Finding Balance, Focus and Connection in the Woods

From the Fall/Winter 2008 issue (Vol. 7  No. 3) of the Community Leader newsletter. By John Weyer, Blandin Foundation Leadership Team

“People who cannot find time for recreation are obliged sooner or later to find time for illness.”

John Wanamaker, a retail innovator, is the author of the above quote.  For me, it is a quote that really summarizes the importance of recreation as a means to stay healthy.  The eight dimensions of a healthy community apply to our personal lives just as they apply to our communities.  We cannot, as community leaders, contribute meaningfully to our community if we lack a healthy perspective as individuals.

Recreation can take on many forms for different people.  Form, or the type of recreation, is far less important than the function ­ to live a balanced and healthy life.

Alumni Profile: Leslie Harper

Keeping Culture Alive and Well

If you call Leslie Harper’s office at the Niigaane Ojibwe Language Immersion Program and the answering machine picks up, you will be asked to leave a message.  The request, however, will be in Ojibwe, not in English.

The phone-answering message in Ojibwe suggests that Leslie Harper, a 2003 BCLP alum, Cass Lake, remains true to the vision that helped launch the Niigaane Program – revitalizing the Ojibwe language and culture for both adults and children of the Leech Lake community.

In Luverne, Community Leaders Help Restore a Piece of their History

Perhaps no community in the state understands the value of recreation, culture and history better than Luverne.

In September 2007, the town rolled out the red carpet for the premiere of Ken Burns’ acclaimed PBS documentary, The War.  The town hosted the premiere because it was one of four communities in the United States selected as vantage points to tell the story of the lives impacted by World War II.  The selection of the town was no accident. Luverne is the hometown of Quentin Aaneneson, a WWII fighter pilot and hero; Charles Mann, one of the town’s first citizens to be wounded in battle; and Al McIntosh, editor of the Rock County Star Herald, who authored a series of columns that recalled the town’s emotion during the war.

More Than Staying Ahead: A Balanced Life For Community Leaders

From the Fall/Winter 2008 issue (Vol. 7  No. 3) of the Community Leader newsletter.

By Vic Klimoski, BCLP Trainer

Gather any group of community leaders, and you¹ll hear stories of people who get things done.

Sometimes the amount of work individuals take on is amazing. How can any one person do it all? The fact of the matter is that rare is the individual who can “do it all” without paying a price. The price might be a having few evenings in a week free or the sense of being overwhelmed and just able to stay one step ahead. Sometimes the price is burnout -when the leader simply shouts, “I give!”

Want to Know More?

The following is a list of additional resources and readings on the topic of living a balanced and healthy life recommended by the Community Leader Editorial Team:

Alumni News and Notes

From the Fall/Winter, 2008 issue (Vol. 7 No. 3) of the Community Leader newsletter:

‘Leadership Notes and News’ is a regular feature of Community Leader celebrating the accomplishments and endeavors of Blandin Foundation Leadership Program alumni as well as the communities which have been served by its programs.  This issue features Jeff Borling, Jennifer Hawkins, Julie Munger, Roger Reinert and Laura Sieger.

Leadership Toolbox: Tips for living a well-balanced life

This edition of Community Leader focuses on the spiritual, recreational and artistic opportunities both as they relate to our communities and our individual lives. As the schedules of community leaders are often busy and challenging, balance can be a more difficult achievement in our personal lives. With that in mind, listed below are six tips for living a well-balanced life:

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