The 11th Annual Preston Area Community Foundation Dinner and Auction will be held Monday, March 27 at the Branding Iron Supper Club in Preston, starting with social hour at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6:30 p.m. This annual event is a great opportunity for PACF donors in the greater Preston and Fountain areas to hear about the impact their contributions are making to improve the quality of life and build stronger communities.
Highlighting the evening is guest speaker Janet Letnes Martin from Hastings, Minn. Janet is a well known author and humorist who grew up in Hillsboro, N. Dak., where the words “Norwegian and Lutheran” were synonymous. It is no surprise she graduated from Augsburg College in Minneapolis and married Neil Martin, a 100% Scandinavian-Lutheran from Newfolden, Minn. She is the mother of five daughters and has six grandchildren.
One of her most popular books which she co-authored with Suzann Nelson, Growing up Lutheran, What Does this Mean?, won the Minnesota Book Award for humor, the Minnesota Independent Publisher’s Award, and is the inspiration for the popular Church Basement Ladies musical comedies. Janet has been speaking to churches and organizations for 30 years.
Janet’s topic for the evening will be “Growing Up Rural — You Smell Barn!” which is the title of a new book she is writing. She is bound to provide many chuckles as she talks about growing up in a rural community with all of its idiosyncrasies.
During the evening, two recent grant recipients will speak about how PACF grants have made an impact on the community. Richard Keith, Fillmore Central Schools superintendent, and Kay Spangler, representing the Preston Area Arts Council, will be these speakers.
The PACF is operated under the umbrella of the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF). Kallie Rollenhagen, communications coordinator, will speak about SMIF’s work with the local foundation. Charles Aug, PACF president, will also give a brief synopsis of the past year.
There will be several opportunities to donate to the PACF at the event through silent and live auctions. All auction proceeds as well as any donations made to PACF that evening will be matched by Dan Christianson and F & M Community Bank 50 cents on the dollar. If anyone would like to donate items to the silent auction, they can be dropped off at the bank through midday on Monday, March 27. There is a display in the bank lobby now of some of the items that have been contributed.
Tickets for the PACF dinner and auction are $40 each and are available at the F&M Community Bank in Preston.