I grew up in rural Minnesota, smack dab in the middle of a pretty big family.  Oh there were larger ones than ours.  I think the Franks begat 16 kids or more and had their own softball team, but still, our family of nine kids was a force to be reckoned with. 

We were blessed with parents who completely appreciated our humble neck of the woods.  Every Sunday my dad loaded up the station wagon with whoever wanted to go on an adventure and we explored the Minnesota River Valley or visited Alexander Ramsey Park and zoo, topping off our day with a picnic of hot dogs and A & W rootbeer.  You couldn't beat it.

Things have changed a lot since then.  Cars have seat belts now, and the drive-in restaurants are few and far between, but the natural resources of Minnesota remain for us to enjoy.  And because of advances in technology,  you can learn about them with the click of a mouse.  Rural Minnesota is no longer isolated from the movers and the shakers.  We have instant information at our fingertips. 

And now we also have a voice.  Rural Voices is an initiative of E-Democracy.Org dedicated to making us part of the decision-making process in Greater Minnesota.  So do your civic duty, and become an agent of change.  You can start by completing this simple survey.   It doesn't take any time at all.

When you grow up in the middle of a pack of kids, you spend  a lot of time yelling "look at me, look at me."  Well, this is our big chance to have a voice.  Woohoo!  Look at me!