Registration for the forum is free, and can be found at http://communityengagement.und.edu.  The website also includes a schedule for the day of the forum. Dan Svedarsky, director of the U of M, Crookston Center for Sustainability, and Chris May, NW Clean Energy Resource Team coordinator, are panelists.  Deb Zak, Extnsion Regional Director, and Linda Kingery, executive director of the NW RSDP, will facilitate an afternoon session, as will Ben Anderson, Extension Regional director in the Moorhead office. 

The forum will focus on civic, economic, and environmental sustainability, addressing topics such as smart government, new business ownership models, and changes in agriculture and energy.  As hosts of the forum, Warren will have the opportunity to showcase its own town story and their efforts toward creating more sustainable practices in their community such as becoming a GreenStep City.  Warren will also highlight their unique assets with their downtown businesses and nearby Audubon wildlife preserve.  Participants will have the opportunity to network and view exhibits of different regional projects, agencies, and resources.  

The forum will be held in the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo School.  There will be free transportation available for UND participants on the day of the forum to travel to Warren; the bus will leave Memorial Union at 8 AM.  Warren is about 30 miles northeast of Grand Forks.  

About the Center:  The UND Center for Community Engagement links academic resources with community needs by connecting students and faculty to teaching and research projects off campus.  It was created by an act of the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education in 2004.  The Center serves as a catalyst for faculty and students to learn from and with nonprofit organizations, rural communities, tribal communities, and other public partners through local and regional initiatives.  

About Community Connect:  The Community Connect project provides opportunities for rural communities to work together with UND faculty and students on the challenges and opportunities in our region.  There are three components to the Community Connect project - a community-university forum, a print journal, and a website with an online academic journal.  

About our sponsors:  The Community Connect project is supported in part by a grant from the Otto Bremer Foundation and sponsorships from the United Valley Bank, the Northwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnership, the Farmers Union Insurance, and private donations. 

Funding for the design project comes from the U of M's Northwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnership (RSDP) and Polk County Public Health's Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP).  

Polk County Public Health is focusing on active living through its Statewide Health Improvement Plan work, and natural play spaces are an excellent way for families to be active together.  

A natural play space is a playground that uses things found in nature - the kind of things that children used to find on their own.  Getting help with the design of the space will ensure that it is not only fun, but also safe, and aesthetically pleasing.  The design portion of the project will be completed by May 1 in time for the community to move from design to action during the summer of 2013.  This coincides with progress on the FIT trail.  

"Fosston aspires to be one of the best communities in the state of Minnesota to live and do business.  That's why the Fosston Economic Development Authority (FEDA) went after the natural play space grants," said Mark Finstad, FEDA board chair.  Fosston City Administrator Chuck Lucken agrees, saying "Fosston has a long tradition of finding ways to improve the community.  This project will provide a safe natural play space for children and their families and friends of all ages."  

The Fosston Athenian Club, a member of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, voted at their December meeting to take the lead for engaging the community in the process of designing the natural play space.  Club president Sue Balstad said, "This project is a perfect match with our Club Collect to be large in thought, word, and deed.  We look forward to convening a meeting to engage the Fosston community in this important project."  

The Northwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnership (NWRSDP) serves the people in northwestern Minnesota as they experiment with innovative ideas, build and strengthen relationships and take practical steps into a hopeful future.  For more details see http://rsdp.umn.edu/northwest. 

vegetables among K-12 students, according to an Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy survey of school food service leaders. Getting these locally grown foods on the menus of schools and other institutions such as hospitals and childcare centers requires cross-sector partnerships, community support and relationship building. The Northwest Region Workshop  is one of eight Farm to Cafeteria workshops taking place across the state between February and April. 

The workshops are designed to meet the needs of the region and strengthen connections to advance partnerships between local farmers and community institutions. Farm to Cafeteria builds strong communities, healthy people and resilient local farms, creating a "win-win" for all parties. This year's gatherings build on an earlier round of Farm to Cafeteria workshops. In 2010, more than 600 Minnesotans attended eight regional workshops that were aimed to inspire, inform and build support for local food to local institutions.

The workshop in Mahnomen will include peer-learning though presentations of practical experience and innovation in the region; panel discussion about making farm to cafeteria work for the farmers and the cafeterias; presentation on contracts and agreements between farmers and cafeterias; and tools and resources for strengthening community food systems.  We'll enjoy a supper meal and generous time for networking.  

"When schools buy food from nearby producers, their purchasing power helps create local jobs nd economic benefits, particularly in rural agricultural communities," said USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan. "Evidence also suggests that when kids understand more about

where food comes from and how it's produced, they are more likely to make healthy eating

choices."

