There was community spirit in the air during the Lanesboro Area Community Foundation (LACF) annual banquet held on April 7, 2024.
The banquet, which was held at the Lanesboro Community Center, is an annual event that the city of Lanesboro and the surrounding area have come to look forward to with anticipation each spring.
Highlights of this year’s banquet included speaker Laura Kubes. Kubes is a former television meteorologist from the Twin Ccities area who now lives near Spring Grove, Minn., and owns Hidden Springs Peony Farm with her husband Bryan.
Kubes talked about small communities and the parallels to meteorology. “There are a lot of parallels that have come with that. The weather patterns that ebb and flow between sunny days when we are all celebrating, and stormy days when we have to come together is very similar to me as the way a community works.
You can find out more about the Kubes story by visiting their website, hiddenspringspeonyfarm.com, or stopping by Hidden Springs Peony Farm in person.
Tim Penny, President and CEO of Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF), which is the fiscal agent for LACF, also spoke at the banquet. He explained that SMIF focuses their work in three areas including early childhood needs here in southeastern and south-central Minnesota, entrepreneurship, including loans for business start-ups and more “to grow a new economy here in our state,” and the third area of concentration of funds is dedicated just to small towns including a Paint the Town program, a Small Town Grant program and many other opportunities.
Musical entertainment was provided by Lanesboro Public School’s band director, Anna Courbat and her husband Kohl as well as two mother/son performances by Jackson Holmen and his mom Tara, and Oliver Kling-Punt and his mom Sara.
Attendees enjoyed a delicious meal featuring beef and salmon, which was catered by the Lanesboro Pastry Shoppe including a mouthwatering marble cake for dessert.
A live “Paddle Up” fundraising auction was quite entertaining with Steve “Ike” Wangen as the guest auctioneer, who raised a few thousand dollars within minutes.
There was also a silent auction with many wonderful and useful items donated to support the community. Items included handmade quilts, metal sculpture, gift cards, cutting boards, and more.
An exciting part of the evening was the announcement of 19 grant recipients. LACF awarded $26,400 this grant cycle, which included $5,700 matching funds from SMIF’s Capacity Building Program.
Grant recipients in this round included Lanesboro Area Chamber of Commerce, Lanesboro School FFA, Lanesboro Elementary School, Rhubarbfest, History Alive Lanesboro, Lanesboro Public Library, Sons of Norway Lodge, Lanesboro Child Care Center, Lanesboro Park Board, Buffalo Bill Days, Lanesboro Fire Department, Commonweal Theatre, City of Whalan, Lanesboro Museum, Fillmore County Ag Society, Lanesboro Community Theatre, Lanesboro Public School, Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center and Lanesboro Arts.
Between the fall 2023 grant round and the spring 2024 grant round, LACF has awarded over $40,000 in grants.
As the evening came to a close, the LACF Board of Directors gathered by the exit doors to personally thank everyone for attending, and also sent them home with a sweet treat! Each attendee was able to choose from a variety of cookies made by Clara’s Eatery of Lanesboro. Door prizes included the centerpiece flowers from each table.
The LACF Board of Directors wholeheartedly thanked all of the businesses, organizations and individuals who donated their time, money and talents to this year’s annual banquet. They could not have done it without your support!
The preliminary amount raised in association with the 2024 LACF Annual Banquet was approximately $12,000, which will go a long way in the next grant round.
LACF is a 501(c) non-profit organization whose Mission Statement is “To be a good neighbor by investing in the vitality of the people and community of Lanesboro. We will accomplish our mission through flexible, inclusive and innovative investments that meet community needs and advance community health,” and the funds raised and the connections made during the LACF Annual Banquet go a long way in meeting the mission statement.
Tom Smith, President of the LACF Board of Directors, was happy to see so many area residents come out to show their support. “I thought it went very well; good crowd, good food, people enjoyed it and we raised some money,” stated Smith.
LACF looks forward to supporting many more projects in the community in the future because of your supporting LACF today.
For more information on LACF visit smifoundation.org/Lanesboro/.