Researching training programs for women in office after reading the Pioneer Press article, Minnesota Capitol: Women have proved they can win the race -- if persuaded to run, Bluestem stumbled across this post to the Meps Series timeline by Vickie Ingulsrud Froehlich:
Doesn't have to be a surprise this time!
Flash Mob - State Fair - August 31 - Saturday - Republican Booth (by WCCO!) 3:30 p.m.
Perhaps you were a part of the historic Flash Mob done at the Zumbrota County Fair and were part of the (we are claiming until proven otherwise) FIRST Flash Mob in outstate MN!!! . . .
That event took place on August 10, 2013 at the Goodhue County Fair. The producer and Froehlich will have to annotate that sleepy Youtube, since it's not the first Flash Mob in Outstate Minnesota.
Update: Dale Moerke, a knowledgeable source in Luverne, suggested on Facebook that Senator Bill Weber (R-Luverne) can break the news to the Goodhue County Republicans, as he appears in the 2012 Luverne Winterfest Flash Mob video, organized by a local Lutheran church. [end update]
Heck, it's not even the first flash mob at a county fair. Bluestem suspects this crowd has never really mastered search engines.
2012 Douglas County Dancing Corn Flash Mob
We're not sure when the first flash mob took place at one of the fairs in Minnesota's 80 outstate county's but this lively number performed by the Douglas County Corn and Soybean Growers and friends performed at the 2012 Douglas County Fair in Alexandria not only predates the Republican flash mob by nearly a year, but it was well covered by the local and ag media.
Forum Communications staff writer Crystal Dey reported in Fluorescent T-shirts and a giant corn cob: What was the deal with the fair's flash mob?:
Driving through Douglas County in the late summer and early fall is like cruising through a John Deere calendar. Why then does farming take a back seat to the manufacturing industry, which is also prevalent in the area?
It is in part because of that oversight that Katie Satterlie, a self-described farmer's daughter, organized the Douglas County Corn and Soybean Growers "flash mob" that many people were surprisingly entertained by at the 2012 Douglas County Fair.
Dancers gathered at 3 p.m. on Saturday, August 18 and busted synchronized moves to the Peterson brothers' "I'm Farming and I Grow It" song from their video that went viral on YouTube.
"A lot of people think farms are corporate farms," Satterlie said. "We wanted to let people know it's also a family business in our area."
The song is a version of LMFAO's "I'm sexy and I know it" and the brothers' video has almost 7 million views to date. The Peterson brothers live on a farm in Kansas.
The Douglas County Corn and Soybean Growers video has received more than 1,500 hits. Another version combining all five angles that were captured on video is planned to be launched on YouTube.
There's more on the DCC&SG website. Agrinews reporter Carol Stender covered the story in Douglas County flash mob promotes agriculture (via the Rochester Post Bulletin, which is published awfully close to Goodhue County).
Bluestem's made happy anytime we see giant dancing ears of corn, which simply doesn't happen enough in this world of tears.
Paul Bunyan Flash Mob 2010
But the 2012 Douglas County Flash Mob wasn't the first in greater Minnesota. Bluestem has found a number of others. There's this July 2010 post, The KBXE Paul Bunyan Flash Mob, which scoops MNSure's PSA theme by three years:
It was a beautiful day in downtown Bemidji. The sun was shining and people were enjoying Art in Park when a Paul Bunyan walked by. What? A Paul Bunyan? There's another! And three more! They're everywhere, what's going on here?
It was Northern Minnesota's first ever flash mob, courtesy of 90.5 KBXE. On Sunday, July 18th 2010, a group of over 50 people gathered at Diamond Point Park in Bemidji for pizza and planning. Then the group set off for the Lake Bemidji Waterfront, dressed in red and black flannel shirts, blue jeans (rolled up of course), a painted mustache and a dark knit cap. The group slowly trickled through Art in the Park, turning a lot of heads and getting even more smiles. The Mobbers then drifted to the Paul and Babe statue, where they froze one at a time. What started as a couple of frozen Paul Bunyan's grew into dozens and people stopped to watch and take pictures while passing cars honked their horns.
Freezing Paul Bunyans? A stroke of genius:
That's not the only flash mob from Bemidji to predated the Goodhue County event. Idle No More staged at more political flash mob in December 2012:
Luverne: 2012 Winterfest Flash Mob
Maybe Alexandria and Bemidji are too big for the Goodhue County Republicans to count as "Outstate Minnesota." No matter. The Worthington Globe reported in Flash mob surprises Winterfest crowd:
Shoppers were shopping or resting their feet, visiting with friends and sampling treats when, what to their wondering ears would they hear? A half-dozen singers spreading holiday cheer!
But wait, there's more singers coming -- a hundred or more -- men and women alike. They're decking the halls in harmonious delight.
It had been done other places, but never at Winterfest; and, based on reaction, it was simply the best.
Planning for the flash mob -- people who come randomly out of a crowd, form a group and entertain through song or dance -- began about a year ago with the hope of pulling off the secret plan Saturday morning at the Luverne Elementary School commons.
The place was bustling with shoppers visiting the more than 100 craft booths, children taking part in Santa's Workshop fun, and vendors selling everything from jewelry and gifts to Christmas cookies and holiday decor.
Barb Antoine, choir director at Luverne's First Presbyterian Church, coordinated the music and assisted the Luverne Area Chamber of Commerce in organizing what may have been southwest Minnesota's largest flash mob event ever. . . .
Note how the 2012 gathering isn't billed as the "first" flash mob in southwest Minnesota, only the largest. Luverne is home to under 5,000 people. It's a small town.
2011 Morris Grade School Flash Mob
Then there's the December 2011 report in the Morris Sun, Flashmob dance at Hancock School:
Hancock teachers Amy Brown and Char Rustad attended a wellness workshop where they talked about movement and the importance of it to academic achievement. "A Flashmob was brought up and we decided to try it. With the help of our administration, staff, the PE teacher and kids K-12 we did it!! The after affects today are so cool. Very positive influence floating through the school. Great fun was had by all and we’re getting lots of compliments and high fives. The kids are still pretty excited about it" said Rustad.
Bluestem isn't quite sure if this one counts, but they sure are having fun:
Goodhue County Republican Flash Mob 2013
Now that you've seen those earlier moments of flash mob mayhem in Outstate Minnesota, check out the GOP's August 2013 Lee Greenwood Flash Mob:
Does any reader know of a YouTube-verified flash mob that took place a town of 15,000 or under in Outstate Minnesota before July 2010? Bluestem would like to know.
Photo: The July 2010 Paul Bunyan flash mob. via 90.5 KBXE Notes.
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Those crazy kids at Buffalo (MN) High School did a flash mob to the tune of the song, Safety Dance, by Men Without Hats (classic early 80s tune!) as a part of their 2011 after-prom party, delighting attendees and staff. Easily available on the you tubes.
Unless Buffalo is not considered out-state :-)
Posted by: Mike Worcester | Oct 22, 2013 at 01:56 PM