East Central Regional Library Legacy Grant SFY 2014 - SFY 2015

Arn Kind Fur Trade Tour
Long before Minnesota became a state, it was an important geographical area that connected the east to the west and played an important part in the fur trade industry. Historian Arn Kind presented six programs entitled The French Voyageur and Minnesota's Fur Trade at the following locations: Aitkin Public Library, Cambridge Public Library, Chisago Lakes Area Library, Mora Public Library, Princeton Area Library and the Sandstone Senior Center. This "living history" program was attended by 296 people.

Arn Kind has been an educator for over 35 years, both in the classroom teaching grades 4 through 12 and through his presentations to students and adults of all ages. A very important part of Arn's presentation is the artifacts, uniforms and equipment that participants were able to observe, handle, and interact with as part of their hands-on experience in living the history.

Those attending the six programs learned: how the Fur Trade started, important cultures & people in the Fur Trade, how the fur trade worked, who benefited from the fur trade, the transportation system of goods and furs, the two types of voyageurs, how the voyageur dressed, what is was like to live the life and do the job of the voyageur and how to paddle a 40 foot Montreal Canoe & portage heavy packs.

The programs were attended by people ages 5-90. Teachers, families, Boy Scout troops, senior citizens and those interested in history attended the programs. Each program lasted approximately two hours and those in attendance still lingered long after the program to talk with Arn and get a chance to see his artifacts "close up." Staff almost had to "coerce" people to leave because it was long past closing time. They did not want to leave.

Attendees not only learned about the fur trade but many also became a part of the program by participating in the presentation. They absolutely loved being a "part of history" by dressing up as a voyageur, learning how to paddle a canoe, learning how to "correctly" trade with Native Americans, all about voyageur wrestling and more. Many said "make this a two-part program, there is so much to learn" while others replied it was "a great learning experience for my homeschool children."

Straw Bale Gardening by Joel Karsten
Author and presenter, Joel Karsten, presented four programs about straw bale gardening on February 21, 2015 at the Hinckley Public Library and the Wyoming Area Library; and on March 7, 2015 at the Aitkin Public Library and the Mille Lacs Lake Community Library.

Gardening is always a popular subject and this was the perfect time to discuss gardening as people were all set to get started as soon as weather permitted. The four programs were attended by 177 people with the majority of those in attendance over the age of 55. Straw bale gardening was a new way of gardening to many people and many in attendance were totally unfamiliar with it. It provided those in attendance an alternative way of gardening. Having the actual demonstration and explanation from the presenter and author of the book, Straw Bale Gardening, made it much easier to understand for everyone than trying to comprehend the concepts from reading the book.

Many seniors have downsized and now have limited space to have a garden. Straw bale gardening offered them something new and unique. Many also expressed that they felt it was a more "natural" way of gardening and ecologically good for the environment.

Activity Highlights

Chance to Dance
Everyone is aware of the popularity of the television show, Dancing with the Stars. A proposal was brought to our Legacy Advisory Committee to have a Legacy program loosely based on this concept (minus the contest). Why not expose people to different styles of dance, give them instruction and then give them a chance to practice what they've learned by dancing to a live music performance? The next obstacle was finding a venue to host both dance instruction and live music performances. A small town in Isanti County recently opened a new community center, the Braham Event Center. After a discussion with them about what we were interested in doing and that it would be funded with Legacy funds, they said a resounding "yes." Braham, Minnesota is also situated in a strategically geographical area within our six-county library system. It is in northern Isanti County, only miles from eastern Kanabec County and also not far from Chisago and Pine County, thus enabling us to draw from a wide geographical area. We wanted to focus on the "history of dance in America." So we chose two specific time periods in history and the dances popular at that time along with a culturally specific dance and chose: 1) the 20s and 30s jazz (fox trot and swing); 2) the 1950s (swing and rhumba); and 3) Latin salsa and merengue dancing. A dance instructor from Sossy Mechanics was hired to do two hour workshops and teach each of the dances. Dance instruction was held on a Tuesday evening followed by a live band performance on Thursday evenings, giving attendees the chance to practice what they learned that week. The live band performances included: 1) Belle Amour, a jazz group, performed a mix of classic American 20s and 30s jazz standards; 2) Holy Rocka Rollerz, a classic 1950s rock 'n' roll band; and 3) Salsabrosa, a Latin, afro-cuban band. Dance workshop comments included: 1) teacher was fantastic; 2) instructor gave very clear instructions. List ONE new thing you LEARNED, SKILL you acquired, KNOWLEDGE you gained or ATTITUDE that was changed from attending this program: 1) Wonderful exchange of cultures. Love the salsa; 2) Wonderful exposure to 20s and 30s sounds and the dances that were popular then; 3) the differences between all the dances.The 3 dance workshops and 3 live band performances were attended by 419 people. Those in attendance included experienced dancers, people who had never danced before and individuals from ages 14 (minimum to attend) to age 75. Most of the individuals that came to one week of dance instruction and live performance attended all three of the programs which were held in September, October and November 2015.



Choo Choo Bob
Everyone loves trains, everyone loves music and it never hurts anyone to learn more about the history of their local area. So what better an idea than to combine the three -- trains, music and history -- with a very popular kids' television program. Local homegrown entertainer from Princeton, MN, Sam Heyn (aka Choo Choo Bob), brought the popular "The Choo Choo Bob Show," the home-grown children's television program all about trains to the Great Northern Depot in Princeton on June 23, 2015. Families and all ages were able to meet Choo Choo Bob, Engineer Emily and Engineer Paul in person. Not only were the people able to see and meet the famous "hometown boy," they were entertained with a live music performance atop an actual flatbed train car at their own historic Great Northern Depot built in 1902. It is included in the National Register of Historic Places maintained by the U.S. National Park Service. Attendees learned about the world of trains and train travel through history, laughter, music and friendship. 450 people were present at this Legacy event.