Upcoming Event Highlights
- Next week’s speaker – Jennifer Fink – New Brighton Parks and Recreation Director
- Sunday, April 5th 11AM - Egg stuffing for the Easter Egg Hunt at the Exchange.
- Saturday, April 11th 10AM - Easter Egg Hunt – All hands on deck!
- Saturday, April 4 8:30-11;30PM – District Grants Management Seminar at Family Means in Stillwater.
Check out President Dennis Connolly’s Monday emails for a complete list of upcoming events.
Cindy Carlson reminded us to be on the lookout for Live Auction, Mini-Raffle and Dine-Around-Town items for the Gold Plate Dinner.
Nils Friberg announced an arrangement by which individual NBMV Rotarian’s additional contributions to the Rotary Foundation’s Polio Plus fund will earn DOUBLE Foundation recognition points. This will get you to the next Paul Harris recognition level sooner! See Nils for more information.
President Dennis asked us to think about how we might respond if schools are closed due to the Corona virus pandemic. One problem would be that many students rely on the school’s free lunch programs for adequate daily nutrition. There may be other issues as well. Dennis welcomes your ideas on how we could be of service in our community as the virus spreads.
Dennis noted that he has a new granddaughter, Emily, born last Saturday.
Mary Stewart introduced Angela Fredrickson, Market Manager for the New Brighton Farmer’s Market. In January of 2016, a meeting was held to investigate the possibility of a Farmer’s Market in New Brighton. In March of that year, Angela and 3 others dedicated themselves to idea and by June of the same year the Farmer’s market had opened for business on Wednesday’s from 3-7PM in the parking lot of the United Theological Seminary. The Farmer’s Market remained at that location until 2019 when the Seminary moved to a new location and the new owner of the property could no longer accommodate the Market. Fortunately, the City of New Brighton Parks and Recreation Department offered to partner with the Market by offering to host the Market in the Community Center parking lot. The new location and the support of the city have been extremely beneficial for the Farmer’s Market, leading to much higher traffic (often 1,000 or more patrons on a nice summer evening) and a larger number of vendors and activities for those attending the market. It also allows the Market to be open on the second Wednesday of the winter months from 3-7PM. Because of the increased activity, more volunteers are needed to supplement their five regular volunteers.
Angela is looking forward to 501(c)(3) non-profit status and the addition of SNAP and Electronic Benefits Transfer to make the healthy foods at the Market more available to those with public assistance. Angela also looks forward to expansion of the popular weekly “themes”, entertainment options, food trucks, etc. One very popular program is the “POP” (Power of Produce) program where kids receive a $2 token to spend on the produce of their choice. This program successfully encourages kids to try new healthy foods. Farmer’s Market Sponsorships are available from just $100 up to $1,000 and sponsors are recognized in several ways. Visit the Facebook Page to find out more. Mary and Angela are shown below.
