The Prairie Wind Fitness Center
                                          by Sheridan County Health Plus, Inc   

News
 

3/9/2008
We have been busy since the first of the year.  With the donations that we have received so far, we have hired an expert in fitness center design, Don Arthur of Kalispell.  He has designed over 20 centers around the country, over half of them hospital based wellness centers.  He helped with the 'Summit' in Kalispell.  The Summit was originally a privately held fitness club that Don owned with Basketball coach and player Phil Jackson and later was sold to the Kalispell hospital and moved to their new location.  We have also asked Alex Tommerup to help with the architectural aspect of the project.  He has been very enthusiastic about the project and is doing a great job.  He is a Plentywood native and did the architectural work for the Lutheran brotherhood hall and is presently working on the Catholic parsonage.   Radiant heating specialist Vic Ellis is also contributing to the overall design and uniqueness of this facility. 
We are presently waiting for a specifications report from Alex and will then start getting real world construction estimates to determine with a little more certainty what the actual costs will be.

12/21/2007
The Kick-off dinner went very well with an attendance of over 120 people and a good show of support.  In the short six weeks since the dinner we have received over $40,000 in cash contributions and another $300,000 plus in pledges for the next couple of years.  A number of county organizations have written letters of support that will be included in our application material for various grants and loans.  We are hopeful for USDA and REDL loans and USDA grant that Sheila Friedrich is working on now.  Senator Baucus' office has sent a list of foundations that have donated previously to capital campaigns in Montana.  Many of these match funds and therefore a good showing of public support means more available funds. 
We have tentatively set a date of April 5th for the Lee Roy Parnell benefit concert in the Plentywood Field House, so keep the date open.  This promises to be a special evening for all country western fans.  We are also planning carwashes, an auction in the spring, and more power point presentations in the Orpheum.  Our annual meeting will be in March and we are hopeful that we can get a motivational speaker to keep this positive attitude flowing.
Bruce Westgard is the new board member who has taken up a vacancy from last summer, welcome aboard Bruce.

10/12/2007
There will be a Kick-off dinner 11/8/2007 at 5:30 PM at the Lutheran Fellowship Hall in Plentywood.  Three speakers will address the issues of a Healthy Individual and a Healthy Rural economy.  Dr. Tom Marsh , son of Lloyd and Millie, will discuss the recent fluctuation in world agricultural commodity prices.  Todd Kasten, the Montana regional director for the state department of commerce, will discuss the overall rural economy and state efforts to improve it.  Dr. Kirk Stoner will present the concept of a fitness center in our rural community and the progress to date.  Local products will be highlighted at the dinner and in the hall.  Come and join us so you can get the information you will need to make a decision to support our community betterment project.  Tickets will be $40.00 a plate and will be available at The Red Hanger, The Plentywood Clinic, Carquest and from any of our board members.

9/3/2007
We received notification from the IRS that our organization, Sheridan County Health Plus, Inc, has been designated a 501 (c) (3) organization and that donations to our cause are tax deductible.  This will allow us to begin active solicitation of donations.  We plan to have a public reception late in the fall to kick-off the fund raising.  Once plans are finalized we will publicize it.
The power point presentation was given to a combined meeting of the Westby School Board and the Westby Economic Development Group.  There were some good questions and it seemed well received.
We have just found out that Big Timber has organized a similar organization to build an aquatic center in Big Timber.  It seems that many communities are wanting to better themselves with indoor recreational areas.

 

6/01/2007
We have started a low level publicity campaign.  The power point presentation has been given to the Plentywood Chamber of Commerce and tonite to the general public.  The Orpheum Theater is a good place to hold the meetings and we will continue to offer educational meetings over the summer.  A Benefit concert with a well known pianist has been scheduled for 7/3.  Soil samples of the building site have been completed and we are waiting for the results.  We have learned that the land under the building is owned by the county and leased to the golf club.  We have had a couple of small grants that seem promising come to our attention and are looking into them.  Certainly, if any readers are aware of specific grants that we may qualify for, don't be bashful about speaking up.

5/04/07
There continues to be steady progress with our endeavor.  We received notification from the IRS that the 1023 application for 501(c)(3) status had been received by them and entered into their system.  Unfortunately, they are backlogged and it appears as though it will be 6 months before we hear anything from them.  We will continue with our public educational campaign and will consider accepting donations with the proviso that they would be returned if tax deductibility is not obtained.

There have been further discussions with the architect and soil boring samples will be done late this spring or early summer.  We presented to the Plentywood Chamber of Commerce and have started distributing educational materials to the public.  We encourage public participation and are happy to give a presentation to any group that may want it, just let us know.

Our website is now up, it is new and may have some glitches, so bear with.  www.theprairiewind.com.

