Home Grants Community Programs AboutEventsMerchandiseContact

Nov 13 , 2007
For Immediate Release:

Minnesotans can visit www.mn150years.org to cast their vote for five honorary state capitals.
 
The nominations are in and Minnesota is one step closer to naming five honorary state capital communities for its sesquicentennial year. The Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission had a deluge of responses when they asked which Minnesota communities ought to be an honorary capital for a day. Now citizens across Minnesota are being encouraged to vote online at www.mn150years.org with polls closing November 26th and the designation of "honorary state capital" up for grabs until then.

Nominees cover all parts of Minnesota, from large suburban communities to the smallest of smallest town in Minnesota (Tenney, population 6). A total of 68 communities are in the running (http://www.mn150years.org/capital4aday2.html). The Sesquicentennial Commission plans to recognize each nominee during the sesquicentennial year, but in the end, only five will earn the designation "honorary capital for a day."

The five honorary capitals will be selected through a vote on the Sesquicentennial Commission's website (www.mn150years.org). As of November 12th anyone can vote five times, once for each of the five regions designated by natural areas or biomes in Minnesota. Each biome will have its own honorary capital chosen through its own online poll, hence the five honorary capitals for a day.

The 150--word nomination essays are posted at the polling site for voters to read and use to decide which communities to support in their bid for "capital for a day." The election concludes November 26th. After the votes are tallied, the Sesquicentennial Commission will announce the five winners, one in each region.

The Capital for a Day program was launched October 19th in part to raise awareness of the unique landscapes found across Minnesota. The convergence of four distinct biomes the unglaciated driftless in the southeast corner of the state, and the nationally-significant lake and river watersheds here make Minnesota's environmental landscape exceptional in the entire North American Continent.

"The Capital for a Day project not only allows us to recognize communities around the state for their importance to Minnesota's social and economic quality of life," explained Sesquicentennial Commission Executive Director Jane Leonard, "but also gives us a chance to create awareness and highlight education on what an incredible natural environment we are called upon to steward in the Upper Midwest - for ourselves but perhaps more importantly for the country and world since our ecosystem here affects so much, so far away, with water and energy resources taking front and center stage these days."

The Sesquicentennial office received over 100 nominations for the 68 communities nominated. In the Coniferous Forest of northeastern Minnesota, 12 communities were nominated; 23 in the Deciduous Forest running diagonally SE to NW across the state, 22 for the Prairie Grassland on the western border, three for the Tallgrass Aspen Parklands area of Northwestern Minnesota, and eight for the Driftless area of Southeastern Minnesota.
During the Statehood Week - May 11th -May 18th 2008-the five communities will have a designated day as honorary capital.  Each community can personalize their commemoration of the state's 150th birthday with local flavor.

At each honorary Capital for a Day, the Sesquicentennial Commission plans to help organize a recognition ceremony, including the presentation of an honorary capital designation sign, a visit by state dignitaries and a community civic engagement roundtable on the results of the Sesquicentennial Plan For Our Future meetings happening now across Minnesota and the subsequent Plan for Our Future report to be completed by May.
Throughout 2008 there will be activities across the state highlighting the assets of the natural areas and biomes that the honorary capital for a day nominees and winners represent.

For more information on the Sesquicentennial Capital for a Day program visit the Minnesota Sesquicentennial website at www.mn150years.org.  For more information on Minnesota biomes and geological areas visit the Department of Natural Resources website at http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/ecs/index.html.

Beginning in January 2008, the Sesquicentennial will be a yearlong, statewide commemoration and a catalyst, to honor the past and connect all Minnesotans in creating a thriving, innovative future.

The Minnesota Statehood Sesquicentennial Commission, created by the Legislature in 2005, has selected four major theme areas for the 150th observances: Education, Innovation, Arts & Cultures, and Health & Wellness. In addition, they will be shining the spotlight on Minnesota's natural resources and our great outdoors heritage.

The Commission is joined in this effort by the Minnesota Historical Society, the University of Minnesota, and the Minnesota State College and University System as key players, along with Explore Minnesota Tourism and other state agencies and private and non-profit partners, in organizing Minnesota's 150th anniversary.

# # #

©2007 Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission -   logo use
James J. Hill House 240 Summit Avenue St. Paul, MN  55102 - (651) 296-1870 info@mn150years.org