Hey cool Doug...that reminds me of Chris too, Chris Weaver. Where is Weaver these days? Soaking up summer in the Cherokee homeland I suppose...
:-) Chris --- CHRIS CORRIGAN Bowen Island, BC, Canada http://www.chriscorrigan.com [email protected] (604) 947-9236 > -----Original Message----- > From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Douglas > D. Germann, Sr. > Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2003 9:16 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Cherry Tree, 8/11/2003 (Please share with others) (long) > > Hi-- > > Got this from a list I am on, and it seemed that it uses OS principles, > and > it reminded me of Chris. > > :-Doug. Germann > > ----Forwarded Message(s)---- > > Sb: Cherry Tree, 8/11/2003 (Please share with others) > Fm: INTERNET:[email protected] > > > Wake-up, Brain ... it's morning again! > (Brought to you by the InnovationNetwork) > To subscribe to this weekly message, > mailto:[email protected] > > ************************************************* > ** Join InnovationNetwork today, and receive a > spreadsheet of over 250 innovation metrics. For > more info: > http://www.thinksmart.com/inmembership/index.html > > ** InnovationConvergence 2003: Smart Thinking in > Challenging Times Sept 21-24 - Minneapolis Details and > brochure at: http://www.iirusa.com/convergence/ > > *************************************************** > > (Unsubscribe instructions at bottom of the page) > > Cherry Tree's Field of Dreams > > State Highway 59 winds south out of Stilwell through the gentle Oklahoma > hills. This is heartland America: a person-to-person place not much > concerned with high tech problems and international feuds. The two-lane > blacktop cuts through farm fields and pastures fringed with buck brush and > scrub oak woods. > > However, the serene, muted beauty of the countryside belies the troubled > history of Cherry Tree, a community just off the almost- deserted highway. > It is familiar territory--a poor, rural community plagued by drugs and > alcohol, crime and a sense of defeat. Kids with nothing to do; adults with > no hope ... more of a cluster of misery than a community. But, Cherry Tree > had something special ... and it did something remarkable. > > Most of Cherry Tree's 300 residents are members of the Cherokee Nation, > and > by 1990, The Nation had participated in several uniquely successful > community development programs under the leadership of then-Chief Wilma > Mankiller. Hearing of their successful programs, the Cherry Tree parents > who were tired of losing their kids to drugs, crime and alcohol thought > there might be a way to solve their problems. They approached Chief > Mankiller for help but her schedule was already over-booked so she > volunteered her husband, Charlie Soap. > > "I remember the first time we met in 1990," recalls Soap. "The parents > came > and asked me to help them do some youth projects. They didn't know what to > do or how to get started." Charlie Soap's life is deeply etched in his > strong, dark face. His voice and eyes are gentle and protective as he > speaks with passion about the Cherry Tree Project. > > With that first group of parents was Ron Gonzales, father of three boys. > For years Gonzales had gazed across the pastures and scrub oak, but > instead > of seeing the northeastern Oklahoma hills, he saw a baseball diamond and > players in white uniforms standing on an emerald green field. He heard > shouts and cheers of families and friends. He saw a community of people > playing together. But, the vision had always faded into the reality of > trees and weeds. > > When Soap asked the parents what they wanted, Gonzales immediately > replied: > A ball field. "I was amazed," stated Soap. "They had all these problems - > - > vandalism, drugs, school drop-out ... an amazingly high suicide rate. And > they wanted a ball field. So I asked why." > > Gonzales had an explanation, "The kids don't like each other. They're > fighting all the time and always getting in trouble. If we could form a > baseball team, or several teams, throughout the community, they would > become teammates. They'd support each other and become friends. They > wouldn't be fighting; they'd be playing ball together." > > The underlying principle of the community development process used by Soap > is that everything comes from the community. If they wanted a ball field, > it was his job to help them organize and build a ball field. The group > formed a Youth Council and began to hold fund raisers. The kids were > excited about the possibility of playing ball and they started pushing > their parents to help even more. A temporary site was found and work > started with some of the kids working from early morning till late at > night. > > But, change doesn't come easily. > > Several young bullies delighted in tearing up the field as fast as > Gonzales > and his Youth Council built it. Gonzales is a quiet, patient man and he > kept the kids calm. He would say, "Don't get mad. Don't retaliate. Let's > just fix it back up and then ask them to come play." But the bullies > refused to join them and continued to vandalize the ball field. > > The turning point came when the Youth Council was offered tickets to a > Texas Rangers game. No one in Cherry Tree had ever been to a professional > baseball game. The kids were all crazy to go, but they looked at their > bigger goals and decided to share some of their precious tickets with the > bullies ... who accepted this offer. The trip made the bullies part of the > group and they became champions and protectors of the project. > > After that trip, momentum started gathering and more and more people > wanted > to be involved. In the group meetings, people began to think bigger. They > wanted something more than just one temporary ball field. They wanted a > permanent place where everyone could play ... from the little kids to the > adults. Someone remembered a plot of land owned by the Cherokee Nation > currently being used for cattle grazing but big enough for a recreation > area for the entire community. > > They approached the tribal council with a proposal and suddenly Cherry > Tree > had 115 acres to develop. Gonzales' vision flickered back to life. > > Of course, it's one thing to design something on paper and quite another > to > make it happen. Without tractors, bulldozers, or a building loan, Cherry > Tree's field of dreams didn't look very promising. However, almost > everyone > in the community showed up with their garden rototillers, hoes, shovels, > spades and rakes. Painfully, rock by rock and root by root, they carved a > ball field out of a cow pasture. > > Today, if you take State Highway 59 south from Stilwell and turn right at > the Cherry Tree Head Start center, you can follow a dirt road through the > woods till it opens up to a broad expanse ringed by oak trees. If you're > lucky, Gonzales will come down from the brand new community tractor and > you > can sit on the bleachers facing the first ball field and listen to him > describe the rest of the Cherry Tree Project: three additional ball > fields, > a t-ball field, a walking/jogging path through the woods, a bicycle > motocross designed and built by the little kids, a gymnasium, a wellness > program, and a Cherry Tree Project store. > > And the bottom line? Local law enforcement officials report that before > the > ball field project, 50 percent of all the calls they received were from or > about Cherry Tree. Today, Cherry Tree generates only 5 percent of the > total > calls. Each member of the community "owns" the Cherry Tree Project and > there is a lot of pride in what they have accomplished and what they > intend > to accomplish. Cherry Tree has become a community with a future ... a > field > of dreams with very real results. > > Charlie Soap spells out his basic rules of community development, rules > that apply to all organizations and to all transformation efforts: > > -- Definition of the problem and all potential solutions have to come from > the people. > > -- Participation has to be voluntary. > > -- Find a way to involve the holdouts. > > > ---end > > * > * > ========================================================== > [email protected] > ------------------------------ > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > view the archives of [email protected], > Visit: > > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
