Dear Mankato Area Businesses and Community Organizations,

St. Paul residents Parson K. Johnson and Henry Jackson made it to the bend of the river and staked out a town site in February of 1852. When they returned to St. Paul, they formed a town site company to secure funds they needed to develop a city.

You are invited to become a part of the celebration.

Local stakeholders formed a Mankato Area Sesquicentennial Committee to launch this community-wide commemoration. This committee has developed a framework to help your organization get involved. For each month throughout 2002 we will focus on a specific topic of our community's history -- such as people, business and industry, agriculture, transportation, religion, arts and media, education, etc. These monthly topics will be discussed in Mankato Free Press articles and will be the centerpiece of community events. We encourage you to use the 150th commemoration theme and icon as you plan activities and events for the year 2002. We have enclosed materials to offer you ideas on how you can use the 150th theme to tie into existing events, or to provide a springboard for new ideas and events.

The Mankato Area Sesquicentennial Committee has designated "The First 150 Years" by local artist Marian Anderson, as the official 150th commemoration print. The print combines 150 years of our past with the present, and will be on display at a variety of community locations throughout the year.

Get involved and be a part of this community-wide effort to commemorate the settlement of our area and celebrate the vitality of the Mankato Area.

Sincerely,

Maureen Gustafson, Mankato Clinic Sesquicentennial Co-chair

Curt Fisher, Fisher Development Co. Sesquicentennial Co-chair