All posts filed under: Blog

Shopping Local Series – Hair Salons

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The first in our “Living Rural & Shopping Local” series!  As we swing into the holiday seasons in the fall, winter, and then ringing in the new year, hair salons are likely on the top of most preparation lists.  (we’ve provided links to those that have an online presence) Also, a little reminder… our salons carry a wide range of products that make great gifts this Christmas season (or check on a gift certificate!)  #ShopLocalFirst We first hear from Gina Gilsdorf, our MNbump Connector from Graceville. The City if Graceville has three hair salons open to the public and one salon located at Grace Home for our nursing home and assisted living residents. The other three are located downtown. Kreative Hair and Nails by Kendra and Shear Grace Salon are located on Main Street. J&R Headhunters is just off main on 3rd street. The salons in our area are all a great asset to our community offering a variety of services including cuts, colors, perms, toning and much more. Next, we have Ortonville Salons submitted …

Fun Fall Activities in the #MNbump

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Fall is a special time in the #MNbump and in the upcoming days there is no exception to the activities that are available for kids and adults.  There are several Fundraising Meals, Fall Suppers, Halloween Events and other fun activities to keep us all busy!  Check out the info below and click on the events to take you to the links to the events, if available. Thursday, October 24th Chili and Soup Feed Fundraiser First English Church – 11 am – 1 pm Free Will Donation Friday, October 25th Treat Street – Downtown Ortonville Saturday, October 26th Trunk or Treat Hosted by GWO Main Street – Graceville Free Mini-Photography Session by Gina Lee Photography Saturday, October 26th Boo! and Bingo Party – Big Stone City Library 10 am – 1 pm Saturday, October 26th – 4-H Annual Halloween Carnival at the Fairgrounds 5:30 – 9:30 pm Saturday, October 26th Firemen’s Halloween Dance Sioux Historic – Ortonville  – 9 PM Sunday, October 27th Big Stone City’s Ghouls & Goblins Street 3 PM – 5 PM Wednesday, …

US Senator Tina Smith Visits Ortonville Area Health Services

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US Senator Tina Smith visited Ortonville Area Health Services this afternoon to listen and to learn how she can support communities to keep and sustain their health care in the face of a lot of really big challenges.  Her main questions today were:  how do you make it work in your communities, what are your challenges, what are the opportunities and what can she do to help bolster the areas, especially around workforce.  Other health care representatives present joining the discussion were representatives from Appleton Area Health Systems, Johnson Memorial Health Services (Dawson) and Lakewood Health Systems (Staples).  Carrie Bendix from the SW MN Private Industry Council (who also works with the workforce development board for the 14-county area) was also present to talk workforce. There was great discussion shared amongst all in attendance which ended with Carson Ouellette, the Northwest Minnesota Outreach Representative for Sen. Smith, bringing the discussion to a close with “So I hate to cut it short but I do want to get a chance to see the award-winning OB department!”  …

Meander Art Crawl Features Several #MNbump Artists – Oct. 4-6

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  The 16th annual Upper Minnesota River Meander Arts Crawl will be held on October 4, 5 & 6, 2019. The Meander is a free self-guided tour featuring 42 artists from 5 counties in western Minnesota. The annual event offers a chance for the public to meet with the region’s top artists in their home studios nestled among the small towns and family farms found in the Upper Minnesota River Valley. We are happy to be able to highlight the #MNbump artists who will be participating in this years Crawl.   Click on the photos below to check out their locations for the Meander and also the links below the photos to follow their pages.  For full details on the 2019 Meander – the Upper Minnesota River Art Crawl click here for the link to their page. The full brochure of all the events can be found on this link.  

Blog by Kelly Lang: Your Life, Your Choice – Let the Healing Begin

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As we continue our “People of the MNbump” series which highlights some of the talented people who live here in the MNbump – meet Kelly Lang! Kelly started blogging last year when she began a series of posts sharing her journey (and struggles) through earlier health issues – with “When your life flashes before your eyes in a flood gate of memories…”  Her health has now come full circle which she documents in her first series of posts.  She now continues writing (blogging)… with her new writings starting out with: “Hello!  It’s been a while since we’ve last connected.  Since finishing sharing my personal health journey story it was time for a sabbatical from blogging.  It’s been a great break, but I’m ready to start dabbling again.  That being said, I/our family has a story to share.  It’s a story about adventure, love, rescue, and so much more.  Are you ready to join me/us in an adventure?  If so, let’s embark on this one together!” Kelly is the owner of Helping Hands Therapeutic Massage & …

