Stories from Our 25th Anniversary Staff Tour: Southwest Minnesota’s Diversity
As mentioned in the July 23 blog entry, there are many great stories to share from our recent 25th Anniversary Staff Tour. I’ve asked other staff to share some of their experiences and favorite moments firsthand from our two days of traveling through southwest Minnesota. Enjoy!
In Our Differences, We are the Same
Greg Jodzio
Microenterprise Technical Assistance Provider
You might label traveling and making calls to microloan clients with SWIF Super Woman Berny Berger (aka Microenterprise Program Coordinator) an under-the-radar tour. Unofficially, when we travel together Berny refers to it as the “senior tour” but that’s another story, for another time.
While recently driving and partially retracing the anniversary bus tour, Berny mentioned that 56 languages are spoken in Worthington (which probably includes some dialects). That was my “ah-ha” moment – my brain congealed the 25th anniversary bus tour into one word…diversity.
From Olivia’s fields of corn to Lake Benton’s “hole in the mountain,” the landscape differs dramatically across Minnesota’s Great Southwest. Consider the variety of businesses from large to small, hands-on to tech, large scale manufacturing to rural theaters that manufacture “make believe,” wind turbines contrasting bio-fuel plants.
And how about the diversity of the people? Beautiful Native American teens—some saddled, some bareback—on their magnificent horses. Business owners, operators, managers—young and old, short and tall—Latinos, Ethiopians, Hmong, Caucasians and more.
If they ever bring back the game show Password, and I’m a contestant, and the clue is “diversity,” my answer will be “Southwest Minnesota.”
Berny would point out that there’s a sameness too…smiles, pride and the prairie work ethic.
Stories from Our 25th Anniversary Staff Tour: Community Pride
As mentioned in the July 23 blog entry, there are many great stories to share from our recent 25th Anniversary Staff Tour. I’ve asked other staff to share some of their experiences and favorite moments firsthand from our two days of traveling through southwest Minnesota. Enjoy!
Community Pride
Nancy Fasching
Grants Officer
Commnity Pride
I’ve had the privilege of working with the Southwest Initiative Foundation for nearly 10 years. Through that time, one of the things that I love the most about the work that I do is seeing the pride people have in our small, rural communities. This year, we are doing something that we haven’t done before – touring the 18 counties of southwest Minnesota – experiencing first-hand life on the prairie.
The first leg of our trip took us through the central and southern part of our region. We were able to see many different vignettes of life in our region – coffee shops, genetic profiles, war memorials – but stop after stop on our journey showed me how proud people are to share pieces of their lives with those just passing through.
It would simply take a phone call to bring someone out to give us travelers a glimpse of the dignity the girls took in their horses through the Suntunka Youth Program, or how proud it made Kathy Schwarz that Wabasso would rally to their rescue after a devastating fire. Vince Robinson simply had to make a phone call to ask for a tour of the Lake Benton Opera House and then just had to take a few minutes to show us all a breathtaking view from the hilltop. I could go on and on…
We were always received with the warmest hospitality and the greatest sense of pride for the place we call home.
It is this sense of pride that I keep as my souvenir.
Stories from Our 25th Anniversary Staff Tour: Shalom Hill Farm
As mentioned in the July 23 blog entry, there are many great stories to share from our recent 25th Anniversary Staff Tour. I’ve asked other staff to share some of their experiences and favorite moments firsthand from our two days of traveling through southwest Minnesota. Enjoy!
Shalom Hill Farm
Cheryl Glaeser
Program Officer
The word “shalom” is a Hebrew word meaning peace, completeness and welfare. These are certainly some of the feelings I experienced during our stay at Shalom Hill Farm near Windom. After a wonderful evening with SWIF staff – reconnecting to our mission statement, sharing our thoughts about our work for the coming year and getting to know each other better – I enjoyed a peaceful nights rest. I woke up in the morning just as the sun was rising and decided to take advantage of the setting and go for a jog. I was struck by the beauty of the sunrise and the serenity of the prairie.
I was first introduced to this retreat center located on the beautiful prairies of southwest Minnesota last winter when we held our first southern Youth Energy Summit (YES!) winter workshop at Shalom Hill Farm. Through my work in renewable energy, I appreciate their commitment to sustainability – using local foods, recycling, composting and reminding their guests to save water and energy. They also have a small wind turbine producing energy and make use of passive solar heating.
After my jog, I enjoyed some reading time in this peaceful setting. A quote from Janet and Chris Attwood jumped out at me: “What you put attention on grows stronger in your life.”
Too often in life we focus on our problems, challenges and what we don’t have. As I looked around at all that Shalom Hill had to offer, I was reminded of what southwest Minnesota has to offer.
I have been very fortunate to have experienced the amazing people, businesses and organizations helping to make this a great place to live. My hope is that we can all put our attention on what’s right. By focusing together on the positive, imagine creating more peace, completeness and welfare throughout southwest Minnesota.
