Your Gift to the Bemidji Community

December 2025
Dave Hengel
Executive Director

Those who know me know I don’t like winter. Shorter days and cold temperatures are not a happy recipe for me. I’ll take a sunny summer day over winter every day of the year.

While I don’t like winter, I do love the Christmas Holidays. I love the time with family and friends. I enjoy big, holiday meals. Most of all, I cherish the moment that happens every Christmas – often at Church – where I am overwhelmed by the beauty of our life and the blessings I have been given. Our community here in northern Minnesota is one of the blessings I am most grateful for.

The hustle and bustle and the shopping….that I can do without. But I acknowledge the importance of giving gifts in gratitude for the people and organizations that have blessed you.

This year, I want to you to consider adding your Bemidji community to your Christmas list. The good news is I have three ideas for you – one’s that don’t require a lot of money.  What they offer is an opportunity for you to help build a better future for Bemidji.

Gift #1 –  Shop, Eat and Entertain Local – You have heard this from me repeatedly, but it is so important. I know our culture is focused on convenience and making our busy lives easier – especially when it comes to shopping. For the sake of your community’s future though, I would ask you look to our local businesses before you turn to big box stores, Amazon, and other online retailers.

In my job, I hear the consistent cry for more shopping and restaurant options in Bemidji. I have heard people wish for a Costco, Sam’s Club, Scheels, and virtually every restaurant chain imaginable. I’d invite community members to balance those wishes with the acknowledgment that we have a vibrant and healthy downtown filled with locally owned shops. We have locally owned grocery stores. We also have far more locally owned restaurants per capital than any community I know. I wouldn’t trade any of that for more big box retailers and chain restaurants.

My request is simple. Start your shopping at a local business. If you can’t find what you want, you can go ahead and search online. I am reminded, however, of Ralph’s Pretty Good Grocery in Prairie Home Companion’s fictional town of Lake Wobegon, where the moto was “If you can’t find it at Ralph’s, you can probably get along without it.”  Once you start shopping local, you’ll be surprised to find everything you need.

Gift #2 – Give to a Local Non-Profit or Charity – We have many great organizations in Bemidji that support our community. Now more than ever, they need our support.

I personally encourage you to consider supporting the new YMCA wellness center in downtown Bemidji. Not only will your gift help build Bemidji’s first and only community wellness center, but it will also support scholarships to ensure no community member is turned away for inability to pay. Your gift will help provide meals for kids and families, water safety and other community programming, summer camp experiences, and the potential for a childcare learning center downtown. Bemidji needs a Y, and (as Steve Smith, CEO of the YMCA of the Northern Sky consistently points out), Bemidji deserves a Y. Consider going to www.greaterbemidji.com and make a gift today.

Gift #3 – Be a Stepping Stone, not a Stumbling Block, in Building Bemidji’s Future – My good friend and mentor Jim Bensen used to share a poem by R. Lee Sharpe called Princes and Kings:

“Isn’t it strange how princes and kings,
and clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
and common people, like you and me,
are builders for eternity.

Each is given a list of rules;
a shapeless mass; a bag of tools.
And each must fashion, ere life is flown,
A stumbling block, or a stepping stone.”

Each of us can either be a stumbling block or a stepping stone in building Bemidji’s future – I hope you choose to be a stepping stone.

While there are lots of ways you can help build community, let me offer one that I believe matters more than you know – bring a spirit of positivity.

Bemidji has real challenges and issues – as does every community. At Greater Bemidji, will continue to push hard to improve the quality of life here in Bemidji. But we do so with a clear understanding and acknowledgment that we already live in a special place.

In our nation today, we love to point out the negative. Social media has become such a great resource for those who choose to be stumbling blocks. We highlight every issue or problem. We bash every idea to make change as terrible. Most of all, we personally attack those who choose to lead and work to make things better. As a good friend once told me, “We cannibalize our leadership, and no one wants to be next on the menu.”

We may not be able to change the negativity at the national and state levels, but we can here in Bemidji. Be a stepping stone by getting involved and by honoring the work of our elected officials and community leadership (even those we disagree with). When you see negativity in the community (especially online), respond with positivity about what makes Bemidji a wonderful community for you.

I’ve been told every community has C.A.V.E. people (Citizens Against Virtually Everything). No doubt we have our share here in Bemidji. Let’s choose not to let them define the course and future of the Bemidji community. Be a stepping stone to our future by rejecting the negativity and sharing what makes Bemidji special.

On behalf of the Board and staff of Greater Bemidji, I wish each of you a blessed Christmas and a prosperous new year. Next year is looking to be a very exciting one for our community.