We're good morning, Jay Alexander here with Jeremy Borash. We are ten minutes away from the start of 4,000 presentation here in Atlanta, Georgia for the 2001 All-America City.

And I got to tell you, we had a chance to just sneak in there talk with the audio video people running the show. We got a chance to look at the live link, Jeremy and I.

And two, just one word comes to mind, amazing.

Yeah, absolutely. Live to all the folks listening to the library, you look great. We can see on the video screen it's coming through. Crystal Clear and certainly, you know, obviously it's kind of a complicated setup. Obviously doing a live link like this and then we are the only city doing this or anything like it.
And certainly to have the support back home, you don't know how, you know, I think, I don't want to say nervous, but I think anxious.

The delegates are here, but to know the fact that there are 500 plus people back in the library, brought high fives to everybody here in Atlanta, representing four dogs.

And just to know that there's a good support, a good backbone waiting for us back home and knowing you're all rooting for the delegates here that are going to make the presentation.

I think really, set them at ease.
And not only that the delegates are rooting for everybody there back at the library, I'm going to tell you, we took a look, we saw the cheerleaders from all the high schools.

We saw everybody out there. It looks like it's just a fantastic party is what it looks like. Everybody here was excited.

Once we told them that once we told them you guys hit the 500 mark, it was almost a sigh of relief because they were a little nervous because you know, they were a little nervous about the attendance because it is a work day.
But just to see 500 people there and the cheerleaders and everybody being represented, four dogs, all ages, all ethnicities being represented there today.

That warms the heart and it takes, it makes the folks here feel a lot more better.

It makes them feel a lot more confident.

Sure, certainly. And Jay, as we bring you this exclusive broadcast here live from Atlanta, want to remind you coming up in less than 10 minutes now.

We're going to be bringing you the presentation live as it happens over the year, here on Kool 92 and KVFD.

I'll kind of explain to you what the presentation is going to be like.

Obviously the interaction is going to be there with the library, but the first 10 minutes is going to be the presentation itself, which several of the delegates are going to be speaking.

And you're going to hear that here and then you're going to obviously hear the interaction with the library.
And then from there it's going to be about 10 minutes of questions and answers from the judges.

And that is certainly, I guess, almost in the tradition of a beauty pageant, they're going to throw questions at these delegates.

And it's going to be, I think, a pretty tense couple of moments for them, but I certainly looking at the faces of everyone here, it's like we're going into a prize fight here.

And the intensity and the dedication, the hard work that everybody's put into in the miles traveled.
I mean, this has been a big journey getting here to Atlanta.

This has been certainly not only from a distance standpoint, but also, you know, it's been a long road to be named one of the top 30 cities.

Definitely, definitely. And of course, Fort Dodges come a long way.

But the beauty part is, is that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Because, of course, we talked to Randy Kuhlman earlier in the week.

And he was talking about, you know, the application said we could only put three of our, you know, put like the top three endeavors that Fort Dodges undertaken within the past three to five years.

And he was mentioning some of the other ones that are coming around, the Staley plant, the future Staley plant.
Of course, the ethanol corn mill plant, the riverfront renovation, John Hale has been big talking about that down here getting everybody's attention.

It's just been a great, it's just been so many things going on in Fort Dodges.
You know, we just kind of wish that the application was just a little bit bigger so that we could, we could encompass all of it.

Yeah, and unfortunately, yeah, they only let us put so much in, but certainly the content was there.
And there was enough to fill that application and then some certainly as we get closer and closer to this presentation.

We're looking at the Fort Dodge delegates. There are a lot of them are kind of pacing back and forth. They're real nervous. I think they're anxious. They're the anticipation.
And all kind of boils down to this. This is what we've been waiting for. And certainly, the representation is there.

