Leadership News and Notes

From the Spring, 2009 issue (Vol. 8 No. 1) of the Community Leader newsletter:

‘Leadership News and Notes’ is a regular feature of Community Leader celebrating the accomplishments and endeavors of Blandin Foundation Leadership Program alumni as well as the communities which have been served by its programs.  This issue features Wendy Johnson and Lisa Baumann.

The Pine Journal of Cloquet was the first place winner of the Minnesota Newspaper Association’s (MNA) Lynn Smith Community Leadership Award in January 2009 at the MNA’s Annual Conference in Minneapolis.

The award was part of the Better Newspaper Contest, which recognizes top newspapers throughout the state for their achievements over the past year.

The newspaper did a very good job of helping plan and promote the effort to commemorate and preserve the one-of-a kind Frank Lloyd Wright-designed gas station in Cloquet, the judges’ comments stated of the newspaper.

The Pine Journal was selected for the award from among all the newspapers in the state, both daily and weekly, whose projects were submitted for consideration. On hand to receive the award were Pine Journal Publisher Wendy Johnson, Editor Lisa Baumann and Production Manager Joel Soukkala.

Wendy Johnson and Lisa Baumann completed the Blandin Foundation Editors and Publishers Leadership Program in 2007. Their recent leadership experience was instrumental in putting the leadership initiative and community celebration together. “At the time, we weren’t sure if anyone else would jump on the bandwagon, but all it took was a buy-in from two or three other community leaders to lead to a full blown task force that met twice monthly from October 2007 to August 2008,” said the newspaper’s publisher.

With the Pine Journal staffers leading the way, the group put together a 2008 summer-long exhibit at the local historical society called, “Frank Lloyd Wright in Cloquet,” attracting tourists from throughout the United States.  A symposium held at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College was also organized by the group, including speakers on Wright’s architecture and a guest appearance by the Taliesen fellow who apprenticed under Wright during the construction of the gas station in Cloquet.  The culmination of the event was a 50th anniversary community-wide celebration at the station itself, featuring classic cars, food and music from the 1950s era when the station was built.

The Lynn Smith Community Leadership Award is annually considered to be one of the Minnesota Newspaper Association’s top awards. It represents the legacy of Lynn Smith, long-time publisher of the Monticello Times newspaper, who used the pages of his Minnesota weekly newspaper to start a national movement that has become a major contributor to public health, The Great American Smokeout.