Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging.
– Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell Companion, A (p. 20)
If you’re reading this, I don’t need to tell you that life has been a little different since my last post in 2019. The world has changed, and we as people are asked to adapt. No, it’s demanded of us. The Coronavirus pandemic has altered life as we know it, and the wisest sage couldn’t guess where the dust will settle. It’s a fascinating thing, really, to have an experience that affects everything you know and love and realize that the entire global population is experiencing it right beside you. There are few things anyone could share that we haven’t all lived, and that’s really something. It’s been a wild ride. Someday historians will study how we lived, how we evolved, and how we survived – but it’s for another time.
What matters right now is that we’re still here. Despite the upheaval and uncertainty of the day, we persevere. I wanted to publish an update today on the Founding Fergus Falls project. I want to let you know that it is still here, as well. Indeed, we are nearing publication, and I couldn’t be more excited. This book has been the undertaking of nearly three years and a pandemic. Its existence is based entirely on the generosity of others to benefit the future. To say only that I’m grateful for those who have sponsored and supported us through all these trials would be a disservice to their kindness.
Founding Fergus Falls
Two weeks ago, I traveled to St. Paul, our state’s capitol. The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) held their 172nd Annual Meeting, a gathering for board members and the society’s administration to review their last year and look forward to great things ahead. I received word one week in advance that the meeting would also recognize Founding Fergus Falls as a COVID success story. They were kind enough to allow me a seat.
It was a gala event of music and culture against the backdrop of our challenging age – the focus was on inclusion and optimism. For our project, State Representative Jordan Rasmusson took the stage and described the obstacles we had faced owing to closures and pandemic restrictions. He gave due credit to the Otter Tail County Historical Society and our sponsors for the tenacity to believe that great things can be done in difficult times; the audacity to hope and work forward. His kind words were received with boisterous applause. When the meeting concluded, MNHS leaders conveyed in person their commitment to supporting projects in outstate Minnesota.
Two weeks before that, the Fergus Falls Noon Rotary was kind enough to invite me to present our project. What followed was an incredible dialogue with a group of passionate professionals whose accomplishments to this region are many. Their questions made it clear the importance of maintaining a connection to our past and the importance of historical research. Their lively discussion showed the resilience of curiosity and a desire to understand our origins.
Publication
All of this and more has served as a wellspring of inspiration, and I’m thankful to anyone who’s ever told me they can’t wait to read the finished book.
So, if you’re reading this, I want you to know that Founding Fergus Falls is nearing its publication. We haven’t given up and have many great things planned. We will have book signings around town for the days and weeks after (we have four planned at present with more expected). We will sit for interviews with the local press. And we will put the word out to our region as well that a book on this city’s fascinating history has survived the challenges of COVID. I hope to meet you there. I can’t wait to hear what you think.
And maybe then we can talk about what comes next.
Thank you for your time,
– R.C. Drews
Author and Professional Writing Consultant, RCWritesWell, DBA