The 2013 workshops are coordinated by University of Minnesota Extension in partnership with

the Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, Statewide Health Improvement Program and Renewing the Countryside, and funded by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.

For more information and to register, visit www.extension.umn.edu/go/1132. Contact Linda Kingery at kinge002@umn.edu or 218-281-8697 for more information on the Northwest Regional Farm to Cafeteria Workshop. 

For information on Minnesota Farm to School, visit www.extension.umn.edu/farm-to-school.

The first session of the series will be held on the evening of Tuesday, January 22, 2013, and will continue on Tuesday evenings through mid-March. The series will be available via webinar at several locations throughout northern and central Minnesota, and may also be viewed at a home computer. Registration is FREE, $25 for printed materials for the entire series mailed to you, and $15 for the Beginner Growers Manual. 

Session topics include: "Beyond the Soil Survey Book"; "Efficient Irrigation"; "Weed Suppression and Control"; "Seeds and Seed Selection"; "Business Planning"; "Working Together for a Regional Food Hub"; "Preservation"; and "Farmers' Markets and Merchandising". 

Participants will learn from practitioners, educators, and those involved in the growing movement to build resilient local foods systems. Participants will choose their viewing location as well as the sessions they wish to attend. 

Host sites will be available in Bagley, Baudette, Bemidji, Crookston, Fergus Falls, Moorhead, Park Rapids, Staples, and Thief River Falls. The series may also be viewed at your own location. 

The Local Foods College is part of a movement to strengthen local and regional food systems. The 2013 Local Foods College is sponsored by the University of Minnesota Extension and the Statewide Health Improvement Program. To learn more, visit www.localfoods.umn.edu. 

For more detailed information and registration, visit: http://localfoods.umn.edu/college or call 888-241-0781. 

Join Atina Diffley, former co-owner of Gardens of Eagan and now official WholesaleSuccess trainer, for a day-long workshop devoted to learning about wholesale marketing and post-harvest handling of fruits and vegetables:  cleaning, cooling, packing, storage, transport, sanitation, and more!  Atina draws on her decades of experience in large-scale vegetable production and marketing to provide operators of produce farms of any size with useful, practical, profit-making guidance on how to achieve the highest quality produce for sale.

Workshop attendees will receive a free copy of Wholesale Success: A Farmer's Guide to Selling, Post-Harvest Handling, and Packing Produce, published by FamilyFarmed (www.familyfarmed.org).  Normally a $55 value, this 250+-page manual is newly updated, revised, and in its third printing. It includes more than 100 crop profiles with crop-specific information on harvesting, cooling, storing, and packaging according to industry standards.

Farmer-Buyer Networking will be part of the day's events, coordinated by Renewing the Countryside. Farmers and potential wholesale buyers will have an opportunity to meet each other, learn about each other's interests in locally grown produce, and exchange contact information. These sessions will take place during the last hour and a half at each location. Farmers and buyers who want to attend just the networking session may attend that session only for free.

Workshop co-sponsors and collaborators include the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, FamilyFarmed.org, Renewing the Countryside, Riverwalk Market Fair, Crow River Chapter of the Sustainable Farming Association, Minnesota Farmers Market Association, the Northwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnership, and University of Minnesota Extension; with funding support from the USDA Risk Management Agency and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant.

Cost to attend the workshop will be $15 per person; refreshments and lunch will be provided. An online registration form and workshop brochures are on the MISA website at www.misa.umn.edu.  You can also register with MISA by phone:  800-909-6472; or by email: misamail@umn.edu.  

For more information about these workshops, contact the MISA office, 800-909-6472 or misamail@umn.edu

In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability.  To file a complaint of discrimination, contact USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Civil Rights, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, D.C., 02050-9410 or call  1-866-632-9992 Toll Free; or  1-800-877-8339 Federal Relay Service;  or  1-800-845-6136 (In Spanish); or 1-800 795-3272 between the hours of 8:30 am and 5:00 pm Eastern Standard Time; or (TDD) 720-2600. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Honoring those who have aided in the development of the University of Minnesota, Crookston, the Northwest Research and Outreach Center (NWROC), and Extension is the purpose of the Torch & Shield award. This celebration of leadership is the highest honor presented by the Crookston campus and a special recognition event was held on Wednesday, November 7, 2012, on the campus.

The Torch & Shield award recipients for 2012 include Alan Cattanach, general agronomist at American Crystal Sugar Company in Moorhead, Minn.; Wayne Goeken, director of the International Water Institute's Center for Watershed Education; and Otter Tail Power Company, whose headquarters are located in Fergus Falls, Minn.