And I think going into this and talking with some of the other people and seeing some of the other presentations that have been made, I think Fort Dodges in a real good position right now.
And certainly the uniqueness and the support being shown by not only the delegates here, but by the hundreds and hundreds of people, the citizens of Fort Dodges that have gathered at the library, to show their support.
Really, I think, lend, you know, an air credibility to this because certainly it's one thing to have the delegates here, but to have the support back home and to see the amount of people that have come out for this.
I think really speaks volumes for what Fort Dodges has been able to do.

I definitely, I also want to remind you, you are listening to a Kool 92 KUEL Fort Dodge as well as the voice of Fort Dodge, KVFD Fort Dodge.

One of the things that we were talking about, you know, there's only 52 people here. Some of the delegations have as many as 200. I know that South Miami, a large delegation, but of course a larger community.

But, you know, that is completely irrelevant because we've got the live link. We have got now, what is it, over 552 delegates that are good that the jurors are going to see.
Thanks to those folks at the library showing their enthusiasm coming out, having a great time. You know, I took a look at that and I almost switched that I'd stayed home for that because that looks like it's just a fantastic party.

But, of course, this is definitely big. This is going to be huge. They're going to nail it. Right now, the folks are panning for the local camera. It's just going to be excitement here.

Yeah, really is. And take a look at the faces that are here representing this fight community, certainly, and there's so many reasons that Fort Dodge has been named one of the 30 finalists.
And hopefully not going to cross our fingers in the top 10 awarded cities. You know, you take a look at everything that, you know, a lot of cities have done a lot of great things to earn their spot here.

But I really have a good feeling about this going in, certainly. The support is there. The story for Dodge, a comeback city for so many reasons and so many different ways that the people have shown that and the community has bonded together when it needed to come together.

And really, you know, go that extra effort and show that extra support and, you know, be there for each other when we needed it most. And certainly that is what this is all about.
And that's why we're here in Atlanta with the delegates and why there are so many people right now piling into the library to show their support as well.

It is really a national award. You know, it's the All-American City Award. It really is an opportunity for Fort Dodge to really show not only this, you know, Iowa, but the nation really what it's made up and why it deserves to be here.

Right, definitely. And, of course, one of the things we want to mention is some thank yous for some of those organizations that have linked the volunteers and the businesses and, you know, the other private organizations, government organizations.

Of course, the Chamber of Commerce has been very huge in revitalizing Fort Dodge bringing in those businesses as well as the Community Action Network.

That has been a fantastic effort initiative that has brought together volunteers to make a difference in this community.

I don't think like things like the new library would have been possible without the efforts of both of those organizations because they have, well, first of all, they are representing numerous businesses, private organizations, government organizations throughout the community.

And they've been helping everyone get together, get the right people for the right job, and, of course, they are well represented here today.

Well, certainly no one can do it alone. And the collaborative efforts that have really been shown here, I think, have really benefited Fort Dodge for so many different reasons and so many different ways.

As you look at the people here, the delegates that have gathered in the people at the library, really a cross-section, a real diverse group of folks that have come together for one cost.
Really, I think that goes to show what really unity is all about. Now, as we get closer to the presentation point, we're coming up on it just a couple minutes away.

What we're going to do is we're going to take you literally up on the stage. We're going to hear everything that's going on in the presentation.
We're going to have live links to the microphones. You're going to hear it just as the judges are hearing it on stage.

And you'll be able to hear from yourself what the judges are hearing as it happens live from Atlantic, exclusively here on KOOL 92 and KVFD.

We're so happy to have you with us on this broadcast, certainly a historic day for Fort Dodge for so many reasons.
First time we're here represented in this great award. Certainly, I would venture guests probably not to last.
We're going to be here, but certainly, I think this is a special event for so many reasons.
Now, Fort Dodge is getting ready to, we're going to go to the stage in just a couple of moments.
The previous group wrapping up their presentation now, and I can have a good bird's eye view right now.
Fort Dodge, dressed for success in their black, white, and yellow. Those are the colors?

Yes, those are brought to them by Theresa Jackson, the head of the theater department over at ILS.

And Torsche said, you want to make an impression? Because the theme color is yellow, in conjunction with the lights are on in Fort Dodge.

