A sneak preview of the lineup for Our Storied River, Oct. 1
All summer, we've been listening to stories from people whose lives have been changed by the river. We're so excited to share a few with you at our online gala — An Evening Celebrating the Mississippi River: Our Storied River on October 1 at 7:00 p.m. RSVP today and read on for a sneak peek.
Our lineup of featured river stories
From FMR
Peter and Trevor, our Water Program staff, pose with their dogs as they film a segment for our fall gala on their work to ensure clean drinking water for all Minnesotans. (Photo by Tom Reiter)
We'll virtually take you to four metro river spots that FMR has changed, and are also personally meaningful to individual staff and board members. Envision with us an equitable North Minneapolis, learn what inspires our education program staff, find out which of us got engaged at an FMR habitat restoration site, and meet two of our beloved office dogs.
From the community
The Mississippi River gives so much to so many. On tour by canoe, these two musicians fell in love.
You'll also hear of deeply personal and transformative experiences from:
- a musician who toured the Mississippi by canoe to discover not only his muddy roots, but also his true love,
- a paddler who has never tipped her boat (no matter what her partner claims),
- and a mother whose family found a sense of place in the river, and a place to grieve the impossible.
Many thanks to Loren Niemi for his story workshops and guidance.
Why do so many trees on the island at Bdote (now part of Fort Snelling State Park) bear rope marks? Find out from these storytellers. (Photos by Tom Reiter)
Jim Bear Jacobs, a citizen of the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation, and Pastor Danny Givens of the Rondo neighborhood will take you to Bdote, the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, to deepen and connect layers of stories in that important place shared during their Sacred Site Tours.
As Jim Bear says, "For us a story is not contained in time. Our stories are held in sacred spaces — in the rivers, in the trees, in the valleys. We owe it to the Indigenous people to know these stories, to pay honor to these stories, to honor and respect the land and the rivers that they hold sacred."
(Two places to start: The Bdote Memory Map and this video, Bdote — Know Where You Are.)
We hope you join us to listen.
To tide you over until October 1
Jim Hudak, who took hundreds of photographs of river sunsets over 20 years, tells us how the same view never got old. See a few of his favorite photos in the video below.
Dozens of you wrote love letters to the river last summer, which you can read here. Local artist Susan Armington is weaving these words into a painting we'll unveil at the event.
