Topics this month:
Sesquicentennial Grants Program blasts off
Looking for State Fair Volunteers
Journey of the Sesquicentennial Banners
The Sesquicentennial is You!
Welcome fellow Minnesotans and friends to the first issue of the Minnesota Sesquicentennial e-newsletter. Yes. It is true. Next year Minnesota will have existed 150 years as the 32nd state in the United States of America. We are a vast and diverse state, by geography and by culture. It is a daunting challenge to capture all of who we are today, where we have come from, and where we are heading. But that is the magnificent opportunity we have before us. To reflect that diversity — of people, places, and progress.
We do intend for the Sesquicentennial to be a reflective time to commemorate our past and tell all the stories that should be told.
We intend it to be a time of celebrating who we are today as Minnesotans, and be a time of homecoming for friends and family and newcomers one and all, and a spotlight on all the innovations and progress we have made.
And we will also use the Sesquicentennial as a catalyst, to plan for and invest in our future, so that the next generations of Minnesotans can enjoy the same and even higher quality of life that our forebears left for us.
Let’s work together to commemorate, celebrate, and be the catalysts who leave a Sesquicentennial legacy.
I’m extremely proud to be the Executive Director of the Sesquicentennial Commission, a body of state and community and corporate leaders who are helping frame the Sesquicentennial outlines. But we need your help to provide the content. We need your help to tell the stories. We need your help to plan and implement the Sesquicentennial. This is not something someone else is doing for you. Something this big needs all of us to pitch in to help build, like the barn raisings of old. This is something we do together, actively, for a home we love.
What can you do? Go to our website at www.mn150years.org and register your events and programs at our clearinghouse calendar, so the Sesquicentennial reflects all of Minnesota. Apply for a Sesquicentennial grant. Download the logo and use it everywhere. Donate money and in-kind resources. Participate in the Sesquicentennial blog. Come see us at this year’s State Fair. Watch for the Sesquicentennial Community Spirit program to debut later this summer and dress up your community, organization, and business for the once-in-a-lifetime anniversary in 2008. And reserve the weekend of May 9-11, 2008 to join your fellow Minnesotans at our State Capitol for the Statehood Festival and Commemoration ceremony.
Watch our website and this newsletter for updated information. Catch the excitement as we all look forward to 2008 just ahead!
--Jane Leonard, Executive Director.Communities and organizations across Minnesota are lining up to apply for a Sesquicentennial grant. The grants program is intended to help communities and organizations create sesquicentennial activities that are meaningful to local residents and at the same time emphasize or build connections between the local community and the state as a whole. Any non-profit or local government entity or school can go to www.mn150years.org and apply for one of these matching grants to help make the Sesquicentennial memorable in every corner of the state.
The State Legislature allocated $325,000 for the grants program and the funds became available July 1. You can help make this program a success. Making a donation to the grants program is a great way to ensure the Sesquicentennial touches the lives of all Minnesotans. Because all grants must be matched by equal funds or in-kind resources, you know that any amount you give will go twice as far as it could on its own. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Sesquicentennial Grants Program by visiting our website, www.mn150years.org and clicking on “Make A Donation.”
There are two types of grants available. Up to 150 “Micro-grants” of up to $1000 each will be awarded to communities and organizations proposing an activity, event or project to promote the Sesquicentennial. At least one micro-grant will be awarded in each county in Minnesota. Groups are encouraged to collaborate across counties, as the amount increases by number of counties involved.
The second grant category will be made available to entities conducting projects that create "Sesquicentennial legacies.” These “Legacy Grants” of between $5000 and $7500 each are intended to help with enduring creations that will continue to have impact beyond the Sesquicentennial Year into succeeding generations.
July 1st marked the official launch of the Grants Program but even before that 107 grants inquiries had been sent to the Sesquicentennial office totaling over $1 million in requests. The proposed projects would return over $3 million in local investment, more than tripling the state’s contribution. But since there is just $325,000 available, Sesqui staff will continue to raise funds for additional grants because the willingness is so strong to use the Sesquicentennial as a catalyst for doing good in the communities around Minnesota.
So please consider making a contribution to this amazing program at www.mn150years.org. There you will also find the grant application and more information about the program and other Sesquicentennial activities.
The 2007 Minnesota State Fair is less than a month away and the Sesquicentennial staff is aiming to take it by storm. The Sesquicentennial’s booth has prime Fair real estate near the Grandstand. It will have giveaways each day including the staff’s favorite, “Constitutions-on-a-Stick.”