She says, you want to make an impression? Do nice clothing, black and white, with a splash of yellow, but nobody wears the same thing.

Yes, so it's a unique look. Certainly, I think you know, looking at all the people in this room that we're with, you know who's from Fort Dodge.

We've got a nice, well represented group, and they are just literally moments away from going on stage and taking the stage, beginning their presentation.

Now, we did get a chance to see the video link from the library. It's up and going. It looks great on this end.
And we're going to be, well, the previous group that was just on stage is going to be going right by us, and they have large baserumps.

So, there you're going to be hearing that, too, as Fort Dodge gets ready to hit the stage.
So, bear with us here for a few moments as a very large, loud group of citizens from the previous presentation, runs by us.

The link is working, and Fort Dodge is getting ready to hit the stage. Boy, this is kind of crunch time right now.
Certainly, the road to get here with a long road, not only from a distant standpoint, but from an emotional standpoint, from the amount of work that so many people put into this presentation.
It is, and of course, right now they're getting their final words of wisdom from Randy Coolman, who's the sort of him.

And Mary Johnson has been spearheading this delegation, getting everything crossing all the eyes, crossing all the T's, dotting all the eyes.

They're getting those final words of course. What do you think he's probably telling them?

I'll tell you what, if there's anybody who can deliver a good pet talk, it's that man. I'll tell you that much.
And we're being joined by the Savannah, Georgia, and Marching Band, coming by a great group of folks here.
Yes, indeed. Alright, Fort Dodge is heading into the stage here and now, so what we're going to do is turn the broadcast over to the stage.

You're going to probably hear, we'll stay with you as long as we can, but momentarily, Fort Dodge will be taking the stage.
They're heading into the ballroom right now, so what we're going to do is take you to the presentation now.
Fort Dodge, live from Atlantic, literally here on tool 92 at ABFD.
Let's go Fort Dodge!
Let's go Fort Dodge!
Let's go Fort Dodge!
Let's go!
Let's go Fort Dodge!
Let's go Fort Dodge!
Let's go Fort Dodge!
Let's go Fort Dodge!
Let's go Fort Dodge!
Let's go Fort Dodge!
Let's go!
Let's go Fort Dodge!
Let's go Fort Dodge!
Let's go!
Let's go Fort Dodge!

Thank you for the benefit of our jury.

I'm just trying to make sure we know that we're on an hour and not okay.

We had a little mix up in our listing.

This is Fort Dodge and are you ready for Dodge?

Yes, we are!

This is Paul Harvey, standby for news.
The agricultural crisis has reached epidemic proportions in the rural Midwest.
And the community of Fort Dodge Iowa has seen thousands of jobs evaporate
and a mass exodus of its population.

It saddens me to say,with the last person out of Fort Dodge, please turn out the lights.
Good day.

Good morning. I'm Adrian McMullen, a youth minister in Fort Dodge Iowa.
You just heard a rendition of an actual account made by Paul Harvey
in the mid 1980s about our town of Fort Dodge.
Back then, there was a real feeling of despair.
When the farm crisis hit in the early 1980s,
Fort Dodge lost industries large and small,
and over 2,000 jobs disappeared from our little town.
And our population plummeted nearly 20%.
But what you're looking at today is a comeback community.
Fort Dodge is a town with a big heart that refused to die
and we have an all-America spirit.
And we're here to tell you the lights are on in Fort Dodge Iowa.
My name is Penny Grady.
I'm with Fort Dodge housing agency.
Paul Harvey's quote could have become reality.
But our community wrote a news story.
We used adversity as an opportunity.
We came together, we rallied, and we succeeded.
Hello, I'm Ellen Diel, executive director of the Fort Dodge area Chamber of Commerce.
We've seen many successes in our community.
But for today, we'll focus on only a few of our outstanding successful programs.
The first being community action network.

