Southwest Minnesota is truly an award-winning, shining star!
I had the honor of being able to attend the Siehl Price for Excellence in Agriculture award presentation at the McNamara Alumni Center on the U of M Minneapolis campus yesterday. Our very own Sandy Ludeman received the 2010 award for Production Agriculture. We are richly blessed to have such a leader as the Chair of SWIF’s Board. Read about Sandy’s nomination to learn more.
And, I am also thrilled to inform you that last night, YES! received the 2010 Minnesota Environmental Initiative Award for Environmental Education at the Nicollet Island Pavilion in Minneapolis! What a great event. It was like being at the Emmy Awards. We were one of three finalists, making it a special moment when they opened the envelope to announce the winner. YES! includes many great partners including Prairie Woods Environmental Learning Center, Prairie Ecology Bus Center, Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, MN Renewable Energy Marketplace – Alliance for Talent Development and most importantly, the youth participating in our 2009-2010 Teams:
- Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City High School
- BOLD High School
- Eden Valley-Watkins High School
- Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop High School
- Hutchinson High School
- Lac qui Parle Valley High School
- Litchfield High School
- Marshall Area High School
- Morris Area High School
- New London-Spicer Middle School
- New Ulm Public High School
- The New Ulm Putting Green
- Ortonville High School
- Redwood Falls Area High School
- St. James High School
- Springfield High School
- Tracy Area High School
- Westbrook-Walnut Grove High School
- Willmar High School
- Windom Area High School
Check out the award program to learn more about other finalists.
Sherry Ristau is the President/CEO of the Southwest Initiative Foundation, where she oversees more than $55 million in total financial assets. Sherry is highly committed to rural Minnesota. She especially strives to celebrate, inspire and advocate for southwest Minnesota’s many great social and economic assets.
