Tracy and Troy Heald are the owners of the 100 acre farm known as Country Blossom Farm. It grows a variety of apples, fruits and vegetables which are available for "U-Pick" and purchase when in-season. Country Blossom Farm also features a bakery and gift shop as well as many attractions for people of all ages including a jumping pillow, tire mountain, bouncing farm animals, swings and slides, corn maze and more!

Racial tension, political unrest, a pandemic … all of these add up to extremely challenging times for responders and caregivers who have stressful careers even during the best of times. Have you ever stopped to imagine what it is like being a law enforcement officer these days? How about a health care worker? A firefighter or a first responder?

At one time not so long ago, many children grew up dreaming about these careers where they could help people, save lives, make a difference, and be held in the highest regard by others. That may not be the case so much these days, when many of these positions come with harsh judgements or criticism, shaming or degradation.

After you spend some time thinking about what it would be like serving in one of these careers in today’s world, I challenge you to think about what our community would be like without these important people. If we didn’t have such skilled and passionate law enforcement officers, the local headlines would be consumed with news of another burglary or homicide instead of feature stories on the great people who live here and the fun events going on. If we didn’t have such skilled and passionate health care professionals, our COVID-19 cases would be in the thousands by now and the death toll would rise daily. If we didn’t have such skilled and passionate firefighters, we would have lost an entire downtown block in February instead of a few buildings.

We are extremely fortunate to have these incredible people serving our community – it’s the least we can do to lend them our support.
Join us to learn more about how we can collectively support these community members at the Chamber’s Fall Event on Monday, September 28 from 1 to 2:15 pm at Broadway Ballroom.

​The speaker is Silouan Green and his topic is “Building a Community of Support for Responders.” Green is a former Marine who suffered severe Post-Traumatic Stress and other issues after a jet crash. He has written three books, “Who Am I?”, “Sycamore Hill” and “The Ladder UPP”, and speaks on the topics of Post-Traumatic Stress, resiliency and leadership across the country for organizations such as the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the US Marine Corps, the Red Cross, Easter Seals, National Association of Mental Illness, and many others.
More details can be found here: alexandriamn.org/luncheon.html.

Jill Wagner is co-founder of Integrity Title, Inc. along with her husband Jim. Integrity Title, Inc. provides professional real estate title service to buyers and sellers of residential and commercial property in the greater Douglas County area. The team of Integrity Title, Inc. has more than 75 years combined experience and are skilled in the critical areas required to complete a real estate transaction.

      The deadline is quickly approaching for a new grant opportunity for Douglas County businesses and nonprofit organizations.
      In June, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz used his executive powers to distribute $841.5 million of CARES Act funds to counties, cities, and townships throughout the state.
    Douglas County has used some of their funds to create a CARES Pandemic Relief Grant to assist local businesses and nonprofits impacted by COVID-19.
    Eligible applicants may request a CPR Grant based upon need due to COVID-19. Actual grant award will be based on number of employees, gross revenue loss due to COVID-19, and impact on the business.
      A business is eligible even if they have received other funding, however, CPR requested funds must not be used for expenses already covered by other grant programs. They must be used for separate and unique purposes.
      This is a grant and will not need to be paid back. For more information or to apply, visit https://livingalexarea.org/business-grant/.