State of the Re:Union happily shares the story of a little town in Wisconsin promoting and perpetuating true holiday spirit with a tradition that aims to bring the community closer. (Click here to watch a short clip or read the article in its entirety.)

The town of Menomonie, Wisconsin, is doing its best to ensure that holiday cheer will bring their town closer together and help out community businesses through its WinterDaze Parade. This event transforms downtown into a winter wonderland. It also encourages shopping, eating and enjoyment at local shops and restaurants, keeping businesses involved and in touch with the community. These businesses are all too happy to help put on the parade and bring the city a little closer for the holidays, and as a result, its downtown is thriving.

For eight years now, the WinterDaze Parade has been giving the community a reason to come together in celebration. According to Weau.com, before the parade starts, area businesses are filled with people and families getting warm, eating, and perusing and purchasing items to pass the time until the floats start “rolling down the road to welcome in the holiday season.” This year the parade touted the likes of Rudolph and Santa to gather residents and help all get into the holiday spirit.

The year-long planning of this fantastic event is labor intensive, but a labor of love, and it shows. Twenty-five downtown businesses helped sponsor the festivities, and according to Michaela Spencer with the Cedar Corporation, they adorn their windows with decorations and displays “to help keep it fun and interesting to shop downtown.”

Men, women and children come together to line the festive streets once the parade begins. Residents gathering for the event all echo the same sentiment – “I love that it’s a good sense of community,” states one. Another says, “It’s nice to see the community join together and come downtown.” And yet another agrees that “The community feel around Menomonie is great, we love it.” But the general consensus is given by one woman as she says, “It’s very fun – everyone’s happy for the holidays.”

Traditions change from region to region, but celebration remains a common thread. Commonalities also exist whether you partake in Hanukkah, Christmas, or any other holiday – these core principals are among them all: community, family and celebration. What are some things happening in your community this season serving as a focal point of togetherness and celebration? Use the box below to bestow unto us some holiday cheer.

State of the Re:Union conveys some more gems of wisdom regarding five basic resources to make community better – a part of Abundant Community’s “Capacity Building Beyond Community Services” series by John McKnight.

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You can watch the video of John McKnight clicking here or read the transcript below. Afterwards, we would love to hear any additional resources you consider to be valuable assets to bettering communities. Use the comment box below to tell us about your gems of wisdom.

We could tell from reading those stories that the people used five basic resources whenever they made things better. There were five things there that…that needs finders didn’t know about, right? And those five things were first that in the stories of how things were better, always the principal resource was the local residents, and their gifts and their skills and their capacities, not their deficits, problems, and needs.

And then the second resource was and is the local clubs, groups, organizations, and associations, the smaller face-to-face groups where the members do the work and they’re not paid, although they may have a paid member like a pastor or an organizer or a secretary, but basically they’re local people who come together to do things and they do all kinds of things from form choirs to block clubs to veterans organizations. There are just hundreds of local, we call them associations. And these are groups of individuals. These associations multiply their gifts and capacities.

And the third resource that’s there is some local institutions, some businesses, some not for profits, and some government institutions. There’s usually a school or a park or a library, or maybe even a police station.

The fifth [sic] resource is the land of the neighborhood, because that physical space, everything on top of it, everything under it, the land itself. Those are all resources that people often use. A vacant lot can become a community garden.

Ah, and then the last resource is the fact that people were constantly sharing things, bartering, trading, exchanging and buying and selling things locally.

So those five resources we called assets and said that it is basic to understand that community building starts with the use of those five assets. And if you start by saying what we know is what’s wrong, what’s missing, then you won’t be community building. What you’ll be is injecting neighborhoods with professionals, social workers, outsiders, university researchers.

And so that idea that there are local assets has spread over the last twenty years since we published the initial book. The initial book we published is called Building Communities from the Inside Out. That’s not to say there isn’t a place for outside resources, but you have to start with what you have and then move to an understanding of what you need after you know what you have. So that’s the ABCD Asset-Based Community Development story in brief.

One of the things about outside resources is that the people who are providing them aren’t going to stay, but equally, if not the more important thing, is they do a needs survey, they say what’s wrong with the neighborhood, they go to government, they go to foundations, they go to United Way. They get paid, they’re not from the neighborhood, to do something, hopefully, that will make things better, and then they leave with the money.

Well, the main thing, if there is something that people are short on in these neighborhoods it’s money. But the needs… the needs process, produces money for people who aren’t there. And the unusual thing is that if funders wanted to know what’s the main thing you could do to help along these neighborhoods, if we call them low-income neighborhoods, is focus on income, not services, not interventions in individuals’ lives, but supportive economy.

