March 26, 2009 community meeting. There was overwhelming evidence in these survey answers that indicate what a great town we have ! The goal now must be to keep the Horizons project moving forward to support our great community.