Alan Cattanach (left) has worked in cooperative research efforts in the past with 8 scientists from Northwest Research and Outreach Center and 6 from the University of Minnesota, St. Paul. He has served on U of M search committees and Extension planning teams and committees. He has participated in numerous sugarbeet and soil fertility extension meetings with other U of M Extension specialists and county extension agents and served as liaison to NWROC and St. Paul campus scientists for Sugarbeet research programs of interest to American Crystal Sugar Company.

Working as part of the Sugarbeet Research and Education Board of Minnesota and North Dakota, Cattanach has helped to provide extensive funding of projects at the NWROC and to St Paul campus scientists, as well as involved in an EPA grant partnership with NWROC (Biological control of Cercospora Leafspot) and provided gift funds to NWROC in support of sugarbeet research projects.

He earned his doctorate in soil science from the University of Minnesota, and master's of science, and bachelor's of science also in soil science from North Dakota State University (NDSU) and University of Wisconsin-Madison respectively. He has been general agronomist at American Crystal Sugar Company since July 1998 and prior to that worked for North Dakota State University and the U of M as Extension sugabeet specialist. 

Over the years, Wayne Goeken (left) has worked with a number of personnel at the U of M, Crookston primarily with River Watch and watershed education and monitoring efforts. Recently he has worked with associate professors Katy Smith and Brian Dingmann on a river sediment research project involving high school and university students. 

Goeken has been involved in ongoing work with the Northwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnership and Executive Director Linda Kingery in promoting the Red Lake River Enhancement Project, including leading a canoe/kayak trip of the entire 195-mile length of the Red Lake River to raise awareness of its cultural attributes and recreational potential. He continues to work with the NRSDP on development of initiatives to connect people to nature, especially children, including promoting nature-based interactive play spaces for children.

He coordinates the annual River Watch Forum on the U of M, Crookston campus during spring break, with high school River Watch teams coming from 25 schools throughout the Red River Basin to share their results and learn about current topics in watershed science. He also conducts annual training and certification workshops each spring for personnel from natural resource agencies who are involved in water quality monitoring, the only certification program of its type in Minnesota.

Goeken earned his bachelor of science in agribusiness and his master of science in economics from South Dakota State University in Brookings.

 

Named for the river that provided its first source of power, Otter Tail Power Company was 

incorporated in 1907. The company began producing electricity in 1909 at Dayton Hollow Dam on the Otter Tail River near Fergus Falls, Minnesota, and home to the company's headquarters.

Today, Otter Tail Power Company is a subsidiary of Otter Tail Corporation. Its approximately 790 employees provide electricity and energy services to more than 129,000 customers in 422 communities and in rural areas in an un-crowded 70,000-square-mile service area in western Minnesota, eastern North Dakota, and northeastern South Dakota. The company has customer service centers in Crookston and ten other communities in its service area.

Otter Tail Power Company's mission is to produce and deliver electricity as reliably, economically, and environmentally responsibly as possible to the balanced benefit of customers, shareholders, and employees and to improve the quality of life in the area in which we do business. To learn more about Otter Tail Power Company visit www.otpco.com.

Otter Tail Power Company has supported the University of Minnesota, Crookston over the years through scholarships, the Campus Energy Challenge, and various sponsorships. 

Cris Oehler director of public relations for Otter Tail, accepted the award on behalf of Otter Tail Power Company. 

The Torch & Shield Award honors contributions of significance to higher education, the Crookston campus, and the region; recognizes champions of the U of M, Crookston, NWROC, and Extension for their impact on the region through teaching, research, and outreach; and distinguishes both high profile individuals and those who have been "quiet" contributors to the success of the Crookston campus. For more information, visit www.umcrookston.edu/torchandshield.

 

Today the University of Minnesota, Crookston delivers 26 bachelor's degree programs, 18 minors, and 39 concentrations on campus--as well as 10 degrees online--in the areas of agriculture and natural resources; business; liberal arts and education; and math, science and technology.  With an enrollment of 1,800 undergraduates from 25 countries and 40 states, the Crookston campus offers a supportive, close-knit atmosphere that leads to a prestigious University of Minnesota degree.  "Small Campus. Big Degree."  To learn more, visit www.umcrookston.edu.

The morning offers presentations by staff from the U of M, Crookston and local partners covering planning, installation, and the programming aspects of nature-based play spaces. In the afternoon, break-out discussions will address specific areas of interest to help move projects forward no matter what stage they are in currently. 

For more information, contact Marlne LeBlanc at the Extension Regional Center at 218-281-8696 or mleblanc@umn.edu. 

