KTVB.COM
Posted on November 25, 2010 at 3:21 PM
Updated Friday, Nov 26 at 7:39 AM
COUNCIL, Idaho -- The recent recession has been especially hard on Idaho's small rural towns.
Simply surviving is a frequent topic of discussion among townspeople.
Council, Idaho is one such place. It once thrived on mining, logging and cattle ranching.
Today Council is searching for a new identity.
Some say time is running out, that's it's the end of the road for small town America. They say towns like Council, Idaho will die -- short of a miracle.
Dr. Bruce Gardner is the town’s veterinarian and mayor, a job that's getting tougher.
"Adams County has second highest unemployment in state," said Gardner.
With a jobless rate at nearly 20 percent, most agree it will take a miracle to turn things around.
But that's where Elsie and Arnie Ytreeide and their project come in.
They are filmmakers, not Hollywood types, they're from down the road in Nampa. They care about rural Idaho and news about the plight of Council in the midst of the recession got Arnie thinking.
"I just turned to Elsie and said I would just love to write a screenplay about all of us needing to be a part of the answer," said Arnie Ytreeide.
Arnie wrote that screenplay, it's called “Saving Council,” and now he and Elsie are creating buy in, because to create a miracle you need everybody, especially the mayor, onboard.
"So what did you think when Arnie and Elsie came wandering in here?” asked NewsChannel 7.
“Well, I have to be honest, I thought well this is kind of bizarre, but I think it's a wonderful idea," said Gardner.
Wonderful because there is a real life parallel plot that makes this project unique.
"The plot is that like the real Council, the fictional town is going through some very hard economic times, and so the mayor comes up with all kinds of schemes to try to save the town, one of which is to remake it into a resort,” said Arnie Ytreeide. “And so, if we shoot the movie up here we will actually do that. We've been working with the city planners on a plan that they already had in place and we'll put our money with their money and we'll remake the real Council while we remake the fictional Council."
The possibility of renewing the decaying town has residents on pins and needles. They're excited and asking leaders like Ken Bell, the Chamber of Commerce president and quilt shop owner, lots of questions.
"Where we at on the movie? How much money do we have. Are we going to make it? And all this kind of stuff and I always say it's not an if thing, it's when it happens," said Bell.
But making a movie like crafting a beautiful quilt doesn't just happen, it does take money.
"$797, 267.00," said Arnie Ytreeide.
How do you come up with three-quarter of a million dollars in this economy? They hope you'll be an investor.
"And we're really asking people just to give you know 20 bucks because we know it will only take 40,000 people, half the population of Nampa, to fund this movie," said Elsie Ytreeide.
And if you pledge there's a perk, you could find yourself in a scene of “Saving Council.”
Which of course you'll help stay in business because Arnie and Elsie won't be the only customers.
"We'll be up here for seven weeks, so we'll be contracting with all of the restaurants to provide meals for all the crew and we have cast and crew of over 120,” said Arnie Ytreeide.
“What is the dollar impact that you expect?” asked NewsChannel 7.
“Minimum $450,000 -- that's we'd be dropping into the economy here in those seven weeks," said Arnie Ytreeide.
That sounds pretty good to Mayor Gardner. He is optimistic and says the whole town is behind “Saving Council” and besides…
"We have enough character in the people here that I don't think we're ever going to dry up and blow away. We're always going to be here," said Gardner.
And if Arnie and Elsie are successful, you'll of course want to see the movie and then come enjoy the small town feel of Council for yourself.
"It's been so fun to watch the people almost wake up here in Council and say, ‘oh this would be really great if we could pull this off,’" said Arnie Ytreeide.
Don't be surprised if they do pull it off.
Arnie has an impressive resume and he and Elsie are totally committed to making this happen.
If you'd like to know how to become part of Saving Council with even a small $10 or $20 pledge, just go to their website.
Discovery of the journals - a story in itself.
In the mid to late 1960's my Mom, Mary A. Funk, received a call from a man who owned an old book shop in Lakeport, California. He was in the midst of emptying his
store and preparing to retire. He found a couple old 'Funk' journals and picked a name from the telephone book. Fortunately, it was our number he reached. He explained to Mom
what he had found and offered her the journals. She wanted to know what the price was. He stated, "you only have to come pick them up." Being a skeptical lady, Mom
passed on visiting his shop. The years years went by, one day, the gentlemen; now retired for several years, was again cleaning...though it was his home.
It was good luck that he again picked a name from the phone book and, again, reach our Mom. He said he thought the journals may be of interest to someone with the surname of Funk and we were welcome to have them. Please come by his home and pick them up. Mom did. They remained tucked in a drawer until my parents journeyed to heaven. I found the journals and took them home.
It has been over twenty years since they came into my possession. We can never be accused of rushing headlong into things, eh? We moved from our home of twenty years and that
is when I again became aware of these journals. No more waiting. Rather than pass the word along to family members, I decided to copy the journals here. I cannot state
any authenticity to these papers, however, will copy them word by word.
I hope you find them of value and if you enjoy searching your family tree, maybe it will complete some gaps. Enjoy! MaryJane Funk Van Emmerik 25 April 2008
Although Swiss/German in origin, many of the name in this country have come to be identified with that group of early Americans known as the "Pennsylvania Dutch". The early English settlers coined this term and they really meant to say "Deutsch", meaning German, but the word soon became corrupted into "Dutch". They applied this name to those Swiss, Germans and even French Huguenots who arrived here in the 1700's and settled in a certain small area roughly defined as south-central and eastern Pennsylvania. Almost all of them settled for a time in Pennsylvania, but in the latter part of the 1700's many migrated down into the Shenandoah Valley area of Maryland and Virginia and about 1800 began to move into Ohio and the Midwest. In the 18th century conditions were so poor in the Rhineland provinces that a mass exodus to America occurred. From 1727 until the time of the Revolution, huge numbers swarmed into Pennsylvania.