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John McKnight is an expert on communities. An Ohio native who currently lives near Chicago, he has spent decades organizing communities and researching them, primarily in the Windy City itself. In the course of his career, he mobilized neighborhoods during the civil rights movement, wrote several books about community development, created a center for urban affairs at Northwestern University, and even taught the current President a thing or two about advocacy. (Yes, it’s true: way back when, a young and eager Barack Obama interned at McKnight’s training program for community organizers in southeast Chicago). If that’s not enough, he recently co-authored a book called “The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods.”

State of the Re:Union will be featuring pieces from John McKnight and Peter Block of Abundant Community every other Monday.

The Waldorf School of the Peninsula in Los Altos, California

Look around and one is sure to find a student tethered to some technical device. School-aged children seemed to always be “connectied” through technology in almost any given situation. Realizing this, many schools and districts in America are marrying lessons and curriculum with technology. As this is becoming a common tool and approach for learning, one school is taking a decidedly different avenue regarding technology and tradition, and how these being used in student learning. To explore more on this story, School Spotlight takes us to the Waldorf School of the Peninsula in Los Altos, California. (Click on clip below to see the story.)

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In traditional school-style, a child will graduate from one class up to the next grade with each passing year. However, at the Waldorf School, one teacher stays with the same students from kindergarten to eighth grade. According to the article, “It’s the Waldorf Way.”

All Waldorf teachers would agree that this style of teaching allows the teacher intimate knowledge of each child’s learning habits, strengths and weaknesses, therefore allowing better focus on those areas students need more help in. They also say that this style of learning helps them establish strong bonds with their students, alleviating the need for tests or grades. The article records one teacher as stating, “I know their strengths, I know their weaknesses. I know what will be hard for them and where they will shine. I’m their teacher with a capital ‘t.’” Perhaps this student-teacher bond is one reason that students, and school alike, are thriving with a nearly perfect graduation rate.

One other such reason might also be the approach to technology used by the Waldorf School and its staff. Here, computers are used not at all in elementary grades, and sparingly by high school students. They are not anti-technology, but they do believe that it can interfere with student engagement. These teachers believe this enables good teachers to use their skills of good teaching to educate. Students of Waldorf echo that sentiment and become easily annoyed with their peers who cannot get “unplugged” to have a 30 minute one-on-one conversation, and instead are visiting social sites and using texts to converse.

A valid point made by one Waldorf senior student is that today’s gadgets are designed for ease of operation by anyone who attempts to use it, therefore they can figure out technology when the moment calls for it. According to the article, a former graduate of Waldorf, now a freshman in college, states “A Waldorf education gives you a foundation to say, ‘OK, I can put my phone in my bag. I can have a half-an-hour conversation with a person. I don’t need to be totally connected all the time.’ And that’s more valuable for making personal connections that will last longer than the next text you’re going to get.”

She also shares her preference for taking notes in her classes by hand, and entering them into the computer afterward. It is a helpful tool in studying instead of an easy distraction in class (as she sees is the case with most students using computers to “take notes.” She says many of the screens display social sites, not notes.).

Parents of students enrolled in at Waldorf appreciate the affinity and core values their children develop for education. They see the foundation being formed and know that is what will stay will them. Computers are a tool to add to this success.

Of course, this is not to say this formula of breaking tradition and avoiding technology is the solution for all, but it has yielded fantastic results for the Waldorf School. Again, there is not going to be a one-size-fits-all answer for schools of a nation this vast and diverse. There might be schools who are extremely technology-driven, yielding fantastic results because of it. We are all different in how we learn, and we want to know some of those differences that are working for your school and communities. Use the box below to tell us what is working to make a difference in your educational system.

It’s the end of the year, so I’m taking some time to do a little inventory of the projects highlighted by the finalist communities in the All-American City Award. The award is given to communities for outstanding civic accomplishments. Each finalist community gives a description of three projects in their applications. Counting and categorizing the different projects gives me a unique perspective on the issues that are reoccupying American communities in any given year.

Obviously, it’s not a scientific survey, and there are certain factors that may skew the results. For instance, most of these projects are at least five years old, so it may reflect a lag effect. Also, we have to factor in the not-always-so-subtle clues the National Civic League gives to communities based on our organizational priorities in a given year.

