Alexandria named ‘2019 Best Minnesota Town’

By Tara Bitzan, Executive Director, Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce

It’s awesome that Alexandria was named the 2019 Best Minnesota Town by Minnesota Monthly magazine. Of course there are the skeptics (I’ll admit sometimes I am one) who will try to rationalize why this isn’t a big deal.
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• The winner was selected from nominations (maybe there weren’t many nominations!)
•  Online voting played a part in the selection (it’s just people with nothing better to do who sit around and vote as much as they can).
• It’s a great honor for the community (it’s really just a ploy by the magazine to get some editorial content and to sell ads and generate revenue from our community).

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Of course there is probably truth to all of the above. But the way I see it, it’s simply just another reason to celebrate our great community. Let’s celebrate the fact that the win comes with a multi-page editorial feature in the March/April 2020 issue of Minnesota Monthly and a media campaign valued at more than $50,000! That’s an incredible boost for our community, which relies heavily on tourism and desperately needs to attract more workforce.

Let’s celebrate the fact that it puts our community in the spotlight for a while and gives us bragging rights for an entire year! Let’s celebrate the fact that many people believe we really are the best town in Minnesota and don’t need a contest to provide the title.

Reed Fischer, senior editor of Minnesota Monthly, described Alexandria as “a beautiful year-round destination with a rich history and a bright future.” Let’s celebrate the fact that Alexandria most definitely IS that, and let’s bask in the spotlight for as long as we can.