Oxford Junction, IA

Horizons has reached out to other communities. The decision was made early to not sponsor a Food Bank, as the communities of Lost Nation and Wyoming both have one that services local residents. But, because some people from Oxford Junction use the Food Bank at Lost Nation, the decision was made to help them. Members of Horizons will pick up food at designated locations and bring it back to Lost Nation. This service is greatly appreciated.

Horizons is looking into a Neighborhood Watch program, and will benefit from the work that Olin has already done in this area. A representative from the Olin program will meet with the Oxford Junction group in July.

The annual City Wide Clean Up Days was held in May. Home owners could get rid of old appliances, furniture and accumulations from yards and front porches. In past years, these home owners paid the city for each appliance that was picked up. This year, Horizons gave them a financial break. These fees and other costs incurred by the City of Oxford Junction during this annual cleanup, have been paid by Horizons. Residents of all income levels benefited from this The city benefited because there was less paper work for the City Clerk and fewer complications for the City Maintenance Department.

 Earlier this year a group of young Cub Scouts and their leaders raked the winter debris off of several lawns. They carried away the mess left from winter storms and left an elderly home owner with a nice clean yard to welcome the newness of Spring.

Small town life is great but it presents a dilemma if there aren’t enough things for children and teenagers to do. Parents have to drive anywhere from 10 to 50 miles to provide recreational activities for their children and gas budgets don’t usually stretch that far. Junctions For Opportunities would like to provide weekly activities for children during the summer and have outdoor sporting equipment like Frisbee golf available for older youth at our community park. To fund these projects JFO members wrote 2 Hamburger Helper grants. Although our projects were not accepted to be funded this time around, we will keep trying for a Hamburger Helper grant as well as any other opportunity.  We have also discussed local fund raisers as well as finding local craftsmen to make the goal posts needed for Frisbee golf.

   While school was still in session, a registration form for a Day Camp opportunity in Oxford Jct. was sent home through the school to children in grades Kindergarten through 5^th with a $10.00 registration fee required.  The registration fee would prove a hardship for some families so a Junction For Opportunities (JFO) scholarship application went home with students along with the camp registration form.  If parents wished to apply for a scholarship they had to fill out the registration and scholarship forms and send them to the school secretary who is a JFO member.  We are proud to announce that we were able to send 6 children to day camp who would not otherwise have had the funds to attend.  We are grateful to have the Midland School District as a partner with JFO in coordinating  this scholarship opportunity.

Mark and Doris Denniston have been selected as the Grand Marshals of the 2008 July 4^th Parade. Sometimes the selection of the Grand Marshals is a long, drawn out process. This year it was an instant selection, partly because of their work with Horizons. The following was written by Mark and Doris.

We have been involved with the Horizons project since the LeadershipPlenty^® stage. We both attended the Facilitator Training that was held in Des Moines. This training was very beneficial to us both and has come in handy with our group meetings and my personal business dealings at the Sheriff’s Office. Although we started with a very large number of attendees for our classes, the numbers have decreased somewhat. However, the group that is still active are very sincere and fired up to keep this program going for the extended future. We also have a great list of interested people that we feel could be contacted with specific projects.

One of the greatest benefits of our community being involved in this project is that it has brought a number of other groups in the community together. All for the betterment of our town and citizens.

We are big fans of this program and would encourage any other community that is considering jumping on board to just do it. Even if things don’t work out like are planned, it is a great opportunity to get to know your neighbors and fellow community members.

Oxford Junction Improvement, Inc. is now busy working on IRS Form 1023 to acquire 501c3 tax exempt status. The board has had frequent e-mail communication with an attorney in a nearby town, who is helping the board pro-bono. They are about to send the application to Richard Koontz of the Larned Waterman Iowa Non-Profit Resource Center at the University of Iowa for his review and consultation. After the board makes the changes he suggests, they will meet with their attorney for a final review of the application. The application will then be submitted to the IRS.

Acquiring a tax exempt status has been a long and involved process and only a dedicated group of community-minded people would have followed through.

 From the beginning – Community Conversations, LeadershipPlenty and now, quite often we hear, “I’ve never worked with (insert name) before, it’s great becoming acquainted”. The following is the point of view of one of these participants.

“Due to the Horizons involvement in Oxford Junction, at least one new individual has become more involved with the community. After being asked to attend a Horizons community meeting in September, 2007. This individual has become a co-vice president of the Oxford Junction Improvements, Inc. and has done a great deal of wordsmithing and getting needed 1023 information in electronic form which will be sent on to the IRS for request of the tax exempt status. This individual is rather unique to the demographics of Oxford Junction. Having lived in rural Oxford Junction for 8.5 years, the person is seldom seen in Oxford Junction as the individual works in Cedar Rapids, has no relatives in the area, but does enjoy helping at some of the community activities. This individual saw a need and set about filling it by using past experience and knowledge, not readily at the finger tips of other community members.”

Needless to say we “long-time” residents of Oxford Junction are overjoyed at the involvement of this individual.

Many Horizons projects are just getting off the ground, many are in the talking stage and others are still a dream.

To keep things going, officers were elected at the June 8 meeting. Merle Tank will be chairman; Doris Denniston, vice chairman and Jean Ewing, secretary/treasurer.

Steering committee members are Mark Tracy, Mark Denniston, Marlene Flory, Nadine Ruley and Deb Larkey.

Horizons is fortunate that so many qualified leaders are part of the organization.

Meetings will be held at the Masonic Lodge room, the second Sunday of the month, starting at 6 pm.

Black clouds started rolling in, weather warnings were sounded, so the meeting broke up quickly and not all of the agenda was completed. But, members hurried home – and safely arrived home - with a new sense of purpose

The city of Oxford Junction will apply for a CDBG grant to relocate and improve water mains that now are under Highway 136. The Iowa DOT is resurfacing Highway 136 in 2009 from Wyoming to Lost Nation. Oxford Junction obtained a continuance to 2010 so the water mains can be moved before the resurfacing is done within the city limits.