Shalom.
Stories from Our 25th Anniversary Staff Tour: Luverne, Minn.
As mentioned in the July 23 blog entry, there are many great stories to share from our recent 25th Anniversary Staff Tour. I’ve asked other staff to share some of their experiences and favorite moments firsthand from our two days of traveling through southwest Minnesota. Enjoy!
Insightful Stops at the Historic Jailhouse
Brad Kramer
Programs Specialist
While in Luverne, after our tour of the Historic Palace Theater, a sea of SWIF-blue shirts streamed across town to the Rock County Historical Jailhouse. The Jailhouse is now made up of the Brandenburg Gallery, Chamber Office and WWII Museum. When you approach the building, there are a couple of amazing monuments honoring the men and women who served during past wars. You almost have to take a moment and step back and look at all the people who sacrificed their lives so that we can live in the world that we do today.
As a colleague and I walked up the steps to go into the Brandenburg Gallery we talked about how when we were growing up, you only heard stories about people’s parents and grandparents being in past wars. But today, our school classmates, friends, and brothers and sisters are going overseas to protect and fight for our freedom. I personally have had friends, cousins and now a brother-in-law go to Iraq or Afghanistan. It is a really scary and helpless feeling when you have a personal connection with someone in the war…
Two of my favorite parts of the Rock County Historical Jailhouse were the Brandenburg Gallery and the WWII Museum. The Brandenburg Gallery was awesome! Jim Brandenburg is a southwest Minnesota native and has done extensive photography work for National Geographic magazine. He is most famous for his nature photos, especially his photos of wolves. After looking at some really neat photographs we went upstairs to the WWII Museum.
As you walk in, you are amazed by the number of uniforms, weapons, newspaper articles and personal letters that are there. Old newspaper clippings told the stories of the war as it was happening. Weapons from U.S. and Nazi soldiers spoke to ultimate sacrifices that were made. You could read personal letters from soldiers who wrote back home to parents and loved ones. There were also letters from the U.S. Government written to a family whose loved ones were killed or captured during the war. Reading these letters really made me pause and appreciate what our soldiers did during WWII.
The Rock County Historical Jailhouse is a great asset to the Luverne community. From the amazing photography in the Brandenburg Gallery to the historical items in the WWII Museum, I recommend if you are in the Luverne area that you stop in. I know it was a very humbling experience for me!
Stories from Our 25th Anniversary Staff Tour: Olivia, Minn.
As mentioned in the July 23 blog entry, there are many great stories to share from our recent 25th Anniversary Staff Tour. I’ve asked other staff to share some of their experiences and favorite moments firsthand from our two days of traveling through southwest Minnesota. Enjoy!
The Corn Capital of the World
Karen Grasmon
Communications Officer
Just 45 minutes into our trip, Sherry called me to the front of the bus and handed me the mic. My first words were, “Welcome to the Corn Capital of the world!”
That one statement says a lot about Olivia, Minn., our first stop and my hometown. There’s a lot more to say about the businesses, organizations and especially people who make up this community. Each time back, I’m reminded by the warm greetings of so many familiar faces that Olivia was a great place to grow up. I’ve shared before with my family, friends and colleagues that after college, I didn’t really see myself coming back to this area – but now, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
For a community of 2,500 people, Olivia has quite a bit to offer – BOLD Schools, active church congregations, veterans groups and service organizations, nice parks, historic buildings. If you haven’t heard it before, be sure to check out the dramatic story of how Olivia became the Renville County seat.
And don’t forget the unique and successful businesses found throughout the city.
A big “THANK YOU!” to John and Carlotta Eischens (pictured) at The Master’s Coffee Shop for not only the delicious drinks, but also for taking time to tell us about the Christian Community Outreach Center, a past SWIF grant recipient. While the after school youth program is currently not running, the Center is being used by many organizations to help them do great things for others in Olivia and beyond.
Olivia’s location, surrounded by some of the state’s richest agricultural land, makes it THE spot for one specific type of business – seed companies – and people throughout the nation and world know it. About 10 seed companies can be found in the community. Most work with corn and many are international businesses. Throughout high school and some of college, I worked for a soybean research company. At the time, it was difficult to really understand what my work was doing – how did counting seeds, walking fields and pollinating plants really affect our food?
I can say with great certainty that after being exposed to different perspectives as an adult, I have a much greater appreciation and understanding of this industry and the impact it’s felt from right here in my hometown. If you want to get a taste, watch the video “One Hungry Planet” shared by Ron Nelson during our tour of Thurston Genetics. It left our minds reeling in just four minutes.
Regardless of where you get your sweet corn to enjoy at August barbeques and picnics, it likely has some connection to the work being done in Olivia. That’s pretty impressive for one southwest Minnesota community.
But I may be biased…so what do you think?