Hi, I'm Randy Kuhlman. I'm a vice president at Trinity Regional Hospital in Fort Dodge Iowa.
Five years ago, our hospital brought Mr. Leland Kaiser to our community
to lead and facilitate a town hall meeting about how we could become a healthier and more vital community.
Inspired by that community dialogue, our hospital board now ties 10% of our net operating income
to community health initiatives and in particular the community action network,
which is a broad-based coalition focused on improving health and quality of life in our community.
Since that time, I'm very proud to tell you that the community action network has initiated,
led, or supported over 30 grassroots initiatives, projects like our free community health clinic.

I'm Ed Miller, a physician of Fort Dodge. Two years ago, many of our citizens of Fort Dodge had no access to health care because of inadequate health care insurance. How did we respond in Fort Dodge?
We opened up three free health care clinics, man by 100 volunteers like myself and Bob.

Good morning. I'm Barbara Erickson, and I two am a volunteer at the community clinics.
Since January of 2000, we have provided free medical services to over 900 patients.
And since April of this year, we have provided free dental services also.
Dr. Miller and I are extremely fortunate to get to experience first and the huge impact that the free clinics have had in our community. Thank you.

Hi, I'm Margie Halverson Collins with Community and Family Resources and the Chamber of Commerce Board member.
We have seen a new tone and a can-do attitude that is now a part of the fabric and culture of our community.
And one of our youth development initiatives is character counts in Fort Dodge.

I'm Pam Bunty. Does character count in Fort Dodge? You bet it does! All right, I'm the character counts coordinator.And we work hard to build youth character values in our community. In fact, we have had an overwhelming response by our business community.

Hi, I'm Casey Johnson, a Fort Dodge Ford.The business community realizes the importance of working together to share a common goal for our youth. Our businesses have donated $200,000 to help support this initiative like character counts in our youth.

Like me, I'm Dean Bun, I'm the recipient of Iowa's American Youth Character Award. My story is unique.
When I was 10, my parents passed away and I chose to become a target parent to my two younger brothers, Hugh and Trong. It was a tremendous responsibility working 20 hours a week while going to school and participating in many school activities. But I wanted to keep my family together.
I've recently graduated from Fort Dodge's year high and we will be attending the University of Iowa next year.
I'm very grateful to Fort Dodge.This community has made a big difference in my life and the lives of my two younger brothers.Well, we are so proud of DM.

