Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Leadership Class of 2003 graduates

Leadership Nevada County graduated its third class Tuesday, Dec. 2.

The class was challenged by Jon Chadwell, who created the organization. He challenged the class to make a difference in Prescott and Nevada County with their new knowledge.

There were plenty of laughs at the graduation banquet, held at the Hamilton-Blakely Senior Adult Center, but there were serious moments as well. The humor, though, won out.

Chadwell said the area's political leaders recognize the leadership class of 2003, with Fourth Congressional District Representative Mike Ross hurrying in from Hot Springs to make the banquet. Chris Thomason and Tommy Roebuck were unable to attend as they were preparing for the special session, and Percy Malone was felled by the flu bug. Still, there were several local and area politicians at the graduation from the city and county.

Chadwell followed by introducing the graduating class, and telling the incoming class about the two-day retreat in January and how the class will meet one day each month throughout the year. "You'll learn a lot and have fun," he said.

The class of 04 will be divided into teams at the retreat, as the previous three classes have been, and each team will select a service project to be done before graduation. Completing the project is part of the requirements for graduation.

The rules for the project, Chadwell said, are simple  the teams do everything. However, the incoming class cannot use projects done by other classes, nor pick up and continue projects other classes have begun. Each project must be new and approved by the leadership board.

From there, the teams will be required to handle everything, from raising money, if it's needed, to getting volunteers, if they're required. When graduation arrives next December, the team leaders will tell about their projects.

When Chadwell finished informing the class of 04 of the project requirements, it was time for the class of 03 to report on how their projects went.

Team one's report was given by David Cassels. It's project was the Morgan Nick DNA Identification program.

Cassels pointed out Morgan Nick was abducted from a baseball game at Alma and her mother started the Morgan Nick Foundation to help prevent such things from happening again, and helping parents protect their children through proper identification techniques.

The team, he said, set up a booth at the Chicken and Egg Festival in June, took digital photos of children, putting the photos on a CD, and provided information to parents on how to make a DNA kit for their child. In all, 153 children were registered under the Morgan Nick program.

Sandy Harlow represented team two. It's project was to help the Depot Museum.

Harlow said the team talked with curator Peggy Lloyd about what was needed and how to increase the public's awareness of the museum. Flyers were printed and put on windshields at a Curley Wolf football game, resulting in one person volunteering to help out.

The team also developed a financial statement for the museum. This statement, Harlow said, can be used to help obtain grants.

Team three's project was a book drive for the new library. Books were collected throughout the year and were dropped off primarily at the Nevada County Picayune office.

In all, 52 boxes of books were collected and taken to the library. A rough estimate of how many books were collected was set at 2,000.

The class of 04 was introduced. The incoming members are: Colby Dougan, Blake Epperson, Jeremy Franklin, Scott Hamilton, Janet Hood, Peggy Lloyd, Kristi Neal, Carol Newton, Doris Niemyer, Laurie Pilgreen, Todd Richards, Brent Talley and Joey Wallace.

The class of 2003 was made up of: Patricia Blake, David Cassels, Brad Crain, BJ Glass, Vince Grimes, Elaine Halliday, Sandy Harlow, Alice Head, Kay Hendrix, Brandi Karlovec, John Miller, Sam Reeder, Linda Terry and Brenda Williams.

Chadwell concluded the festivities saying the class of 03 enjoyed laughing with and at each other.

What was nice, he said, is when the class began in January most people in it didn't know one another, but by the end of the year had gotten to know each other well enough to laugh with and at themselves.

"I have figured out the recipe for failure," he said. "It starts with someone saying if we could only get everybody...'. This never happens, and in truth you don't want everybody on board.

"If you have people opposing what you're trying to do, it makes you do better. The best things in life start with small groups."

He made his point by reminding the audience Prescott became a town because 10 people in the Moscow Community went to the railroad asking for a town.

A few weeks ago, he continued, 211 people went to the polls and passed a sales tax, with the margin of victory 159 over the opposition. The money from the tax will be used to repair all the streets in Prescott.

He said this is the third class to graduate Leadership Nevada County, which makes about 40 alumni. There are 13 in the class of 04, and when they graduate there will be more than 50 people with a common bond and exposure to things most people don't see.

"If 50 people decide we need to make a change," Chadwell said, "and put the effort behind it, things will change. Here is a group of people who have showed they care and can do the job nobody else is equipped to do.

"The only thing stopping you," he continued, "is you yourself. The future is yours and the future of Prescott and Nevada County depend on the people in this room."