Cherry Tree, 8/11/2003 (Please share with others) (long)

Chris Corrigan chris at chriscorrigan.com
Mon Aug 11 00:42:59 PDT 2003


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
chris at chriscorrigan.com

(604) 947-9236






> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of
Douglas
> D. Germann, Sr.
> Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2003 9:16 PM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> 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:INTeam--234946 at autocontactor.com
>
>
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> 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
>
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