In 2011, the third year of a serious economic crisis, one might expect the finalist communities to be focused laser-like on job creation and economic development. Indeed, there were a large number of community projects in this year’s competition related to jobs and the economy, there always are, but surprisingly the largest number of any category among the 2011 finalists was environmental sustainability, of which there were 14 projects.

In fact, one community, Kenai, Alaska, focused all of its projects on the environment. Lakeview, Oregon, had two projects in the alternative energy area. This focus on the environment may reflect the National Civic League’s recent emphasis on environmental sustainability as a community engagement goal, or it could reflect the fact that communities feel they may have more control over their local environments these days than over jobs and the economy - very much influenced these days by national and even global trends. The emphasis on environmental sustainability at the local levels seems to be a long-term trend that bodes well for the health of the planet.

The next highest number of projects was in the area of neighborhood and commercial revitalization. This is always a popular area among All-America Cities. Revitalizing a once neglected neighborhood or commercial area is a tangible way of improving the quality of life in communities, and it is something for which city councils and city managers are held accountable. There were eight of these projects. (Admittedly, the commercial revitalization projects in most instances could have fallen into the jobs and economic development area).

There were seven community projects to improve educational outcomes, a number that probably reflects NCL’s instruction in the applications form to list at least one project that is youth led or youth serving. But it is also increasingly clear to local officials and civic activists that entire communities should take a more active role in improving educational outcomes, not just parents, students, teachers and school districts.

There were six projects related to jobs and the economy or economic development. Again, my only surprise there was that were not more of them. The surprise—or trend—that I see is that there were also six projects related to health and wellness, a growing area of activity by many communities.

More and more local officials and civic groups are seeing the health of community members as an indicator of the desirability and strength of the community. I’ve already blogged about Ann Arbor’s standout farmers’ market and its efforts to get low income residents and food stamps recipients to eat healthier. Another interesting project is in Beloit, Wisconsin.

Rock County Youth2Youth is an initiative consisting of 200 seventh to twelfth grade students who get training on the harmful effects of tobacco and go around to schools and city leaders to give presentations. According to the Beloit All-America City applications, there was a 38 percent reduction in the number of Rock County high school smokers in eight years, a 53 percent reduction in middle school smokers, a 19 percent reduction in adult smokers, and a 12 percent drop in cigarette sales.

The Smoke-Free Air project engaged 400-500 young people who worked closely with Beloit over eight years to make the city smoke-free. They petitioned and talked to community and city council members about the advantage of being a smoke-free city. Four yeasts ago, Beloit became one of thirty-seven cities in Wisconsin to go smoke-free thanks to the partnership between Y2Y, city council, and the city staff of Beloit.

Going back over these projects reminds me what an impressive groups of finalist communities we had in 2011. The jury of civic experts who selected the ten winners had a tough time eliminating some of these contenders from the final ten. Maybe we should come up with an official All-America City calendar with big glossy photos of award-winning community projects. Something to consider for New Year’s resolutions in 2012.

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Mike McGrath is senior editor and chief information officer for the National Civic League. A former newspaper reporter and magazine writer, he is editor of the quarterly National Civic Review, which will be beginning its centennial year of publishing this spring.

Mike’s posts will appear every Thursday on the State of the Re:Union website.

As we are nearing the end of what has been an extremely eventful year, State of the Re:Union would like to recall some of the fantastic adventures and captivating stories shared, and the wonderful people we encountered along the way. The spring episodes took SOTRU to visit and explore rich stories in:

• Las Vegas, Nevada: we find more than just bright lights and glitter here – like an underground tunnel community formed by the homeless, de facto community centers, “the ninth island,” and Uberschall.
• Miami, Florida – we learn of Miami’s cultural diversity, Little Latin America, 1st and Alton – a Haitian rescue mission, and meet  The Spam Allstars.
• Birmingham, Alabama: we see how people are still wrestling with desegregation, the Hispanic cultural is pouring in, and “The Giving Effect” – one woman’s gamble to provide a music program for underprivileged children is paying off.
• Oakland, California: we explore the cost of people dreaming big in Oakland, the hip-hop renaissance, and how different cultural communities are overcoming tensions to unite.
• Utica, New York: we see how refugees are reviving Utica and making it known through food and culture, and what a jam band, a monk, a revolution and a New York home have in common.

