Friday's Internet Edition, July 04, 2008.

Members of the Three Forks Community Action Association standing outside the Newton Community Building include (l-r) Joe Ross, Carla Ross, Rita Blevins, Janey Keylon, Bruce Bienvenue, Tammy Rogers, Jean Bienvenue, Brenda Funk and Wanda Smith. DAVID HEDGES/SPENCER NEWSPAPERS

But don’t think there’s nothing going on at the building operated by volunteers of the Three Forks Community Action Association.

“This is the hardest working group of people I have ever seen,” Joe Ross, president of the group, said.

The group sponsors bingo games every other Saturday night, and gave away its largest jackpot to date, $2,900, last month. There are also regular country music performances and a monthly karaoke night.

With the money that’s been raised, the organization has sponsored a back-to-school party with school supplies and a book bag given to every student from the community who attended, a Halloween party for children and a Christmas dinner and Valentine’s Day dinner for the community.

The group sponsored a basket bingo that raised $2,600 for the Newton fire department, contributed over $2,000 to programs at Geary Elementary/Middle School, purchased books and sponsored the summer reading program at the Geary Library, helped three families hit by disabling illness or accident, sponsored four local students on a missionary trip and assisted Cross Country Christian Academy with a field trip.

The group also helped pay the way for some local students to attend 4-H camp who otherwise may not have been able to go.

Along the way, there has also been a community yard sale, antique photo session, blood drive and tool sale.

The group also sponsored a 100th birthday party for the community to celebrate a local woman’s 100th birthday.

There’s even a regular Wednesday night jam session for local musicians to get together and perform for one another.

“Two or three times a week there are baby showers, birthday parties and reunions here,” Ross said. “We don’t charge them a dime. All we ask is that people leave the building in the same shape they found it, and they do.”

All this harmony is a far cry from what was going on a year ago, when the group was in the midst of a battle over the building and the organization’s finances.

Locks on the building were changed more than once, windows were broken and police were called out to referee meetings.

The dispute ended up in court, which came at a heavy price.

“It’s a shame we had to spend over $10,000 on legal fees,” Ross said. “All that money could have gone back into the community.”

But now the legal wrangling appears to be over, and the group is getting ready for its annual elections this Friday night at 7 p.m. All community members are invited to participate when four board members will be elected to two-year terms, joining five others who have a year remaining on their terms. The board members will elect the officers.

Last year’s election of nine new board members to staggered terms took place at the height of the controversy, with a rival group including some ousted officers holding an election of its own in another location.

The whole matter had to be settled in court, when those elected in the meeting at the Newton Community Building won out.

“A lot’s happened in a year,” Bruce Bienvenue, an active member of the association, said. “I think we’ve healed the old wounds.

“I think the founding fathers who started this community center would be pleased with what’s been done,” Bienvenue said. “The group has really pulled together.”

“There are a lot of different personalities in this group,” Ross said. “But they all understand what democracy is and make it work.”

Not only is there more activity inside, but the building has had a facelift, with new kitchen equipment including a six-burner stove that comes in handy when concessions are prepared for bingo games or other activities that go on at the building.

“We have really good food,” Janey Keylon said. “There’s even people who stop in on bingo night just to get take-out.”

The building now sports a computerized video projection display operated from a laptop computer, and offers wireless Internet to anyone who brings their laptop to events at the building.

The interior of the building has been painted using volunteer labor, and plans are being made to paint the outside.

In spite of all the upgrades, Ross said the organization that was nearly broke a year ago now has almost $13,000 in the bank.

“And every penny of that will be put back into this community,” he said. “All of our books are open to anyone who wants to see them. We take great pride in that.

“Our long-range goal is to be able to provide a scholarship to every child from the community who wants to go to college,” Ross said. “If everyone keeps working like they have been, I think we’ll get there.”