Hi, I'm Captain Doug Utley of the Fort Dodge Police.
We have many youth in our community that are achieving great things.
However, we do have those that are struggling.
Over 80% of our youth are going home after school to an empty house.
And of course, we know this is a time when at-risk behavior can happen.
But I'm glad to say that our second highlighted project, the after-school program, is helping us.
Are the Gateway, I'm sorry.
Hi, I'm Sherry Schill, Director of the Gateway, before and after-school program in Fort Dodge.
By providing creative after-school learning opportunities for children, we're turning on the lights for our youth.
It's so exciting to see this happen for kids like me.
I'm TJ, before Gateway opened, I went home to an empty house.
Hi, I'm Tanya, TJ's mother.
As a working parent, I worried about TJ's three hours between school and when I got home.
Hi, I'm Kelly.
Before Gateway, I had a hard time getting my homework done on time and my grades weren't very good.
Now, the teachers at Gateway helped me understand my homework assignments every day after school.
I'm now on the honor roll.
Now I go to Gateway every day after school and have fun with other kids while we learn about computers and other things like how to stay drug free.
And I feel secure in knowing that my son is in a safe and supervised place, working with wonderful teachers and volunteers like...
Me, I'm AJ Platt. As a high school student this year, I volunteer with the Gateway program and I work with kids like TJ and Kelly.
And of course, Gateway benefits the kids who are involved with the program, but I learned a lot too.
It's a great way to get involved with youth and make a big difference.
I'm Mary and Johnson, the community grant writer.
Over the past five years, Fort Dodge has benefited from over $10 million in grants and private donations that have come in to support things like an expanded community child care center, our new library and two new elementary schools.
Hi, I'm Kristen. My new school is going to be awesome, right mom?
That's right, hun. I'm Roxanne Kristen's mom.
And parents in our town are excited too because our community supports kids by investing in our schools and new technology.
Hi, I'm Delvin Olstein, Mayor of the City of Fort Dodge. As a lifelong resident, I'm proud to say that I have never seen the community spirit and commitment in working together brighter.
Hi, my name's Skip Cole. I'm the all-state agent in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
We're so proud, and it's my privilege to introduce to you our third project, which is our new city library.
Hi, I'm LaWanda Roudy-Busch, the proud director of the new Fort Dodge Public Library.
Nick named the living room of Fort Dodge. The library is located right in the heart of our downtown, and we promote technology, literacy, and lifelong learning.
Good morning. I'm Judy Shemkat and I'm a library trustee.
Hundreds of volunteers from across our community joined in the effort and shared in the dream.
We raised over $2 million in private donations, and we passed a $2.6 million bond referendum by over 70%.
We learned together we can do anything, and I am so proud to call Fort Dodge Iowa my home.
Good morning. My name is John Hale, and I am so proud to be a city council member in Fort Dodge.
For the past seven or eight minutes, we've heard just a few of the things that make Fort Dodge a wonderful place to call our home town.
You know, Paul Harvey could have been right. The lights could have gone out in Fort Dodge, but that didn't happen. The question is why?
Because Fort Dodge is a community with a big heart. It's a community with a never-say-die fighting spirit, and it's a community with an optimism and an enthusiasm about the future.
But you know what, we don't expect you to take our word for that. Instead, we are so proud. For the first time in the 52-year history of this organization and this competition, we are going to take you live, take a look at your monitor, take a look at the screens out in the audience.
We're taking you live, the Fort Dodge Iowa.
We're broadcasting to you live from the new Fort Dodge Public Library. We're over a thousand Fort Dodge area residents have gathered to show off their all-America spirit.
He couldn't be more proud to be from Fort Dodge Iowa. Contrary to what Paul Harvey said a few years back, the lights are on in Fort Dodge.
Let's talk to somebody in the crowd to get their perspective. Sun, can you tell me what's happening in Fort Dodge Iowa?
The future is so bright. We got...we got the way it seems.
I think that pretty much says it all. The lights, who we are on in Fort Dodge Iowa. Back to you, Atlanta.
Whoa whoa.
Oh
Great job, lots of fun.
You and Paul Harvey.
You and Paul Harvey.
Well the rest of us are sorry.
Beauty!
Lights on Fort Dodge lights on.
Lights on Fort Dodge lights on.
Allied is on Fort Dodge lights on.
Thank you, well I have questions from the jury.
Arturo.
I was particularly, congratulations by the way and I believe you the lights are on
Fort Dodge lights on.
About the community grant writers role.
I haven't seen that before in local government.
Do you work for the city and what is your role in helping bring resources in and how do
you coordinate that with the needs in the community?
Thank you.
I do not work for the city, I work for the community action network which is the organization
funded by Trinity Regional Hospital and my role is to facilitate nonprofit organizations
