This week Annandale held its Annual Gala and each year the Minneapolis Aquatennial Ambassador Organization names an Honorary Commodore in recognition of volunteer service and community involvement. I was surprised and almost beyond words when they announced a man from Big Lake had been given the Annandale Commodore Award for his service in building a local dog park.
After realizing the error, it was then announced that I had been named as this year’s recipient of this award! It turns out my husband is very good at keeping secrets, as are my sons and my parents who all just “happened to stop by for dinner” at Classic Hall for the Gala that evening.
As they named the volunteer reasons for the award, I felt so many other names should have been there beside mine. For seven years the Fare for All of Annandale came with at least 20 volunteers showing up month after month to sort food, take orders, carry out packages and help everyone with a smile. Meals on Wheels needs at least 40 volunteers a month to deliver food each and every weekday to two routes in our community, the Food Shelf and the High School Cardinal Cupboard Food Pantry serves hundreds of pounds of food literally to people and students…. it takes hundreds of hands to make that load light enough to handle.
This week we will all share in Pie in the Park, Brownies with the Band, and Cake by the Lake as we celebrate with our family and friends, none of that would be possible without the bakers and EATERS of our community, and finally the Annual Field to Feast Community Dinner. The chefs and the volunteers and the people are what make this a great event and one that I am so proud to be able to play a role.
I recently watched a TED Talk given by Mel Robbins called Stop Saying That You’re Fine. She talks about your brain having all these great ideas and an emergency brake. When you have a new idea, you have five seconds to marry that with a physical action or your emergency brake will kill it. Write a note, send a text, or take a screenshot. Do something to make that idea happen.
A lot of the volunteer projects I have worked on in the last 17 years just came from a tiny idea. A conversation with a friend. An article someone read. A shared love of food or music or books. If nothing else comes from this award other than the pin and the tiara (yes, there will be a tiara….) let it be that there will be new ideas springing up throughout communities everywhere, maybe even a Dog Park!
There are three kinds of people: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say, “what happened?”
— Casey Stengel
Taste of Home columnist Sandy (Anderson) Holthaus lives on a farm in South Haven, MN with her husband, Michael, and their children Zoe, Jack and Ben. Her heart remains on the North Shore where she grew up with her parents, Art and LaVonne Anderson of Schroeder. She enjoys writing about her childhood and mixes memories with delicious helpings of home-style recipes. You can email her your thoughts and messages at sandyholthaus1010@gmail.com. She would love to hear from you.
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