Small group of volunteers attend the Grygla Centennial Committee meeting

The Grygla Centennial Committee met last Tuesday, March 22nd, at 7pm at the Community Center. A “plea for help” was only partly answered; with only a handful of community members showing up to offer their ideas and volunteer to help the committee plan for this once in a lifetime celebration.

Committee members present were Gavin Nordby (Chairperson), Gretchen Smeby (Secretary), and Shonda Jelle (Fundraising). Other volunteers present included Rose Hanson, Cheryl Sistad, Ralph Rundell, Lee Sundberg, Kari Sundberg, Amy Holte and Andrew Holte.

The agenda included going over sub-committees, which so far, include: Fundraising, Entertainment, Kids Entertai nment, All-School Reunion, Beautification, History and Memorabilia.

Other business items discussed included past, present and future fundraisers. The group also discussed exploring grant options to help with funding. Chairperson, Gavin Nordby, has a potential idea for a mid-summer fundraiser. He shared with the group his idea for a 2-day co-ed softball tournament to be held in Grygla. Possibly recruiting 10 teams with the help of Andrew Holte and Ben Sundberg. To encourage visitors to make a weekend out of it, Nordby discussed with Lee Sundberg the idea of the Grygla Lion’s putting on another Smelt Fry the weekend of the softball tournament. The group agreed with the help of a few organizations, businesses and individuals, this event could bring in a lot of money and prove to be a success.

As the chair of the committee, Nordby shared that he has gotten many calls from community members on potential fundraising ideas and/or event ideas for the big celebration in August 2017. Because such a small group of people are taking on this enormous task, Nordby has invited each person with ideas to come to a meeting and share with the group. But unfortunately, these folks (with some really great ideas!) haven’t come to any meetings yet. Nordby wants to kindly remind past and present residents of Grygla to consider attending a meeting; bring your great ideas and consider taking on a small role in the planning of this celebration. It’s better to have a lot of people each doing a little vs. a little group of people each doing a lot.

Other possible fundraising ideas that were mentioned included a fall hayride, father/daughter dance and a community consignment sale.

The group agreed that it needs to be stressed to the community how important this event is and how disappointing it is to see such a low number of volunteers willing to help. One member mentioned that they understood how people are nervous to take on this big project and could possibly be unwilling to help for fear they’d be tied down with too many projects to coordinate or stuck working at things the weekend of. But if there is enough individuals, organizations, clubs and business representation to help plan and run these events, no one would carry that much weight.

Lee Sundberg volunteered to check into township funding, as well as calling area businesses to request them each to send representation to the next meeting, which will be held Wednesday, April 13th. As we know, our businesses are a main attraction in Grygla. Past and present businesses have made Grygla what it is today. The idea is to get members from each business to attend the Centennial meetings and see how they can get their business involved and/or what they can plan over the big celebration weekend.

Cheryl Sistad mentioned she has a group of interested quilters who would be willing to hold a quilting show the weekend of the Centennial. It was also mentioned that the Red Hats are possibly planning an old-time fashion show. Nordby stressed the importance of having these folks attend the meetings to share with the committee their ideas and plans. He also requested that sub-committee members plan to attend the next meeting on April 13th, at 7pm, to update the group on projects they are currently working on and/or any help they might need from people.

It isn’t the intention to give Grygla residents a feeling of doom and gloom, however, it is pertinent to share with you where the committee is currently at in the planning process. Fortunately, a small group of people has come up with some great ideas and the committee is off to a great start. Unfortunately, they still need a lot of people to volunteer their time and efforts.

Please consider attending the next committee meeting on Wednesday, April 13th, at 7pm at the Grygla Community Center. If your area of expertise is in history, maybe you could join the History Book committee. If you prefer to come up with ideas on what kind of memorabilia should be sold over the weekend, perhaps you and a friend an take on some of that planning! There truly is something for everyone when it comes to this once in a life time celebration. Let’s all come together and make it an unforgettable weekend celebrating our town.