in the community in their grant writing function and as part of that role I bring together
people within each organization who write grants to share resources.
We teach one another, we educate each other, we share tips and because of that we have brought
a lot more grants into Fort Dodge than previously were there.
Gail.
Congratulations on a very energizing presentation.
I was struck by the fact that you described in your application your challenge was creating
the shared vision as a community and I was wondering if someone could connect for me
that process of creating the shared vision to the projects that you have identified today
that are also equally impressive but I am just wondering a little more about the process.
Thank you.
I am Randy Kuhlman with the Trinity Regional Hospital, I also serve as director of the community
action network.
One of the things that we have learned thanks to people like Leland Kaiser who came to our
community in Tyler Norris who also came and has helped us with this process is that we
had to open our community dialogue to community dialogue and we have done that on three or
four occasions in the last three years and we have learned a lot about that and from that
we have developed a lot of shared goals and common visions and some of those goals include
that we learned from our community in this open dialogue that they wanted progressive
leadership, that they wanted the community to be safe from drugs and alcohol abuse and
crime, that they wanted to be a connected community where we were working together with schools
and churches and hospitals and nonprofits and our city government are all coming together
and working together in partnership rather than working in silos.
They also wanted to be a community that was really focused on quality of life.
We have more city parks and four dives than probably any community America for our size.
We have 26,000 people, we have 25 to 27 city parks in our community.
We are focused on quality of life and so by pulling our community together through open
dialogue and working together and providing that progressive leadership we're making positive
things happen.
Thank you.
Tom.
Although it's not one of your projects you clearly turned your life back on economically and
I want to hear a little bit about how you went about doing that and particularly in terms
of diversifying your economy away from the farm base.
Back in the late 80s this community had the misfortune of losing their beef packing plants.
We were devastated, we lost over 2,000 jobs and we realized one of the biggest problems
was that we had not diversified our economy.
So our strategy became to find diverse industry to bring to town.
We have seen that happen and we've seen great progress because of that and we've rallied
behind a plant, our frisky plant back in the mid 1990s, 1995 it was and we luckily and
with a whole lot of hard work from the grassroots effort all the way up to city government.
We were able for the first time in the nation in this United States to overturn a federal
trade ruling that was forcing this plant to be changed and it has made significant
difference and caused the spark to be lit.
One story that we talked about yesterday, Ellen and I, we got together as a group and
we were kind of having a hard to heart community, hard to heart it was great and we were speaking
about six years ago she was heading, okay a chamber effort to a letter to the trade commission
in order to keep the frisky's plant in Fort Dodge and she, the schools, through the schools
they handed out these postcards and so I made it a point to fill one out and send it to
the trade commission and then I promoted it amongst my peers and I made sure each one
of my family members filled one out too and it was great that we, we changed their
mind about that.
Barbara, two pieces in your application struck me as an interesting combination.
One all the years you'd gone without being able to pass a bond issue and then the other
piece that talked about your aging population and how, what a large percentage of people
were over 75, sometimes those don't work very well together.
Will you tell me how you passed your bond finally and will you tell me how you got
your senior citizens to support it because they obviously did?
They did.
We had two people from the senior community that chaired a letter writing campaign to
let the other seniors know that this was something that they felt that they needed to provide,
someone had provided for them and they felt they needed to provide for our future also.
One of the other things we did, we did a community survey because we needed to go back
and find out why the first initial referendum failed and from that we drew the fact that
the people wanted, not only did they wanted a new facility instead of an addition, they
wanted private donations to be a part of it and so we combined together and we did private
donations, we did a $2.6 million bond referendum and we involved everywhere from fourth graders
all the way through our seniors in working the campaign to pass it and we gave the community
ownership of the project and I think that's why it passed.
Leneal, outstanding presentation, I wanted to follow up on Tom Flynn's question about
economic development.
One of the subtleties in your three projects, the youth initiatives, the healthy communities
initiatives, the library and then also the third project is you've turned the economic
