Lt. Governor Tina Smith visited Grand Marais on Friday, September 16 as part of the “87 Counties in 85 Days Tour” that she and Governor Mark Dayton have undertaken. She heard a report on Cook County’s Great Place Project and got to try out one of the project’s offerings, the ping-pong table on the library lawn. She gave Grand Marais Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux a bit of a challenge.
Starting at the beginning of August, Governor Mark Dayton and Lt. Governor Tina Smith began the “87 Counties in 86 Days” tour, with one of them visiting every Minnesota county. The tour should end on or before October 25.
On Friday, September 16, Lt. Governor Smith visited Grand Marais to meet with local government officials and business people to learn more about the county’s Great Place Project.
The stop in Grand Marais was probably one of the most enjoyable as community members greeted her on the Grand Marais Public Library lawn.
There representatives of the partners on the Great Place Project—Jim Boyd of the Cook County Chamber of Commerce and Maren Webb of the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic Moving Matters program— described some of the projects funded by the Great Place Project.
Webb noted that the purpose of the Great Place Project is to encourage active living. She told the lt. governor that this year’s theme was “playability.”
One of the projects funded by the Great Place Project—the pingpong table on the library lawn—was then put to use with Smith playing a bit with Grand Marais Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux and with Lutsen resident Ann Possis.
As she put down the ping-pong paddle, Smith quipped, “This is much better than spending the day speech-writing!”
After chatting on the library lawn about other Great Place Projects such as a colorful rest area for bicyclists at Lockport Marketplace in Lutsen; wooden benches at the wildflower sanctuary near Hedstrom Lumber Company; and the community paint-by-number mural being installed on the blank exterior wall of Birchbark Books, the lt. governor and her staff walked along Highway 61 to Voyageur Brewing Company.
During the walk, the lt. governor was filled in on plans for improvements to the Highway 61 corridor to make it more pedestrian-friendly.
The discussion continued over a delicious light lunch at the Brewery, with the lt. governor and staffers Yolanda Burckhardt, Sam Fettig, and Madelyn Nelson listening to compliments and concerns from representatives of the city of Grand Marais, North Shore Health, Sawtooth Mountain Clinic, the Cook County Chamber and the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
Much of the discussion focused on the Moving Matters program and Lt. Governor Smith said Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Edward Ehlinger’s catchphrase is “Health in all things.”
She said active, healthy living should be considered in all decisions impacting Minnesotans.
There was talk of other issues such as the tourism economy of Grand Marais and the excitement over the recent work to highlight the arts tourism of the county. The lack of housing and a childcare crunch were also discussed. Lt. Governor Smith said she will be excited to hear what comes of Cook County’s current housing initiatives. “It is all connected,” she said. “Jobs, housing and childcare are all critical.”
Chamber Director Boyd pointed out that Greater Minnesota is made up of “lots of little villages.” He told the lt. governor that creates a problem when Cook County and other rural areas apply for state programs because they are frequently based on population of a city or town. He asked Smith to see if that could somehow be considered when programs are established. “We have 5,000 people spread out throughout our county. All of these people are working, they have businesses,” said Boyd. “They need the same support as the metro areas.”
After a tour of the Voyageur Brewing Company operations, the lt. governor’s staff announced that it was time to head down the road to visit another county.
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