State's birthday bash is on tight budget

Whatever other images are summoned this year by Minnesota's 150th birthday -- legendary Indian chiefs, ox-cart trains fording the prairie, loons cresting on a lake -- an abundance of dollar signs won't be among them.

As Minnesota enters its sesquicentennial year today, the state board established to direct the celebration has taken in about $1 million -- a quarter of what had been anticipated and far less than the $8.5 million that Wisconsin raised for its sesquicentennial in 1998 and the $1.1 million ($8 million in today's dollars) that fueled Minnesota's centennial 50 years ago.

"For many of us, it's a lifetime opportunity to honor the state we love and do some things that promote us for the future," said Jane Leonard, executive director of the Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission. "I do think we're doing a remarkable job with what we've got, but we could use more help."

State organizers last year had talked about $4 million for the yearlong celebration -- half from the state, half from private contributions -- and Gov. Tim Pawlenty included $2 million for the Sesquicentennial Commission in his recommended 2008 budget.

By the time the bill was signed, that amount had been whittled down by legislators and Pawlenty to $750,000.

Broken down that leaves:

• $325,000 for local matching grants,

• $325,000 for statewide initiatives and

• $100,000 to run the commission (which got started with a $100,000 grant in 2005).

Fundraising efforts in the private sector also have been disappointing. As of late December, Leonard said, the commission had received less than $100,000 in cash and $100,000 to $150,000 worth of in-kind contributions.

"Since 9/11, it's been very difficult to organize and get corporate support" for an event that lacks a clear focus or issue, Leonard said. "Something like this seems to fit not very well in the fundraising world."

And many corporate dollars already have been committed to other large Minnesota events this year, including the U.S. Figure Skating championships this month in St. Paul, the U.S. Women's Golf Open in June in Edina, and the Republican National Convention in September.

Nearly half of the $8.5 million that Wisconsin commanded for its sesquicentennial came from sales of a special commemorative license plate, an idea that was dismissed by Minnesota organizers because of the many plates already available.

Next month, the commission will seek $325,000 from the Legislature for operations and hope for additional funding for grants.

Song of the North Star

Ten years ago, Wisconsin marked its 150th birthday with scores of events, including folk festivals, wagon trains, a multi-nation tribal powwow and a biker caravan to Washington, led by Gov. Tommy Thompson.

In 2000, California's lavish plans to celebrate its 150th anniversary with a series of big wingdings went bust, fizzling into a single party in Sacramento. Even the commemorative postage stamp was panned.

Minnesota's plans so far suggest that its birthday bash will fall somewhere in between.

Because Statehood Day, May 11, falls on the same weekend as Mother's Day and the fishing opener, a simple ceremony will be held that day at the State Capitol.

Each of five cities representing Minnesota's different landscapes -- Bemidji, Thief River Falls, Detroit Lakes, New Ulm and Winona -- will serve as "Capital for a Day."

The week will be capped with a Statehood Weekend Festival at the Capitol, ending with a Sunday program and featuring a fly-over and music from a choir drawn from each of the state's 87 counties.

The most visible sesquicentennial project so far has been the "MN150" exhibit opened in November by the Minnesota Historical Society, which highlights 150 people, places or things (nominated by the public) that have shaped the state.

But there will be other projects of note: sesquicentennial songs by jazz artist Dean Sorenson and singer-songwriter Ann Reed; a wagon train from Cannon Falls to St. Paul, and an oxcart trek along an old Red River trail route; university symposiums on small towns and Minnesota history; and a Chautauqua-style musical titled "Old Minnesota: Song of the North Star State."

Popping the state's buttons

Whatever happens, Minnesota's sesquicentennial probably won't be as wide-ranging as the state's centennial in 1958.

That yearlong event centered on a splashy nine-day extravaganza of festivals and ceremonies that drew a Norwegian princess and a Swedish prince, several Scandinavian prime ministers and countless foreign diplomats. Grand Rapids native Judy Garland sang at the Statehood Day program.

The festivities were covered by newspapers in Europe. NBC's "Today" show broadcast from Minnesota for a full week. The maroon-and-silver Centennial Train visited every Minnesota county except Cook (no tracks) during a five-month stretch, welcoming more than 630,000 aboard to view exhibits on farming, social progress, industry and history.

Tom Swain, a longtime government and business leader who served as the centennial's executive director in the late 1950s, is proud of what was accomplished but rejects comparisons with this year's celebration.

Minnesota was eager to pop its buttons back then, he said, and the centennial staff got started much earlier and was given more to work with than Leonard and her board.

"She's left with such modest resources that she has less opportunity and little time to generate the kind of support we did," Swain said.

Warts and all

Some have expressed concern that the sesquicentennial hoopla not gloss over the darker chapters in state history, such as the troubled relations between Indians and whites, labor strife and anti-German prejudice during World War I.

In an op-ed piece last month in the Star Tribune, Dakota historian Waziyatawin Angela Wilson accused state leaders of genocide after the Dakota War of 1862 and challenged the state to confront its complicity this year.

Leonard said that the sesquicentennial should take an unvarnished look at Minnesota's past, warts and all.

"We want to make sure we're as inclusive as possible," she said. "While we as a commission can't solve all these tragedies, we can be a platform upon which people can learn about our history."

Annette Atkins, a history professor at St. John's University and the College of St. Benedict whose book, "Creating Minnesota," was published this fall, said she's also sensitive to those concerns.

During the state's centennial in 1958, she said, "a pretty simple, common narrative was held and celebrated. For the 150th, there are many more narratives that many of us are more attentive to."

At the same time, she said, "It would be a mistake to simply grieve our past ... It would be a mistake to cancel everything else and make this only a time of confession."

Swain agreed.

"We live in a pretty good state. I think this is an opportunity to think about those who built the state before us, the difficulties they faced, and the responsibility that we have to keep this state moving forward."

Staff researcher Roberta Hovde contributed to this report. Kevin Duchschere • 952-882-9017