The Pipestone Four Winds Association was formed in 2008 after a 60-year run of the “Pipestone Hiawatha Pageant.” The main goal of our group was to continue to bring revenue to the City of Pipestone while educating the public about the culture and heritage of our unique area. We have held two “Love of the Land” Rendezvous thus far and have continued to see success. This year we also had the first-ever chuck wagon cook-off in Minnesota and plan to continue with that next year. With the money we received from the Foundation we were able to have an author and authority on the Fur Trade era in our state and area come to this year’s Rendezvous. His name is Ryan Gale, and he has written three historical books and is working on a fourth. Without the Pipestone Foundation’s generous grant, none of these things would have been possible. The Foundation has been very instrumental in helping us to get these events going. As co-founder and Secretary of the Pipestone Four Winds Association, I would like to thank the Foundation for their continued support in allowing us to continue to reach our goal. ~ Cynthia Portz
Author/Historian Brought to Rendezvous
December 8th, 2010Pipestone Performing Arts Going Green
February 18th, 2010The Pipestone Performing Arts Center is in the process of making their facility more GREEN by installing newer, more efficient lighting. There are numerous stage lights that need replacing which will not only save the Center money, but will provide a higher quality visual performance. If you wish to donate towards this project, please check the PPAC Green Project box on the donation form. The foundation is proud to help this local organization not only provide great performances, but to help them become more GREEN!!
Scoreboard Project a Huge Success
February 18th, 2010
The Pipestone Area Community Foundation has completed the recent scoreboard project with the Pipestone Area Schools. In early 2009 the Foundation was approached by the Pipestone school system about helping to fund a new scoreboard for the school football field. After much discussion, the foundation board agreed to purchase the new scoreboard outright. The school agreed to absorb the cost and responsibility for installation. As a result the school now has a new scoreboard that can be used for both football and track. The new sign includes a Daktronics graphics screen which displays pictures of players, fans, and others as well as displaying statistics and messages. The board has ten sponsorship spaces with two levels of sponsorship, White and green. A very nice addition to an already second to none facility.
Also part of the project were two welcome signs, one for the football/track field and the other for the recently improved softball complex. These two beautiful boards included eight sponsorship spaces each. The unique aspect of this investment is that it will provide a return to the Foundation. Each of the sponsors signed a four year contract with an option to renew for an additional four years. Annually the project will generate $19,000 which can be re-invested back into the community.
Thanks to all who donated
The Foundation wishes to thank all who donated towards this project and the purchase of the scoreboard and welcome signs. A huge thanks to the sponsors for their commitment to the community. The sponsors are as follows; White level ($1800/yr)- New Horizon Farms, LLP., Pipestone County Medical Center, Pipestone Vet Clinic, and J&B/Ellison Meats. Green sponsors ($1300/yr)- First National Bank and Trust, The Winter Group, Pipestone Pizza Hut, Stout & Evink Plumbing and Heating, Inc, Kozlowski Insurance Agency & Financial Services, Pipestone Publishing Co., Inc. Black Sponsors ($250/yr)- Lange’s Café-2 spots, Dar’s Pizza-2 spots, Dr. Ron Rasmussen, Douty Floral and Landscape Garden Center, First State Bank Southwest, Carrow’s True Value, Hank’s Foods, Pipestone Concrete, Pipestone Motor Co., Wilson Manufacturing, A&S Drug, Banner & Associates, Inc., Pipestone Livestock Auction Market, Inc. and Villager Restaurant.
New Website Launched
February 18th, 2010Very recently we have introduced the first phase of our web site. You can visit us at www.pipestonefoundation.com.
There are three main components to our site; community information, contact information, and organization information.
Community Information
Community information will highlight the projects we are working on within Pipestone. We will also update with some recent news items regarding the changing landscape of the Pipestone Community. This information is readily seen as news postings on the home page and will include photographs as well as general information. Users can also click in further to learn more details about specific projects as they are introduced and updated.
We will post downloadable files of our current newsletters and provide links to additional online news and community events sources. Whether it be improvements to our parks, our schools, businesses, or organizations, we want to let people see the good things that are happening.
Contact Information
Contact information is your chance to connect with others. Much like a mini version of Facebook, we will have the ability to create user profiles. These profiles are a great way to stay in touch with old classmates or friends in the Pipestone community. Our site is centered around one thing we all have in common; Pipestone.
Get Involved in the Online Community
As our online community grows, we plan to use the site as a central database for class or community specific information. For example, the class representative for the class of 1985 could communicate details about the upcoming 25 year class reunion to be held in 2010. The representative will have access to a centralized database with current contact information. This will streamline the communication process for the event and get more people involved. Likewise as the community grows, members of that class could RSVP, confirm schedules, arrange to connect with old friends, and much more.
Member participation is critical to the success of any community. This component of our site will continue to grow with content and features. The first step is to generate the user profiles. We encourage you to get involved by creating your profile today. To create your profile, simply go to www.pipestonefoundation.com and follow the links to create a user account. Once you have done this, email, call, or tell your friends. This will make our community grow and be successful.
Organization Information
Our role in the community is important to many, and we rely on the support of those who care as much as we do. Our web site will allow our friends and supporters to understand who we are and what we are about. The Pipestone Area Community Foundation is made up of volunteers who give their time and talents to the organization’s ongoing success. We will keep everyone posted as to our objectives, successes, and challenges.
More importantly, success comes through the contributions of our supporters. We will recognize these supporters and the impact of their contributions in the pages of our web site, like this one.
The web site will allow for users to easily and securely make online contributions. The Southwest Initiative Foundation has organized an e-commerce component of the site to help us facilitate this. To make a contribution online follow the instructions on the How to Donate page. You will be directed to the secure contributions page of the Southwest Initiative Foundation. Online giving is not the only option available. We have posted our contribution form
to the site for easy download, printing, and mailing.
The Foundation is excited about the opportunities this web site offers. We look forward to building an online community that in turn helps to build the community around us.