The people of Sheridan County have been investing in the future of our county ever since they first came as homesteaders in the first part of the 20^th Century.  Many of these efforts are still going concerns and make our lives better to this day.

 

This county was settled by a hardy stock of people coming for free farm land.  They were hardened by the harsh weather and economic times of the 1920’s and 1930’s.  Those who survived embraced the technology of their time and built improvements that enabled a better and easier life.  They funded these improvements through member donations and various grants.

 

When the private grain elevator companies of the 1920’s were taking 80% of the cost of a bushel wheat as freight charges the farmers organized independent grain elevator co-ops and built their own elevators to ship and market their own products.  We see the benefit of this today with the Westby Farmers Elevator building a 100 car state-of-the-art facility to ship agricultural products from our region.  Rural electrification was spearheaded in this county by Anna Dahl and others using funds made available through programs started by FDR.  We now have Sheridan Electric as a direct descendant of that effort providing dependable electrical service to our farms and smaller communities and overseen by a local board of directors.  The telephone company Nemont started as a small rural telephone co-op and now provides our area with the most modern digital telephone and broadband services available.  What other rural area of this size can say that?  This too is done by local people serving their community and utilizing local dollars to make improvements in our life.

 

Sheridan Memorial Hospital and Nursing Home as well as the Pioneer Manor were both started with donated funds and are run by volunteer boards of directors.  What would our quality of life be like without them?  Our city owned swimming pool started out it’s life as a privately owned pool at what is now the Wildwood Park.  The building that is there now was the pool house.  The pool was donated to the city by Mr. DeSilva who owned a pop bottling plant just north of the pool.  This pool was not heated and was used as the local swimming pool by many of us who grew up in Plentywood until the mid 1970’s when the Lions Club and city joined forces to build the present pool at Sherwood Park.  This facility continues to serve our area with summertime recreation.  The Golf Course and Baseball Field are other examples of locally financed and operated facilities that provide recreational and fitness activities for our citizens.

 

Our town parks, school, paved and curbed streets, town square are all examples of community improvements that have been initiated by local people that provide lasting benefit to the present and future residents of our county.  We think that this health and fitness center will join the other community based endeavors as a lasting improvement that betters the lives of our citizens.