Northwest Blog

The Fourth of July fireworks in Park Rapids have become an essential attraction for the holiday celebration. The fireworks are not free nor are tax dollars used to buy them—private donations alone fund the show. The Park Rapids Rotary is asking the public to help support their efforts this year and donate! Online donations can be made quickly and securely at www.nwmf.org ! Click on the Donate Now button and select the Park Rapids Fireworks Fund from the alphabetical list, or go to the Special Projects area on the home page. You can make an online gift in any amount you choose, or set up a pledge to pay automatically--you control the start and end dates. Credit cards or e-checks are accepted. Or you may mail a check payable to NMF- Fireworks Fund, address: Northwest Minnesota Foundation, 201 3rd St NW, Bemidji, MN 56601.  Contact Lisa Peterson with questions lisap@nwmf.org.

The Northwest Minnesota Foundation (NMF) and its Business Development Program continue to create jobs and business opportunities in the Northwest region with the recent approval of a loan to the Marvelous Fish House and Market owned by Marvin D. Hanson. The Marvelous Fish House and Market will become the first casual-dining fish restaurant in Bemidji. Its “Menu with a Splash” will specialize in the sale of walleye and the "Red Lake walleye sandwich." This will be no ordinary casual dining facility and market, as all products, including native fish and wild rice will come from the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians. “The Northwest Minnesota Foundation is very excited to be one of the first lenders on this deal,” said program officer for business development, Diane Morey. “We welcome having an American Indian business loan in the entrepreneur development program because it helps us to better represent the business population in our region.” The Marvelous Fish Market will feat