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Tourism / Madison Area Chamber of Commerce
The Madison Area Chamber of Commerce is made up of about
120 businesses and individuals who are concerned about keeping the City of
Madison active and networking with each business. They support approximately 18
promotions a year. Some of these are Ag Day, Bird Watching Weekend, Summerfest,
Golf Benefit and Health Fair, Heritage Day, Stinker Days, Octoberfest and
Norsefest, and a Christmas Promotion.
The Chamber is made up of several
working groups such as the Board of Directors who meet monthly and makes all of
the decisions on the budget and is in charge of the Quarterly meetings. At the
Quarterly meetings there is usually a speaker on a topic of interest as well as
a general meeting of the entire Chamber.
A Retail Committee which plans
and works on most of the promotions, makes decisions on store hours and assists
the Board of Directors in many ways.
The Marketing Committee makes
decisions about what specialty items should be purchased to sell and the
advertising for each promotion. This committee also acts on economic
development ideas and strives for more tourism for our area.
The
Ambassadors are the social arm of the Chamber. Ambassadors do ribbon cuttings
for new businesses, Business After Hours, annual meeting and party and any
other social affairs necessary.
Each year, a local resident is named
the years "Outstanding Citizen" and their photo is displayed in the Madison
City Hall.
The Chamber office may be
reached by calling (320) 598-7301. Please leave a voicemail message, and your
call will be returned. The Chamber web site may be found by following
this link to www.madisonmn.info
Madison
Area Chamber of Commerce 623 Third St
West Madison, MN 56256 |
Author Robert
Bly
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Robert Bly was born in western
Minnesota in 1926 to parents of Norwegian heritage. He enlisted in the Navy
in 1944 and spent two years there. After one year at St. Olaf College in
Minnesota, he transferred to Harvard and thereby joined the famous group of
writers who were undergraduates at that time. This group included Donald Hall,
Adrienne Rich, Kenneth Koch, John Ashbery, Harold Brodky, George Plimpton, and
John Hawkes. He graduated in 1950, and spent the next few years in New York
living, as they say, hand to mouth. Beginning in 1954, he took two years at the
University of Iowa at the Writers Workshop along with W.D. Snodgrass,
Donald Justice, and others. |
In 1956, he received a
Fulbright grant to travel to Norway and translate Norwegian poetry into
English. While there, he found not only his relatives, but also the work of a
number of major poets whose force was not present in the United States, among
Pablo Neruda, Cesar Vallejo, Gunnar Ekelof, Georg Trakl, and Harry Martinson.
He determined to start a literary magazine for poetry translation in the United
States, and so begin The Fifties, The Sixties, and The Seventies, which
introduced many of these poets to the writers of his generation, as well as
publishing essays on Americans and insults to those deserving. During this
time, he lived on a farm in Minnesota with his wife and children.
In
1966, he Co-founded American Writers Against The Vietnam War and led much of
the opposition among writers to that war. When he won the National Book Award
for The Light Around the Body, he contributed the prize money to the
Resistance.
During the 70s, he published eleven books of poetry,
essays, and translations, celebrating the power of myth, Indian ecstatic
poetry, meditation, and storytelling.
During the 80s, he published
Loving a Woman in Two Worlds, The Winged Life: Selected Poems and Prose of
Thoreau, The Man in the Black Coat Turns, and A Little Book on the Human
Shadow. His work from John: A Book About Men is an international bestseller,
which has been translated into many languages.
In the early 90s, Bly,
James Hillman, and Michael Meade edited The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart, an
anthology of poems from the mens work. Since then he has edited The
Darkness Around Us Is Deep: Selected Poems of William Stafford, and The Soul Is
Here for Its Own, a collection of sacred poetry from many cultures. His most
recent books of poems are What Have I Ever Lost by Dying? Collected Poems,
Prose, and Meditations on the Insatiable Soul, both published by Harper
Collins. His second large prose book, The Sibling Society, published by
Addison-Wesley, is subject to nationwide discussion.
He frequently
does workshops for men with James Hillman and others, and workshops for men and
women with Marion Woodman. He and his wife Ruth, along with storyteller Gioia
Timpanelli, frequently conduct seminars on European fairy tales.
Visit robertbly.com for more
information about him.
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Museum
Location: South Highway #75 Madison, Minnesota 56256
Mission: To represent visually and chronologically the
priceless heritage of Lac qui Parle County.
To collect, preserve and document all relics and history and place
them in a fireproof, temperature and humidity-controlled building for
safe-keeping.
Hours: May - September Week Days: 9:00a.m. -
4:30p.m. Sunday afternoons: 1:30 - 5:00 p.m. other by appointment
Staff: One full time employee and volunteers
Admission: Free Donations
Membership: $3 per person, $5 couple, $50 Life
membership
Events: Quilt Show, June 28th 1:30 - 5:00
p.m. Heritage Day, July 27th 1:30 - 5:00
General: The complex consists of four separate
buildings; a 10,000 sq. ft. Educational Museum; an 1870's Log Cabin furnished
for that period; a Rural Schoolhouse built in ca.1887, equipped for that period
through the early 1900's; and an Agricultural machinery, tools and early
transportation exhibit building.
Important facets: 294 Personality Dolls in
enclosed display cases 3,000 pc. Salt & Pepper Shaker collection
20 pc. Mounted Big Game, Wildlife & Flora & Fauna Large
Military display of all wars from the Civil War to Desert Storm Native
American Artifacts display Township Row - contains 22 individual
displays A "Century of Education" Schools display
Other places in area: Lac qui Parle Village, settled in
1868 Lac qui Parle Mission Site established in 1835 Camp Release Monument
in first Minnesota State Park
Lutefisk
Capital
Known as "Lutefisk Capital
USA," Madison is most famous for this Scandinavian delicacy. Lutefisk is made
from codfish prepared according to ethnic Nordic tradition. One of many
traditional foods brought from the "old country," lutefisk is referred to with
great humor by those who love to eat it as well as those who refuse it! Come in
November for the annual lutefisk dinner and a weekend of festivities
celebrating Madison's Scandinavian heritage.
Hunting
The Madison/Lac qui Parle region is a hunters'
paradise for deer and waterfowl. As part of the flyway for the annual migration
of the Canada Goose it is especially appealing to goose hunters. A
hunting/fishing trip to Madison is one of Minnesota's best kept secrets.
For those preferring to hunt birds with binoculars and cameras, there is
Salt Lake to the west of Madison Birdwatchers "flock" to the area during the
last weekend of April each year to view the hundreds of species of birds that
rest here during their spring migration. As the only salt water lake in the
state, it affords sightings of some unusual, even rare, species.
Stocked with millions of walleye fingerlings every third year, Lac qui Parle
Lake also contains some 30 other fish species. With its 42 miles of shoreline
and a handicapped accessible fishing pier, Lac qui Parle Lake is a popular
fishing destination.
Lodging
Lou's Lodge Hwy. 75 North aat 9th St. -
Madison, MN 56256 25 Units Newly Remodeled - New Furnishings - New City
Sewer & Water Air Conditioning - Cable Color Television - Direct Dial
Phones Resident Manager: 24 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week Phone:
320-598-7518
Prairie Arts Center
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The Prairie Arts Center is home to the
Lac qui Parle Players. An active local theater group, they have produced many
plays and talent shows. In addition, children's theater productions, musical
concerts, and community choir performances are held each year. World renowned
poet Robert Bly occasionally returns home to Madison and the Prairie Arts
Center for special poetry readings. |
Prairie
Waters
Prairie Waters Website
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