Be sure to participate in the Get Fit Sheridan County campaign and stop by the Java Club.

3/20/2007
This is the March update on the fitness center.  Sheridan County Health Plus, Inc had its organizational meeting on Sunday the 18^th.  A board of directors was elected:  Kirk Stoner, Todd Marsh, Kordelia French, Casey Peterson, Dennis Ketterman, Terry Angvick, Kathy Jensen, Lyle Deshaw, and Scott Curtiss.  Our application for 501c3 status has now been completed and we are starting to publicize our project.  We had a booth at the KATQ Farm Expo and were able to answer a lot of good questions from the public.  Dennis Ketterman and Kordelia French will talk about the project at their first “Java club” meeting on the 27^th at the Main Street Bistro.

We are starting a membership drive, memberships are $25 and available at the Red Hanger, the Plentywood Clinic, and any public educational activities that we put on.  We have presented our project to a number of local groups and are happy to speak with any group that want to know more about our project.  As always, we are open to any suggestions that people have that will advance this endeavor.

2/15/2007
This is the February update on the fitness and health center.  Since the last update we have a tentative floor plan.  It should be available for your perusal on this website.  There is a rough 3D view of how the structure would fit on the lot as well as floor plans for the first and second floor.  A copy of the cadastral map of the area is included to orient you.  We would appreciate comments on floor layout and activities desired by the community.  The time to finalize the floor plan is before final architectural submittal.

 The news on the financing front is not as promising.  Despite a close look, we have been unable to find any grants available for bricks and mortar.  We are hopeful that we will qualify for a 501c3 status so that donations for bricks and mortar will be eligible for a tax deduction.  There is a relatively small no interest loan that we may qualify for.  What this means is that we are going to have to rely on you (the user) for the funding.  We also have to be very cognizant of costs during the construction phase.  There are two other  fitness centers and two other hydrotherapy pools that we are aware of have all been built in the region in the past 5 years with private funds.

 We have talked with a fitness facility in Whitefish called the Wave that opened in 2005 after a three year birthing process.  They service an area of about 24,000 people (4-5 times our service area) and have a much larger facility than we are planning.  They have 4,400 members and are already planning an expansion because of their success so far.  They have a five person physical therapy group that operates fulltime.  This is very encouraging for us because health related activities are planned to be a significant part of our project.

 We do have a public presentation available to give to interested groups.  It is an attempt to answer questions and get feedback from you.  Contact any of the exploratory committee members to set up a mutually acceptable time.

1/13/2007:
This is the January 2007 update on the progress of the Fitness Center.  The exploratory committee has had meetings with the mechanical contractor and architect.  A preliminary site survey was done and early site sketches show that such a structure is feasible in the planned space.  We have had very preliminary discussions with most of the stake holders and, at this early date, there have not been any serious objections raised.

Kordelia French visited the Ina Mae Ruud Aquatic Center in Stanley North Dakota and brought back very favorable comments and an interesting 10 minute video.   Stanley is a small farming community and the aquatic center is connected with the hospital and provides its community with a successful hydrotherapy facility.  It has been in operation since 2001.  Todd Marsh visited the Paul Stock Aquatic and Recreation Center in Cody Wyoming.  This is a facility that was a collaborative government/private sector effort that is presently managed by the Cody Parks Department.  It is a much larger facility than we are planning, but has a very similar mix of activities.  It was opened in 2001 and has been very successful.  The early success and amount of public use of both of these facilities is encouraging for our endeavor.

 We have contacted a number of subcontractors in an effort to get an estimate of the cost of such a facility.  A number of replies are already coming in.  We expect that this process will take a couple of months.  While doing this, we are refining a basic floor plan and integrating this into the Golf Club’s primary objective having an improved luncheon area and club house.  We hope to have some preliminary information to present publicly in late February.

 We have registered with the state of Montana as a nonprofit corporation, Sheridan County Health Plus, and are looking into IRS 501-c designations.  This is a time-consuming and uncertain task.  We do feel that approval of our effort as a tax deductible donation is paramount to success.  We cannot make any promises until this is finalized, and, therefore, will not be collecting funds at this time.  However, it is imperative that we have an idea of the financial support that this project will have.  Therefore, we will request that people interested in supporting us give pledges at this time.  If all of the hurdles are cleared, we will collect funds prior to actually starting construction.

12/30/2006: 
    The exploratory committee met with architect Alex Tommerup and heating and ventilation
    expert Vic Ellis.  The basic building design was reviewed with emphasis on the mechanical
    and ventilation systems for the pool and energy input for the structure.  The building site was
    toured.  The nonprofit umbrella corporation (Sheridan County Health Plus) paper work is
    in process with the state.  The next phase will be getting a topographical chart of the building
    site and then developing some working drawings to present to the public.