Our Signing Town

Lost our blog, working to recover
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) We apologize. The blog went bye bye due to a stupid mistake I made just now. I am working on to restore it - at least much of it. Stay tuned. Marvin
Culture Thu, Jun 07 2007 hide this blog

Parting Words for South Dakota Board of Regents on SDSD
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) To members of South Dakota Board of Regents, South Dakota School for the Deaf (SDSD) was created to serve as an educational resource for all deaf and hard of hearing children living in the great state of South Dakota. I am the father of four bright deaf children who come from four generations of hard working deaf Americans. We moved to Fishers, Indiana and enrolled [...]
Education Tue, May 22 2007 hide this blog

Laurent Update: Where are we now?
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) Fishers, Indiana, of course. Our family moved here last April 1, and we have pretty much settled in. I really love it here. My kids love Indiana School for the Deaf and their new found friends. As of this writing, the school has abour 370 kids pre-school through high school. A healthy number. I am still adjusting to many new things here as well as changing family [...]
Mon, May 21 2007 hide this blog

Beginning a new chapter of our lives in Indiana
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) We've arrived in Fishers, Indiana as of late Saturday evening, and the community came out to help us unload our stuff into our new apartment. We've had really smooth move thus far, and we're now unpacking, setting up and enjoying the beautiful weather. After getting our feets wet here in a couple of weeks, I will be back to update this blog. We are [...]
Tue, Apr 03 2007 hide this blog

The Laurent Institute Will Relocate to Indiana, Work on...
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) The not-for-profit The Laurent Institute is announcing that key members of the organization will be leaving the Sioux Falls, SD area and relocating to the Indianapolis, Indiana area within the next few months. The Laurent Institute exists as the fund raising vehicle and developer of the world's first fully integrated town for deaf, hard of [...]
Thu, Feb 08 2007 hide this blog

Happy Holidays!
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) We're definitely enjoying the holidays away from the office and our work on development of the signing town. We wish you all the best from us! Marvin and M.E.
Fri, Dec 22 2006 hide this blog

Opportunity: Gas Station For Sale in Spencer, S.D.
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) We live in exciting times. While we have had to put the planned town of Laurent on the shelf for the time being, because of the inability of our angel backers to complete the promised funding package, we are moving forward with our plan to invite the Deaf and Signers to join us in McCook [...]
Thu, Nov 30 2006 hide this blog

Living in a Signing Town ? Will it make a difference?
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) On days like this, I pause and think. What am I doing? Why am I pushing towards making the signing town a reality? The sacrifices my family and close friends have had to make thus far are huge. My deaf children sometimes beg me to relocate to Indiana School for the Deaf so they can have [...]
Mon, Nov 20 2006 hide this blog

Resonare? Definitely Worth Watching
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) These guys at Mosdeux.com has done it again. Chad W Taylor and Wayne Betts, Jr. created a breathtakingly beautiful short film, Resonare. This film showcases their talents and creativity. I can’t imagine the hours and sweat they have invested in this film. Especially when you consider some scenes like Chad standing on mountain cliff. That wasn’t [...]
Tue, Nov 14 2006 hide this blog

Thank you, Ella, Judy, Michael and Sonja
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) We received generous donations of a pristine Sony digital video camcorder from Ella M. Lentz and Judy Gough of Hayward, California when they visited us last week. We mentioned to them that our video camcorder broke down, and we’d need to raise a couple hundred dollars to buy a new one. They graciously gave us [...]
Tue, Nov 14 2006 hide this blog

Updated Swedish TV Video on Laurent
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) Apparently, there were some problems viewing the video of Swedish Deaf TV program on Laurent, S.D. We have re-encoded the video, and its now available in the Flash video format. Here’s the link: [link] For better quality video, go to Perspektiv’s web site at: [link]
Mon, Nov 13 2006 hide this blog

