The Dinosaur Valley Heritage Society is moving forward with a bold new plan to revitalize the aging East Coulee School Museum.
    Recently, the Heritage Society contracted Paul Conrad & Associates Ltd. to create a new business plan for the School Museum, with the goal for remediation and redevelopment.
    “We’re doing a top down engineering review of the School Museum, strategic business plan, and a scan of the market to see where we fit into the local tourism sector,” said Brent Noland, president of the Dinosaur Valley Heritage Society. “Instead of reacting to each new emergency, we decided to step back and set ourselves up strategically for the next 20 years.”
    To help the process, the Heritage Society is asking stakeholders to participate in the study.
    “Our board of directors wants our stakeholders and partners to be aware the first step will be conducting interviews and surveys with organizations involved with the museum and its programs,” said Noland. “We encourage them to take some time to have their views known and to be a part of the process.”
    The resulting business plan aims to gain feedback from stakeholders regarding priorities, learn about the current use of the building and assess future program needs, analyze the market of the museum, conduct a site and building review, develop a capitalization strategy, and develop a process to implement the plan.
    Funding for the study was provided by Canalta.
    The decision to develop the business plan was made after the museum boiler broke down last winter and most of the plumbing was damaged this winter.
    “We had a gas back-up heater, keeping things just above freezing in the museum, but it failed just before Christmas. So, a bunch of our plumbing cracked. We looked at it and decided it wasn’t really worth fixing, so we’re doing a major plumbing upgrade, which is a must before SpringFest,” said Noland.
    The goal is to have a new plan in place by June.
    “I feel we are on the verge of some very exciting times. With the challenges we face as a community, it is important we meet them head on and solicit the input of our stakeholders to ensure the path we choose for the museum is a clear one,” said Noland. “We are excited for the opportunity to respond to our museum’s needs.”

    While many students spend their summer at a part time job or relaxing in the sun, Maria Patterson is planning to get her hands dirty, a half a world away.
 Maria is joining a crew of students who will be building a school in Ghana. She will spend July in the coastal west African country with a group from Me-to-We, a volunteer travel company dedicated to overseas volunteer experiences.
    Last summer Maria was in France on an exchange and this summer she wanted a more hands on experience.
    “I will be building a school,” said Maria, and she has the travel bug.  “I’ve always wanted to do this.”
As much as she enjoys the experience of travel, her intentions are altruistic.
    She will be a part of a team of students, about 25, who will be working on the school project, mostly from Canada.
    “I think you have to go out of your way to help someone else and I really enjoy helping people, it is something I am passionate about.  I think more people should go on trips like this to see how lucky we are to grow up in a place like we do, the government we have and the conditions we are born in to,” said Maria.

The Interact Youth club and Maria Patterson are teaming up for a spaghetti dinner to raise funds for the Club’s international activities and Patterson’s summer excursion to Ghana to build a school . Member of the club include (back; l-r) Landon Brown, Alana Augart, Laura Jensen, Madison Colberg, Maria Patterson, Megan Rowbottom and Kortney Giffin, along with (front; l-r)  Seun Makinde, Natalie Westman, Taylor Snow and Allie Ruckman.

    To participate, Maria has a fundraising goal of $5,000 and already she is half way there with generous donations from the Royal Purple and the Rotary Club. The Carbon Bottle Depot has also helped to support her trek.
    To support her trip she is hosting a joint Spaghetti Supper with the Rotary Youth Interact Club at the Midland Hall on Sunday, March 17 at 5 p.m.  Admission is a simple donation and she is planning to have some students enter from the high school performing. The funds from the dinner will be split between Patterson’s travel expenses and an international project the Interact Club is working on.
    Individuals or businesses interested in supporting Maria’s trip can contact her at 403-823-6726 or email maria-patterson@hotmail.com.