But the Sesqui staff can’t manage the booth on their own for the entire length of the fair. They need more than 100 volunteers to staff the booth over twelve days and they are hoping you can help!
Email Volunteer Coordinator Megan Jung, megan@mn150years.org and volunteer to be a part of this Sesquicentennial kick-off event. This is an easy and important way to help out now. The fair promises to be lots of fun and a great way to get everyone excited for Minnesota’s birthday in 2008. In exchange for working the booth for three hours, volunteers receive free admission to the fair for the entire day and a commemorative t-shirt.
If you cannot volunteer, make sure you come visit the Sesqui-booth on August 29th, Constitution Day, the 150th anniversary of Minnesota’s state constitution. Sesqui-volunteers will hand out “Constitutions-on-a-Stick;” fans with the two original opposing versions of the state constitution on either side.
No matter when you are at the fair, make sure to stop by the Sesquicentennial Booth. Many of the Sesquicentennial Commission members including state Senator Ann Rest and Justice Paul Anderson will be there at different times throughout the 12 days. And don’t be surprised if you find some Minnesota icons like Spammy (a human-sized can of Spam) hanging around.
Don’t forget, your help is still needed! Please consider being a part of this important lead-up event to the Sesquicentennial. Email megan@mn150years.org or call the Sesquicentennial office at (651)-290-1870.
Journey of the Sesquicentennial Banners
Two official Sesquicentennial banners are on tour, making stops at libraries across the state.
The Sesquicentennial Commission has two ambassadors that are making their way across state spreading the message that 2008 will be a year to reflect upon and commemorate all things Minnesotan. These emissaries are 3’ by 5’ banners that began their journey on May 11th, 2007 and will are visiting libraries in every county in Minnesota before returning to St. Paul on May 11th 2008 for the 150th anniversary of statehood.
Each banner is accompanied by a leather-bound journal in which visitors can write thoughts about Minnesota and the Sesquicentennial. The banners and the journal will be presented to the Governor at Statehood Weekend next May, and eventually find a new home with the Minnesota Historical Society.
In addition to drumming up interest in the Sesquicentennial, the banners’ journey is intended to highlight the importance of public libraries in Minnesotans’ daily lives. “We picked libraries to be the official host of this special Sesquicentennial banner and journal because libraries are essential to our civic and economic life as a state and in our local communities,” said Sesquicentennial Commission Executive Director Jane Leonard. “Public libraries are lifelong learning labs, filled with the information and knowledge we need to grow as individuals, to start and grow businesses, and to share a civic life with our fellow citizens who gather in those public spaces."
The first banner began its journey in May at the Rural Summit in Brainerd. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, Former First Lady Jane Freeman (whose husband, Governor Orville Freeman, was governor during the state's centennial in 1958) and Sesquicentennial Commission Vice Chairperson Reatha Clark King were among the first to sign the accompanying journal.
Visual Impact Signs, Inc. donated the two banners. They are also helping the Sesquicentennial Commission develop the Sesquicentennial Community Spirit program to debut later this fall. To find out more about banners, visit the website, www.mn150years.org.
As Minnesota’s 150th anniversary of statehood approaches, people are working hard to make sure events across the state get the attention they deserve. Sesquicentennial staffers want to know now about any events or projects you are planning for the state Sesquicentennial or for your community or organization’s anniversary in 2008.
Teaming with the state Sesquicentennial staff has many benefits
- Official “Sesquicentennial-izing” of your project or event
- Use of the official state Sesquicentennial logo
- Inclusion in the official www.mn150years.org calendar
- The chance to work with the state’s Sesquicentennial media campaign
- Networking opportunities with other events across the state
It is easy to submit information to the Sesquicentennial website. Just email events@mn150years.org with the event title, time & date, location (full address) and a brief description. Or call (651)-296-1870 and talk to one of the Sesqui-staff.
Make sure to check the Sesquicentennial calendar at www.mn150years.org regularly to find new events and celebrations across the state!
Image credits: The drawing of the state fair booth is an "artist interpretation" of what the Sesquicentennial State Fair booth might look like by Shauna Connelly. The picture of the Sesquicentennial Banner (it's the same one that's going around to the libraries) was taken at the Mountain Iron Fourth of July parade and given to us by Arrowhead Library System Director Jim Weikum.
©2007 Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission
James J. Hill House 240 Summit Avenue St. Paul, MN 55102 - (651) 296-1870 info@mn150years.org