News

Anticipation grows as Annie's House nears

By Tyler Ohmann

08/28/2012

Excitement is building in the Bottineau area as the Annie’s House Project’s apex is a little more than a week away.

“The excitement is just getting enormous,” said Diane Olson of the Bottineau EDC. “I get calls at home. I get calls at work constantly from people who want to know how they can help.”

The EDC is one of the organizations that is in charge of planning the local help that entails in the project.

The main building kicks off with a welcome dinner on Thursday evening, which will be provided by the Antler Outlaws. The group will provide the meat, beans and bread, but community members are urged to make the rest of the meal a potluck to show the out-of-state guests what North Dakotans eat.

“There will be a meal up there (on Thursday) and we really hope everyone comes out and joins us,” Olson said.

Apart from the building of the new chalet at the Bottineau Winter Park (BWP) there will be several side projects, which will need volunteers to run. However, people have been coming forward every day to help out according to Olson.

“For the special projects especially, it is just really good to see the people coming forward,” Olson said. “It is phenomenal.”

One such project that was just put into the works is making a handicap accessible boat ramp on the pond that sits on BWP land. The idea is that the ramp, along with the trails that will be constructed over the build weekend, can help make BWP a four-season destination for those with adaptive disabilities.

Many other entertainment activities are planned for the weekend such as a long drive competition, tug of war, softball game and even live entertainment from Hiway 43.

One think Jeff Parness, founder of New York Says Thank You, says is that the volunteers work hard, but also like to have a good time too.

Olson said that though the support has been very high, that the community might not quite be able to grasp the scope of the project.

“Even though the community is excited about the project, I don’t think they realize the enormity of the project,” Olson said. “I think it is really going to be eye opening. I really hope a lot of people turn out, for Thursday night, when the weekend volunteers get out for the opening ceremony and just get a feel for it.”

Festivities for the memorial build will close on Sunday, Sept. 9 with a brunch, church service, parade and tree planting ceremony.

Local volunteers are still needed especially for meal hosting and water/snack duty, along with many other places throughout the weekend.

Anyone interested in volunteering can call the EDC office at (701) 228-3922.