I'm excited about what the New Year will bring to our community.  Plans are going forward for the Whitewater Park project, it won't happen in 2016, but the ongoing plans will bring attention to the fantastic recreational opportunities that already exist on the Minnesota River.  Along the river banks, the chamber is planning a monthly series of events this summer - Riverside Market and Muse will be starting on May 14.  This market and more will take place on the second Saturday of each month through September.  Artists, crafters and other vendors are welcome to sell their items along our downtown plazas and each month will feature music, theater, or poetry as well as food vendors.  Mark your calendars for the second Saturday of each month!

Bluenose Gopher Brewery will be opening its doors in 2016 featuring craft beer and local food.  With the Prohibition Era theme, it will attract more attention to our Prohibition Story and the Andrew J. Volstead House Museum.  Beginning in 2018, we can start marking the 100th anniversary events since federal prohibition laws were created and passed. The Volstead House Museum has a new beginning this year with restored floors in two of its rooms, a new foundation and plans for repairs to the porch and an exterior paint job. Andrew Volstead's hometown can expect a lot of national attention from these anniversary events and we should start preparing for these now to take advantage of this great opportunity!
A Taste in Time ice cream shop will be opening a couple of doors down from the brewery at 667 Prentice St.  It will create another fun gathering place for families and ice cream lovers in downtown Granite Falls. More progress on opening the old Granite theater building is also in the plans.
There's always a new art exhibit at the K.K. Berge Gallery. This year in February and March there will be something different with classes and variety of exhibits rather than a featured artists.  Art in all forms will be an important part of the New Year!

And of course our big 2016 news is Pioneer Public TV's move to Granite Falls, bringing new creative residents and attention to our town.

Join the Granite Falls Chamber of Commerce in celebrating our town and highlighting the opportunities we have here in the Minnesota River Valley.  We offer business, non-profit, home -based business and individual memberships.

The question we get asked the most is “What are two people from San Diego and San Antonio doing here?” When Mark and I got married, we moved a total of five times across country within 9 years. Mark retired from the Navy after 20 years and went to medical school and fulfilled a life long dream of becoming a doctor and completed a Masters in Public Health and worked in an OB clinic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I continued homeschooling our two younger children and began studying midwifery. During Mark’s residency a client asked us if we would be interested in adopting siblings and with that three boys came to rest in our nest.
We came to Granite because the people were welcoming and transparent and we saw a unique setting to raise our family. We brought with us four of our now seven children to a hobby farm in South Sacred Heart, a place for the boys to run and where our daughter could pursue her love of animals.  Our grandson was born at GFMH. Our younger kids are part of Granite Go Getters 4H club, Granite Falls baseball and we go to church at Rock Haven. We wanted to make a difference with the next 25 years of our lives, strengthen our community and make it a place where growing numbers of people would choose to live and work.  
As part of my commitment to young mothers I have built relationships with the women that I have met and a recurring theme from women and their families is “they need a safe place”.  When I was a young single mom I was welcomed back into my childhood home, “El Nido”, which means the nest. I remembered feeling safe and loved and that’s what I wanted for the women that I met so El Nido Birth and Family Ministries was born and would be a place where warmth and love is always present.
El Nido Birth & Family, a 501c3, would like to join with our community because we believe youth and young families are our future. In our new building we will provide parenting classes, mom support groups, an after-school program and teen program that will provide homework help and mentoring in a safe place with the hope that education can build strong families. Also a restaurant project, “A Taste in Time”, will offer job training, economic growth for Granite Falls and a place downtown for fun, food and fellowship.  We hope to build relationships with the women and young families of Granite Falls and surrounding areas, getting to know their needs with a better understanding of how to meet them.

Elf on the Footbridge in Granite Falls, December 17-20
Join in the fun and look for the Elf in chamber retail shops.  Elves found are good for store discounts or chamber bucks! 

Celebrate Repeal Day, December 5, in Granite Falls the hometown of Andrew Volstead and Prohibition.
American Legion Post 69
Bootlegger's Supper Club
Dallas II
Duffy's
Granite Run Golf Course
Prairie's Edge Casino Resort
7th Ave Bowl and Tavern
Tillie's Restaurant