Youth plan to improve community pride

Wahkiakum 4-H has received $2,000 from the United States Department of Agriculture to help youth learn leadership skills and partner with adults to solve community problems.

Wahkiakum youth join four other communities statewide in facilitating public forums to address community problems. Groups in other rural areas have chosen problems such as access to secondary education, youth health and obesity, and better living for veterans.

University of Washington Extension 4-H coordinator Dale Larson of Ellensburg trained a local 4-H group for seven hours on Father’s Day weekend on how to run a meeting, gather information, prioritize and execute a program to solve a local problem.

The plan, he told a community forum last Wednesday, is to get youth and adults working together to improve rural communities on an important issue.

Brook Calvert, who facilitated the public forum, said students on the Community Action Team (CAT) hoped to improve community pride.

He said that CAT members including Abby Buennagel, Eva Marie Vik, Shannon Helms, Kael McKinley and Zach Calvert were concerned to hear youth saying, "I hate living in Cathlamet."

Lisa Frink, 4-H coordinator, told the adults that while they might have several reasons they thought Cathlamet was a great place to live, they needed to think back to their youth.

The youth had brainstormed ideas to generate community pride including cleaning up Main Street and cleaning out planters under signs at the entrance to Cathlamet and Puget Island.

Susan Schillios of the Charlotte House suggested hanging baskets downtown; several people present discussed the possibility of putting historic photographs in empty store windows.

Lisa Frink explained that the teens wanted to gather input from the community and then partner with existing groups. Members from the local community organizations such as Kiwanis, Wahkiakum County Chamber of Commerce and Wahkiakum County Health and Human Services (H&HS) were invited.

Members from the groups shared ideas that filled several pages.

Linda Hartung, H&HS, said that she picked up empty cartons of beer when she saw them along highly traveled roads.

“That’s not who we are as a community. Why give them free advertising?” Hartung said.

Lynda Gerlach, Wahkiakum County Chamber of Commerce coordinator, who staffs the chamber’s visitor center, said that people often come in seeking directions to the marina.

Both Gerlach and Chamber Director Kellie Masters said improved signage would improve community pride.

Gerlach said Main Street was “very unattractive... with buildings let go and dead bushes by the hotel.” She suggested getting permission from owners and holding clean up day in Cathlamet.

Mayor George Wehrfritz wondered if the students were looking for a place to get together, and discussed the possibility of having audio-visual equipment for the Pioneer Church, and linking a movie night with a community clean up. Trinidad Medina of Kiwanis suggested a local talent show.

Cathlamet’s former mayor, Dick Swart, suggested the group partner with the Wahkiakum Historical Society. “There are some great people there you might want to reach out to,” he said.

The group gathered the multiple suggestions and planned to review them and select and prioritize them, Frink said.

Ninth-grader Kael McKinley said he was surprised at how much was accomplished in a short period of time, and found it interesting that the adults agreed with the ideas that the youth had come up with.