City notes: Volunteers bring a lot to Rosemount

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This year’s observance of St. Patrick’s Day brought a new event to our community. And it confirmed a positive trend that we have noticed: an increase in civic events, organized by volunteers and bringing Rosemount together.

The Rosemount Rotary held a fundraising event featuring traditional Irish foods, music and a silent auction. Organizers called it “Irish for a Day” – a good name in a town that celebrates the heritage of its early residents, even though most of us in Rosemount today identify ourselves with other nationalities. The event nearly filled the banquet room at the community center.

That was just the latest in a series of events staged by our volunteers. The Rosemount Area Arts Council has been particularly active. It has filled the meeting space at the Steeple Center with several events that would never take place without the work of its membership.

The arts council staged a popular holiday program, which sold out two performances in December. The council also hosted a talk by a National Geographic photographer that drew hundreds of our residents. And there’s more to come this year, including another bluegrass music night at Celts on April 12.

Like so many of our volunteer efforts, these events go beyond entertainment. They are educational. And they strengthen the bonds of community, so important in a city that has experienced rapid growth.

They also generate activity for our local economy. The arts council shared numbers with the city council showing that the group organized 25 events last year, drawing 4,000 attendees. Supplies for the events were purchased in town whenever possible. And the visitors could be expected to spend money locally, too.

Among the initiatives that the city council has set in this year’s goals is to add amenities to Rosemount’s parks and public facilities to increase their utilization by our residents. We also intend for those improvements to encourage the creation of special events.

We think that’s important because we’ve seen how our celebrations of Leprechaun Days and the Haunted Woods Trail add to the quality of life in Rosemount and make us stand out. We hope these newer events will also become annual features. We expect thousands of newcomers to move to Rosemount in the next several years. Special events can make them feel at home.

And we always thank volunteers for their time and energy spent on these celebrations and other projects. One way we do that is with an annual recognition during National Volunteer Week. The city council will commend volunteers during its meeting on April 17. If you know of volunteers whom we should commend at that event, please call 651-322-2078 by April 6.

In the meantime, I encourage everyone to take advantage of these special events, and support the groups that create them. It’s one of the ways we make Rosemount the best place to call home.

Tags: opinion, rosemount, commentaries, government