lights back on by creating something that looks like a civic industry.
Can you speak to a little bit, a little bit to what employment has been generated as
a result of these three projects and what training you've been able to extend to your youth
as a result of these three projects?
My name is John Hale, I'm on the city council, I think as Ellen had indicated this whole
spark and this whole turnaround came from the process of the community coming together
with friscus.
I mean that was the point where we said to ourselves, we're waiting around for somebody
else to solve all of our problems, we might as well just turn out the lights and leave.
We came together, we realized that whether we're talking about the library, whether we're
talking about gateway, whether we're talking about the riverfront, any project of the community
action network, building our future economy, we've got to do it together and we've got
to be willing to invest in the community.
We're investing in the community and we're building jobs in the future through a variety
of efforts to expand existing industry, attract new industry.
We're working with these kids at the Gateway Center to build job skills for them that they
may not necessarily have.
We recognize that a Ford Dodge is going to be prospering in the future, it's going
to be because of these kids in the community, we want to educate them and we want to keep
them there.
We want them to have a community that they are proud to stay in, if they go away, we
want them to have a community that they're proud to come back to.
Bruce?
I'd like to go back to the aging issue that I think Barbara raised and you cite in
your community challenge that the issue of the aging population and the lack of backfill
and that's not, I know just not the career to Ford Dodge, it's a statewide problem in
your state and I think your governor's had a number of initiatives to try to deal with
that.
The question is, how do you, you haven't spent a lot of time in your presentation on
other programs or other issues to deal with that, if there are any, certainly you've made
it very clear that you're investing in the youth that are in your community and providing
leadership to them, that's commendable.
But to the extent that you perceive this as a community problem larger than just speaking
to the youth in your community, how are you addressing it then?
I'm Phil Wernzley, I'm principal at Farrell's Middle School where the Gateway Program
is.
I've been a principal for 30 years and we have made a certified effort to include grandparents
in our program as mentors, Sherry, the director of our program, I attended a workshop, half
a day workshop where we had 50 or 60 grandparents in teaching them how to work with our students
because they want to be a part of our community.
I think it's fundamental that once they see they're a part of the community, then they
start in supporting the library, they start in supporting, and they saw that these kids
were being successful if they read with them, if they read to them, and they helped them
in the library project.
So I think it all tied together in a network.
Thank you.
Are you the new plan that you talked about?
Is there any problem populating those jobs with the appropriate demographics of workers?
Yes, we are very concerned about that because we do have a very elderly population in Iowa,
and I'm proud to tell you that our governor has selected for Dodge as a model pilot community
in our state, and we call it Workforce 2010, and we're focused on five committees.
Our first committee is how do we become more welcoming to immigrants, because we know
that they're a key part of our future labor force, so we're focusing on that.
We're also focusing on how we can become more accommodating and welcoming to people
with disabilities and bringing them back into the workforce.
And then we're also focused on bringing former residents back.
How do we retain our youth, and then also the, oh, and our senior citizens and how we
can bring them back into our community as well.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for a wonderful presentation and some good answers to some hard questions.
You obviously as a community had a wake-up call, but you went beyond just responding to
that call and have moved ahead to make sure that those wake-up calls don't come again
to Fort Dodge.
You are having a good day in Fort Dodge, or as Paul Harvey would say, good day.
We have a good morning.
We are back here at the, the high and region, the beautiful downtown Atlanta, Georgia,
and I'll tell you, what a morning I have never been more proud to be a Fort Dodge
in my life.
Jeremy, any thoughts?
Yeah, you know what?
What would it need to be part of?
And certainly as time has rolled on, Fort Dodge has only become stronger and stronger
and stronger, and it was mentioned during the presentation, I can only agree.
It started, I think, the ball really started rolling with the Frisky situation in the
overturning of the Federal Trade Commission ruling.
It certainly hasn't slowed down since, and I think as Bill Grady said earlier, yeah,
possibly one of the most important broadcasts, KVFD, Coal Light 2, has brought you today
and certainly a big day for Fort Dodge, but a great thing to be part of.
Definitely, definitely.
And what a proud day for the entire city.
I got to tell you, like I said, that live link was just a thing of beauty, and of course,