Brent Olson’s Independently Speaking Column Enlightens Those Around the #MNbump and Beyond

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Brent Olson leads a complicated life. His home is in Big Stone County, a small place hanging off the western edge of Minnesota. Brent made a living as a farmer for 30 years. In 1977 he was asked to fill out a term on the Soil and Water Conservation District. He ended up staying 12 years, during which time the district won two Goodyear Awards, given for outstanding work in soil and water conservation. He was also the token Protestant on a Catholic hospital board which led to an epic trip across Saskatchewan with a van load of nuns. He’s served on the Southwest Minnesota Arts and Humanities Council, Big Stone County Pork Producers, the United Methodist Board of Ordained Ministries, and is on the board of the New Life Primary School in Mizac, Haiti. He served on the first board of directors of a wildly successful ethanol plant and an utterly failed wind turbine project. He was a 2012 Bush Foundation Fellow and his fellowship project, The Inadvertent Café, was profiled by Minnesota Public …

The Creative Bite – a Blog by Danielle Green

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Danielle Green, grew up in the small community of Graceville, Minnesota and now lives on the farm she grew up in outside of Graceville with her husband Matt and their twins Madelyn and Cooper.  Her parents are Chuck and Deb Walters of Graceville. Here is the link to her blog – https://www.thecreativebite.com/ Danielle’s blog highlights her love of cooking as and highlights her ideas of Eating Well, Being Creative and to Live Good If you have any questions or feedback please contact her at Danielle@TheCreativeBite.com! The MNbump will be sharing information on some of our local people that have blog posts and like to write and share their information.  Please note that the views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of anyone associated with the MNbump or Big Stone Area Growth.    

A View From Here: Resettling Big Stone County – a blog by Kathy Draeger

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We know that there are many talented people in living in the MNbump and we are starting a series to highlight them! Kathy Draeger, an Adjunct Assistant Professor; Statewide Director, Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships with the University of Minnesota and a resident of the #MNbump is one of our local area bloggers that moved to Big Stone County after living in the Twin Cities area for several years. Kathy started her blog post in 2007 and it has been fun to follow as she describes life and living rural and loving it.    Kathy and her husband Mike Jorgenson farm east of Clinton.  They have three children Alma, Jens and Lake.   Thanks for allowing us to share your blog page Kathy.  It’s been fun following your posts over the years and we are glad you are back!   Here is the link to her blog site: https://viewfromhere-bigstoneco.blogspot.com/ The MNbump will be sharing information on some of our local people that have blog posts and like to write and share their information.  Please note that the views …

Arens Family Named Big Stone County Farm Family of the Year

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Story and photo courtesy of The Northern Star Newspaper THE TOM AND MARY ARENS FAMILY OF GRACEVILLE  was named the Big Stone County 2019 Farm Family of the Year. They will be among the Minnesota Farm Families of the Year to be recognized at FarmFest in Redwood County on August 6. The family is pictured at the Big Stone County Fair. Tom’s mother, Beverly Arens is pictured, along with the Tom and Mary, right; and their children, Michelle, who will be a junior at CGB this fall and Joe, who will be a freshman. Eighty-four families from throughout Minnesota are being honored as 2019 Farm Family of the Year by the University of Minnesota.  In Big Stone County the Tom Arens family was named the 2019 Farm Family of the Year.  Tom’s father, Tony, purchased the Arens farm, rural Graceville,  in 1962. Tony and his wife, Bev, raised nine children on the farm. They grew corn, soybeans and wheat and raised 50,000 laying hens. Tom’s parents also had 500 cow/calf pairs and raised pigs. In 2009, …

Main Street Industries New Garden Brings Attention to Clinton’s Main Street

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Story and photo courtesy of The Northern Star Newspaper MAIN STREET INDUSTRIES GARDEN is a new attraction on Clinton’s Main Street this year. The location was an empty lot, owned by Wally Sayles, who gave them permission for this great addition. Lisa Sayles, MSI Direct Support Professional, is pictured with some of the MSI consumers who have been involved in the project. The signage was provided by SHIP, a state program through the Minnesota Department of Health. MainStreet Industries in Clinton is a very busy place year-round. This summer they increased one project to include a vegetable garden on an empty lot on Clinton’s Main Street. In partnership with SHIP (Statewide Health Improvement Partnership), which is under the Minnesota Department of Health, they were able to use SHIP’s $3,000 grant along with MSI’s funding to construct a patio in the front of their building. They also constructed – in-house, raised garden beds for their use.  Unfortunately, the MSI Greenhouse that had been constructed at the rear of their building was totally damaged from the past winter’s heavy …