Swedish Deaf TV on Laurent
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) Perspektiv, a Swedish deaf TV program, broadcast their segment on Laurent yesterday. Last June, reporters Juli af Klintberg and Anders par Johannson flew to New York City then traveled to South Dakota to film many stories ranging from interviewing deaf survivors of 9/11 to deaf fashion designer to our vision of building world’s integrated and accessible [...]
Thu, Nov 09 2006 hide this blog

Alternatives in Town Building
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) We are currently exploring our alternatives to building a brand new town from scratch, and at this time, we are focusing on Spencer, South Dakota. We just sent out a letter from The Laurent Institute to all lot owners in Spencer last week, and we have received favorable response thus far. It’s still too early [...]
Mon, Nov 06 2006 hide this blog

There is no manual for dreams. Indeed.
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) An e-mail from a descendant of Laurent Clerc came to me early this week, and one phrase stood out: Marvin, I have been reading some of your recent news and some of the communities responses. I just wanted to say that it is good that you remain committed to your dream. I suppose what you are [...]
Wed, Nov 01 2006 hide this blog

Argus Leader: Laurent eyes small towns
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) Note: We are looking at Spencer, however, we are also looking at other locations including one in other state. Sign language community shifts plans to redevelopment by MELANIE BRANDERT The co-founders of a proposed McCook County town for sign language users have opted to discard their plan for a new town and look at redeveloping a small one. Spencer [...]
Mon, Oct 30 2006 hide this blog

An Interview with Sam Hawk of Hawk Relay on $150,000...
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) The Laurent Institute, a non-profit 501c3 organization, received a major boost in the form of $150,000 a year sponsorship. Hawk Relay hopes to extend the sponsorship for additional 3 years for a total of possible $600,000! This all depends on Hawk Relay’s growth in call volume. More calls they process, the more money they can [...]
Thu, Oct 26 2006 hide this blog

Hawk Relay to Give $150,000 a Year to The Laurent Institute!
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) We are pleased to announce a major gift from a South Dakota based company, Hawk Relay, of up to $150,000 per year for our non-profit organization, The Laurent Institute. This gift will enable the non-profit organization to move forward with the vision of building world’s first fully integrated and accessible community for sign language users [...]
Tue, Oct 24 2006 hide this blog

Living in a small town ? a taste of Gallaudet and something...
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) I have lived in Salem, S.D. since February 22, 2005. Town has a population of 1,371 according to a road sign welcoming people to the town. I can drive to Sioux Falls within 40 to 45 minutes, and to Mitchell within 30 minutes. My dear friends, Deb Kuglitsch and Jodi Oates with their children, Kathi, Travis [...]
Fri, Oct 20 2006 hide this blog

Our Thoughts & Prayers Are With Gallaudet
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) Last Friday, President I. King Jordan ordered arrests of the protesters. It was a sad chapter in Gallaudet’s history — the situation was allowed to escalate to this point, and unfortunately, the responsibility lies with the leadership. When a Board is not listening to the community, you can always guarantee there will be problems. Education is [...]
Mon, Oct 16 2006 hide this blog

Laurent, S.D. Wounded, but still alive and moving towards...
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) I just want to respond to one item from Minerva Shine [a poster on Gally-L e-mail discussion group] stating that, "laurent, sd is dead and marvin miller is more than half a million in debt." As Mark Twain said, "The reports of [our] death are greatly exaggerated." We are still here. We are [...]
Mon, Oct 16 2006 hide this blog

The audacity of hope ? A fitting description for what we...
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) Illinois Senator Barack Obama, apparently a possible 2008 candidate for U.S. President, will be publishing his new book titled, "The Audacity of Hope", and it will basically spell out the future vision of America. Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, you gotta love this book title. When I first saw that phrase, it resonated with [...]
Wed, Oct 11 2006 hide this blog

New web site ? A work in progress
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) We’ve consolidated our web hosting services into one simpler package, and we have moved away from SquareSpace.com (an excellent content management system) to WordPress — another excellent blog/content management system as well. This site will be rather “plain” for time being. We are fully focused on the alternate plan for building world’s [...]
Wed, Oct 11 2006 hide this blog