The fall episodes take us coast to coast and allow an intimate look at communities facing various issues affecting many people, and the solutions that helped to further unify their communities:

• Cleveland, Ohio: we find how a new generation of entrepreneurs are reviving the city through education, beer and the environment, an inside mountain biking range, and other plans to save their town.
• Sacramento, California: we see how residents are remaking their beloved American city through rescuing a city’s favorite park, trying to keep their beloved Kings, and why communities are connecting despite deep divides.
• The Mississippi Gulf Coast: we learn how residents unite to deal with the aftershocks of disasters – both nature and man-made, about Turkey Creek, and the life-altering struggles some residents are facing as a result of the disasters.
• The Bronx, New York: we meet determined residents and learn of their roles in taking back their city, including a teen mentor helping to inform teens about HIV, to a teacher who is keeping teens off the street with a new international music scene, to some fun-loving Franciscan friars helping the community.
• Wyoming: we learn how people are adapting to the New Old West, how Bibles and beer work together to unite people, what fracking is and the havoc it is wreaking, from the land to lives.

All of the stories featured in this season’s episodes have made an incredible impact, not just in the lives of those telling them, but in the lives of those who have heard them. In the Birmingham episode, Jeane Goforth told her story of making a difference in the lives of school children by cashing in her life savings and starting a music program for underprivileged and underfunded schools. Incredibly, but not surprisingly, some of our listeners jumped into action, and soon, Jeane’s program began receiving instruments and donations from all over our country.

The Wyoming episode took us to the southern part of Wyoming and explored the ill-effects fracking – a process used by some companies to extract oil and gas – was having on the community. After the episode aired in the fall, the EPA began a deeper investigation into the effects of fracking in consumable water. Coincidence?

The stories we covered have produced some interesting feedback and provided additional avenues that are helping other communities find solutions. We would love to know some of your favorite moments from this season. Use the box below to tell us what they are and why you think those moments stay with you.

Political Surprises: The Good Kind

State of the Re:Union’s contributor Rich Harwood of the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation is away hosting a Forum for the betterment of public innovation. This week, Carlton Sears – a Harwood Institute coach and guest writer – offers the following post telling of his recent experience resulting in a pleasant surprise. It speaks to the work and change that the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation is striving to achieve for – and in – American communities. (To read the original full text, click here.)

Every so often you get an email that stops you in your tracks. We all get them – unexpected words of encouragement, insights that provide clarity at times of uncertainty, a gentle reminder that causes us to reconsider.

It came from an elected leader. But not just any elected leader. It was from an elected official who’s been coached in the Harwood frameworks this past year. He’s a person who decided there is a better way to govern. He was writing to share how Turning Outward is helping him to do it. But this isn’t what gave me pause. It was what he had to say about aspirations.

I met him a year ago when he attended a Harwood Public Innovators Lab. When he returned home from the lab, he was encouraged to engage people in conversations that began with aspirations. Here’s what he said:

An enormous amount of what we are hearing in our Harwood community conversations is highly emotional, personal, and significant. If I had to identify the single most unifying thing I’ve heard, it’s that people want to start caring about each other again.

He shared that he’s heard people’s fears that we don’t know how to make this happen.  And he’s heard their hope that we can.

His message went on to say that as an elected leader and a person deeply involved with the Harwood Institute’s tools, his passions are now fired. Now, finally, he can clearly see the frustrations, and finally understand the aspirations of the people he serves.

It’s like a light bulb went off. I suddenly see the overlap between my work and my role as an elected policy maker.

He now sees how all the pieces of civic change fit together. He sees that he has the ability to influence the movement of those pieces that will result in the kind of change for which people yearn … Let’s work together to make sure that next year at this time we’ll have even more for which to give thanks.

Taking the community and the people it serves into account is the epitome of what civic engagement should be. The betterment of our towns, neighborhoods and lives does not solely rest upon the leaders of our communities; that possibility resides within each member of the community. It is through the act of coming together to find solutions that we become unified and find that resolve is reinforced. We are the ultimate force behind the hope in public change.

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A dynamic public speaker, Rich Harwood is a frequent keynote for foundations and national organizations. He is an expert contributor on national and syndicated media outlets including MSNBC, NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, CNN’s Inside Politics, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Special Report with Brit Hume, C-SPAN, and many others. He is also the author of Hope Unraveled: The people\’92s retreat and our way back (2005), Make Hope Real: How we can accelerate change for the public good (2008) and numerous studies, articles and essays chronicling vital issues of our time. His most recent written work, Why We\’92re Here: The Powerful Impact of Public Broadcasters When They Turn Outward, is being published and distributed in Spring 2011. You can follow him on twitter @RichHarwood and facebook.com/richharwood.

You can read Rich’s posts every Tuesday on State of the Re:Union’s website.