SMU is major sponsor of Capital for a Day events
Winona’s Capital for a Day celebration will contain a full day of free family-friendly festivities from sunrise to sunset on Friday, May 16. The public is invited to celebrate what makes Winona so special, reflect on its Native American history, as well as discuss the city’s future.
SMU joins the City of Winona, Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical and Winona State University as a major sponsor of this event.
• A flag-raising ceremony is planned for 7:45 a.m. at City Hall, followed by a presentation by Gov. Tim Pawlenty in celebration of Minnesota’s sesquicentennial and honoring Winona as one of five “Capital for a Day” cities. Area jazz students will perform.
• Gov. Pawlenty will then launch a model legislature at City Hall. Rep. Gene Pelowski will host the event until 4 p.m.
• Beginning at 8:15 a.m. at the Jaycee Pavilion in Lake Park, the public is invited to a Truth and Reconciliation Circle including leaders from the Dakota, Ojibwa and Ho-Chunk Tribes and representatives of city, state and national governments, as well as local civic and religious leaders. Participants will focus on the “true telling” of the history of our state and region, as they continue the reconciliation process, started in Winona in 2004. At 1 p.m. Winona Unified will host a talking circle at the Jaycee Pavilion: “Out of Many, One: Creating an Inclusive Community.” The discussions will expand to include issues of our community today. Community members of all cultural backgrounds are invited to join the circle and to share their truths of history and of living in Winona today.
• At noon, the historic Winona steam calliope , played by SMU’s Eric Heukeshoven, will lead off afternoon activities at the Levee, followed by a presentation by Winona’s poet laureate, James Armstrong, and a musical presentation by Winona students. From 1 to 2 p.m., the public is invited to a community conversation on the future of Minnesota. The conversation will focus on citizen engagement, hopes and dreams for the future of Minnesota, quality of life in the state, and a plan for future generations.
• Evening festivities will run from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. in Lake Park. A variety of music, sponsored by Saint Mary’s University and hosted at the Band Shell, is planned including: * The Beef Slough Boys with acoustic blues, riverboat rags, and old-time and country classics from 5 to 5:45 p.m.
* Gate City Jazz Band, Winona’s well-known Dixieland combo from 5:45 to 6:45 p.m.
* And Bob and the Beachcombers with surfin’ ’60s family rock and roll from 7:15 to 9:15 p.m.
Participants are invited to pack their own picnic baskets or enjoy a variety of food vendors. Free ice cream, courtesy of the City of Winona, along with commemorative buttons, courtesy of Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical, will be given to all festival-goers.
At 7 p.m., the public is invited to “the great Winona wave” at Lake Park. In celebration of the event, a 2008 commemorative community aerial photograph is planned near the Band Shell. Other Lake Park activities will include horse-drawn wagon rides and inflatables from Rock Solid.
The evening will culminate with a fireworks display at 9:30 pm.
For more information and updates on the Capital for a Day activities, contact Deb Nahrgang, Ext. 6966, or visit www.visitwinona.com or www.cityofwinona-mn.com.
