Gov. Heineman Attends Grand Opening of Student-Run Circle C Market

(Cody, Neb.) Gov. Dave Heineman today attended the grand opening of the Circle C Market in Cody, a student-run grocery store. Students of Cody-Kilgore Unified School District were responsible for the initial idea through completion of the straw bale structure.
“Today’s celebration is the result of hard work, determination and the refusal to take ‘no’ for an answer,” said Gov. Dave Heineman. “Today, Cody has a grocery store for the first time in over a decade, because of ‘Cowboy GRIT.’ The students of Cody-Kilgore Unified Schools are one of the reasons that I am hopeful and optimistic about Nebraska’s future.”
The concept is the result of a local non-profit called Cowboy GRIT, an acronym for Growing, Revitalizing, Investing and Teaching. The non-profit was formed to receive donations and grant funding and is made up of students, teachers, and community leaders.
In March 2011, the Cowboy G.R.I.T. Steering Committee negotiated with the Nebraska Games and Parks Commission for a lease on the land to locate the grocery store. The Commission owns the Cowboy Recreation and Nature Trail that follows a 321-mile former railroad corridor between Norfolk and Chadron and encompasses nearly 200 miles.
Local volunteers, students, Cody-Kilgore Unified School, the Village of Cody and contracted labor built the building with donated straw. Funding was supplied by grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, The Sherwood Foundation, Catholic Campaign for Human Development, a local tax credit drive and donations from residents.
http://www.nelovesps.org/watchnow?TN=PROJECT-20120910011012