Something to emulate... a traditional town center in...
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) Beautiful picutres of new, 28-acre development called Glenwood Park in Atlanta, Georgia. link Enjoy!
Tue, Oct 03 2006 hide this blog

Our move now complete, we are ready to roll!
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) Thank goodness its Friday! We moved out of our office into my home, and now -- as one witty commenter said -- I can work in my pajamas! No, seriously... M.E. would die of heart attack if she saw me in my Superman pajamas. Not good. A local TV station ran a story on Laurent 2 days ago, and it wasn't entirely positive. We explained that, yes -- The Laurent Company is in [...]
Fri, Sep 29 2006 hide this blog

Moving Day for Us
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) We are moving out of our office on the Main Street this week into my home office. We simply did not have enough funds coming in to support the overhead of having an office open as well as the fact that we are working on something really positive and will change some things. Yup, we WILL build world's first sign language friendly town in South Dakota. That will not [...]
Tue, Sep 26 2006 hide this blog

Prison? No way... wait a minute, why not? Nah.
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) Candace McCullough of Alternative Solutions Center blogged about the fact that fully accessible prison was on the bottom of our poll list, and I thought she brought up several interesting points. Now, I can not imagine advocating building prison in our town -- especially in the early years, even though it would generate a lot of jobs in the town -- because of its [...]
Mon, Sep 25 2006 hide this blog

A surprise in the polls...
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) Final count... ok, the poll is still open but I think we get the picture.Basically, the top vote getters were: School, Small Grocery Store (Organic/Natural stuff), Medical Clinic. And Fourth place had a 3-way tie between: city-wide WiFi, bookstore & cafe, and open captioned first-run movie theater.Medical clinic surprised me. I knew it was important, but in top 3? [...]
Thu, Sep 21 2006 hide this blog

So far... School is leading in the polls
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) 1    School (K-12) in town (ASL & English bilingual for ALL)       4.092    Small Grocery Store (Including organic & gourment foods)      4.053    Bookstore & Cafe      3.724    Movie Theater (Open Captioned ALL time)      3.625    Medical Clinic (One now available 4 to 10 miles away)      3.566    Restaurant (general American menu)      3.557    Community Theater with stage for ASL [...]
Mon, Sep 18 2006 hide this blog

Poll: First 3 years, what do you must have?
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) Good comments so far! Now let's vote and rate each item! Remember, this is what you NEED in the beginning stages of a new town. Not when the town "grows up". Just in the beginning. Choose wisely! Click on the link: Rank most important things in a new town. [...]
Sat, Sep 16 2006 hide this blog

3 things you ABSOLUTELY need in your hometown?
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) Imagine a new town like Laurent or a new town that's relatively empty, and assume that there are some homes already there, a community hall, a church, maybe a gas station and convenience store. Water, sewer, high-speed (DSL), roads are all included.But that's it. This would be the condition of Laurent in the first couple of years. What are 3 [...]
Thu, Sep 14 2006 hide this blog

Good for hearing people... Presentation on Laurent
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) I gave a presentation at Edmonds Community College in Lynnwood, Washington last spring to a crowd of over 100 people, and the presentation was videotaped by the college. They generously shared a copy with us. I had a really cool beard at that time... Ok, ok... not cool — moving on. The video is really ideal for hearing people because [...]
Mon, Sep 11 2006 hide this blog

My First Video Blog! An Update on Laurent
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) Transcript of the Video BlogHi! I'm Marvin Miller. Nowadays, more and more deaf people are posting video blog commentaries. I wasn't sure if I was ready for that... hiding behind English words. But I decided to go ahead and do it anyway! Why? A lot of people have been asking us, "What is happening with Laurent? We're curious. We want [...]
Thu, Aug 31 2006 hide this blog

"We are almost there."
Marvin Miller (Laurent, SD) Our lawyer working with the funding group just told us today, "We are almost there." Let's hope so! Say your prayers so we can see the vision of building world's first fully integrated and accessible town become a reality soon.In meantime, we continue to work quietly and mostly from home. We've had pretty hot weather here last two weeks and [...]
Mon, Aug 07 2006 hide this blog