(L-R) Rosie Schluter; Aaron Reeves, City Administrator; Commissioner Ehlinger; Tom Bergeson, Public Works Director; Susan Brace-Adkins Healthy Communities Supervisor of the Goodhue County Health and Human Services and Dave Maroney, Community Development Director. 

What’s your “pitch”?

  It was just an impulsive idea... to e-mail the Minnesota Department of Health to see if the Commissioner would be interested in my idea of having upper body exercise equipment along the Cannon Falls city trail to promote community health.  

I had read that he had been in Rochester for a media event - pitching horse shoes and letting citizens “pitch” their ideas on public health issues.

It didn’t matter that I didn’t have the commissioner’s correct address.  I just sent it.

Nothing happened.

That I knew about anyway.

Almost three weeks later I got a surprise call from the Department of Health telling me that Dr. Ed Ehlinger, the commissioner, was coming to Cannon Falls in a couple of weeks for an all-day media event including the county’s Health and Human Services department, the county commissioners, local officials and politicians, etc.

Caught off-guard I chuckled, “President Obama only gave us three days... we can do this!”

And then I explained to city officials that I really didn’t usurp their authority - I was just trying to contact the commissioner - but this was cool wasn’t it?  

Many conferences and collaborations later, they all pulled off a wonderful media event (even the weather cooperated), with the hopeful attitude that health issues of importance to all of us would be addressed by the Commissioner in the future.

As Commissioner Dr. Ed Ehlinger stated, it’s his job “to protect and enhance the health of all Minnesota citizens.”  The state’s national health rating has dropped from number one down to number six.  What has gone up?  Obesity and smoking. And exercise has gone down.  But Ehlinger wants to make Minnesota “the healthiest state in the nation.”

That day in the park many issues were presented to the commissioner.  They included fracking sand, wind generators, dental health,  tobacco, and adding upper body exercise equipment to the city walking trail.

Another issue came from Julie Phelps, an elementary school nurse in Cannon Falls.  She expressed the importance of school nurses as they deal with health issues of students like Loden Bell, a fourth grader with diabetes who is very active and also tossed a couple of horse shoes with the commissioner.

Now back to what I had been doing to promote the event.  Well, newspapers and cable TV promos hit the area.  And I was happily surprised when it was kidded around on WCCO-radio Dave Lee’s show on several mornings with our own Jack Lucking.  And then Joan Risty announced it on KDHL radio.   

But my friend, John Weiss, reporting on the event in the Rochester Post Bulletin, “got” me with this write-up:  "... and Rosie Schluter brought a passion for better health — but poor horseshoe pitching form — to Tuesday's "Pitch the Commissioner event in Cannon Falls." 

Oh, the power of the press!

(Behind the scenes video on www.paulrosie.com)