we're joined by the folks that are all at Fort Dodge, Namba, Idaho.
Yes, the good folks of Namba, Idaho, they just wrapped up their presentation.
They're joining us out here, but they got to find the live link over 1,000 people coming
all the way down to the library, showing their community spirit as the young people.
They were talking about the young people.
I think Fort Dodge definitely has some good security going in its future.
Yeah, we were blown away when we heard five, and we had heard 500 people, 600 people,
but then to hear later on in the broadcast, we got them to 1,000.
That flew people's minds, and certainly here in Atlanta to know that that support system
was there back home.
Really, I think, you have no idea how much that meant to the delegates here in Fort Dodge.
There were literally people from other cities with tears in their eyes sitting watching this presentation.
So, boy, I guess it could only be described as a home run, a grand slam hit today,
not only the delegates here in Atlanta, but also all the fine citizens that came out 1,000 plus
to the public library support of this average.
Yes, definitely.
And the folks from Fort Dodge, of course, the 52 men, women and children out here, they
are anxious to get home and see all your shining faces in person, but of course they're
going to make it feel much better if they have one of those all-American city flags being
brought with them.
I want to remind you of a couple of things that are still coming up.
I'm going to be calling in later this afternoon because they have the booth ceremony.
It is what I'll try and remember what I want to call this civic action bear and cultural
entertainment showcase.
That is coming up.
That starts at 5.30 central time.
I'm going to be calling in during the afternoon shows around 3.30 and 4.30 talking with the
women, Connie and Pam Bundy, who are going to be setting up our booth.
Now, this isn't part of the competition.
This is just another way that Fort Dodge can show off its community.
Also I want to remind you, starting at 5 o'clock on Saturday, tune in to KBFD Cool Mind
DT because sometime during that the award ceremony up here starts off at 5 o'clock central
time, Fort Dodge time, that starts then, and I'm going to be calling in any time after
that with the news of whether or not Fort Dodge won, but I'll tell you after today is
it's hard to say whether or not, just looking at that presentation, it's almost like when
Fort Dodge win.
Yeah, it seems like it's a lot of people competent, but whether or not it happens, I guess it's
almost irrelevant.
The big picture is a big victory for Fort Dodge and the people that participated and
the delegates here and the 1,000 plus at the Fort Dodge library.
What a great day, what a neat experience and what an honor it was to be back at Cool
Mind DT, KBFD had a great time and certainly I told this to be a great week ago, you might
not be the last time you hear me on this radio station.
So, big thanks to UJ as well and everybody involved, what a great day for Fort Dodge, yes.
I definitely want to thank you for coming out.
It was an honor working with you, someone who has been, someone who is, when I talk to
the folks from the delegation, I say Jeremy Borash is coming, you hear the gas.
Oh, what has he been up to?
Oh, he owes me money.
Yeah, that's a whole thing.
I understand.
So, it has been definitely an honor to put a face to the name and, you know, I certainly
hope I get to see you and work with you again, absolutely, thanks Jack, thank you.
Thank you.
From the higher region, the here in beautiful downtown Atlanta, Jeremy Borash, I'm J.
Alexander with KBFD Cool Mind DT, site of the 2001 all-american city, Go Fort Dodge.
This community, this community cooperates to become healthier and stronger.
This community ensures children's well-being through innovative programs.
And this community built a new library to create a stronger community.
This city is Fort Dodge out, for the lights are on.
I can't believe it.
I just got three things to say very quickly.
First of all, when we came here from Fort Dodge, Iowa, and we saw everybody else's presentations,
we were humbled to be a part of this great event.
You're all winners.
Thank you very much.
You're all winners.
Secondly, I want to thank the National Civic League and all-state for sponsoring this
and for recognizing all the wonderful work that not only us on the stage did, but our whole
community has been doing to make us a comeback community.
Thank you, National Civic League, thank you.
And the last thing I want to say, which I think summarizes what our community of Fort
Dodge is all about, we're a community in northwest Iowa with 26,000 citizens.
And when we, Friday morning, when we did our presentation, we did a live downlink to
our new library and we were hoping 250 people would come on a work day down to our library
and cheer us on and be a part of our whole process.
And when that thing came on, there were 1,200 people in our library in Fort Dodge, Iowa
out of a community of 26,000.
And I want to tell you one thing that we heard about.
We didn't get to see because we weren't there, but this summarizes our community.
We had three and four-year-olds.
We had high school cheerleaders and we had people, businessmen, and suits, and we had retired
citizens, 85 years old, all in our library listening to the YMCA song, doing this, YMCA
together, and that's what we're all about.
Our community is united.
Thank you so much.