Today the University of Minnesota, Crookston delivers 26 bachelor's degree programs, 18 minors, and 39 concentrations on campus--as well as 10 degrees online--in the areas of agriculture and natural resources; business; liberal arts and education; and math, science and technology.  With an enrollment of 1,800 undergraduates from 25 countries and 40 states, the Crookston campus offers a supportive, close-knit atmosphere that leads to a prestigious University of Minnesota degree.  "Small Campus. Big Degree."  To learn more, visit www.umcrookston.edu.

Abbey Wemimo II, a junior majoring in business management and organizational psychology at the University of Minnesota, Crookston, is motivated through many principles he learned from his mother and a passion for research. Wemimo is working this summer on an internship with the University in the Northwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnership (NWRSDP). An international student from Legos, Nigeria, Wemimo has been fascinated with the area of business since high school. 

Selling candy bars for fundraising initiatives in Nigeria, business was engrained into Wemimo at an early age. He highlights his time at the U of M, Crookston as a privilege and an opportunity to continue one of his many passions. During his experience thus far at UMC, Wemimo has been involved in many clubs and organizations such as the Crookston Student Association (CSA), Students' in Free Enterprise (SIFE), National Society of Leadership and Success, and the Lion's Club. 

"I'm an ardent believer that servant leadership should be a strong core of a businessman", Wemimo says. Quoting a practice of leadership from Robert K. Greenleaf, Wemimo prioritizes his efforts to give back to the community and country back home.

 Being an international student he still remembers difficulties in sourcing water, food, and even shelter; all the necessities that our society today often takes for granted. Recognizing an obligation to give back, Wemimo engages in his greatest core competency, research. 

During his attendance at UMC, Wemimo has been granted opportunities that span far beyond his imagination. In collaborative research with the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) and Undergraduate Research Opportunities, Crookston (UROC), Wemimo has received two grants to conduct research projects regarding various topics of his choice. Following completion of the first research project, Wemimo was graciously selected as one of two students in the entire University of Minnesota system to travel to Edmonton, Canada, to present their projects for the country to see. 

"UMC has offered me a lot and research is just one of them and the privileges to work on campus and conduct research has been beyond my imagination and just wonderful", Wemimo says. 

 

Wemimo heard about an internship on campus through UMC e-mail highlighting the importance of research. Of course, without hesitating, Wemimo jumped on the opportunity and applied. Following a series of formal interviews, Wemimo was granted the internship and began work inside the NWRSDP office with fellow UMC students Tashi Gurung, Alex Buscher, and Kate Holmquist. While Wemimo's internship position is research focused, work efforts have included qualitative data comparisons and research papers highlighting residential communities, food availabilities, and energy consumption through data sets ranging from 1992 to 2010.

The University of Minnesota Crookston offers on-campus internships for students of all majors and minors. To learn more about the Northwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnership and how sustainability is applied across the Northwest region visit: http://www.rsdp.umn.edu/northwest/index.htm. 

Today the University of Minnesota, Crookston delivers 26 bachelor's degree programs, 18 minors, and 36 concentrations, including 10 online degrees, in the areas of agriculture and natural resources; business; liberal arts and education; and math, science and technology.  With an enrollment of 1,600 undergraduates from 25 countries and 40 states, the Crookston campus offers a supportive, close-knit atmosphere that leads to a prestigious University of Minnesota degree.  "Small Campus. Big Degree."  To learn more, visit www.umcrookston.edu. 

 

Northwest Clean Energy Resource Team (NW CERT), Minnesota Ice Arena Managers Association (MIAMA), and Minnesota Association of Small Cities (MAOSC) are co-hosting a free event for local units of government August 15th 1pm - 4pm in East Grand Forks. This free event will focus on financing tools and opportunities that are currently available to assist local governments and public school districts in funding clean energy projects in northwestern Minnesota.  We'll hear from folks at East Grand Forks Ice Arena and other ice arenas to learn how they have saved energy and money, and how your community can do the same!

 

This free event is relevant for counties, cities, municipalities, school districts, townships, municipal utilities, and other local units of government in northwestern Minnesota. 

 

We'll discuss: What funding is available? How do you do it? How have other local governments approached and accomplished such projects? 

 

Learn more, see the agenda, and register online at http://nwlocalgovt.eventbrite.com

or call 612-626-0555.

The Clean Energy Resource Teams--or CERTs--are a non-partisan, non-advocacy group that works with citizens across the state to strengthen their communities by supporting money-saving energy efficiency projects and building entrepreneurship around Minnesota's growing renewable energy industries.