08.23.2022 Minutes TC
Scandia Tourism Committee Minutes
August 23, 2022 – 5:00 p.m.
Meeting at Community Center, Zoom and Boxcast.com
Members in Attendance: Sue Dickens, Lynne Moratzka, Sarah Porubcansky and Lisa
Schlingerman. Additional Attendees: Christine Maefsky (Mayor) and Brenda “Bee” Stignani
(Office Assistant).
Call to Order –Chair Dickens called the meeting to order at 5:02 p.m., a quorum is present.
Approve the Agenda – Porubcansky moved, Moratzka seconded, to approve the agenda
with Flexibility. Motion carried unanimously.
Approve the Minutes – Dickens moved, Porubcansky seconded, to approve the July 26, 2022
minutes. Motion carried unanimously.
Shrpa –
Dickens reported Shrpa will not have a cooperative rate this year. The full rate of $1,200 or so
would only benefit the city by having more professional adventures published. Group consensus -
this would not be cost effective, since there is no additional cost for adding new Adventures
independently. Porubcansky will continue to work towards publishing the Dala Horse Adventure.
When other volunteers step forward, more adventures can be published including the Barn Quilt
Trail. Moratzka suggested a photo montage of Scandia throughout the year (seasonal), with
Mellerud, Sweden’s YouTube video on Mellerud as inspiration. Staff has a collection of Scandia
photos to consider using.
Dickens recommends consideration to advertise Scandia events in the Explore Minnesota
publication in the future. The deadline for committing to the 2023 edition is in early September.
An ad approximately 2 inches is $600 in the next edition, with a very wide circulation with a strong
reputation as a family resource for events and activities.
Consider New Dala Horse –
Dickens reported Greg Amundson suggested Tourism discuss the possibility of a new large Dala
Horse as a tourist attraction in light of the CBS news video clip on another small-town capitalizing
on this type of project. Moratzka reported the cost of the new fiberglass dala horse at
Gammelgarden was $19,000. Moratzka also reminded the committee that four concrete dala horses
were seemingly deliberately destroyed in the past. Dickens will report back to EDA the potential
cost to see if area businesses are interested in investing in such a project or not. Porubcansky
suggested the new playground at the Community Center incorporate a dala horse.
Ideas for Future Events –
Dickens reported that past organizers of the Best of Scandia Shopping Extravaganza are active in
planning, so the task will not fall to Tourism Committee members. Details included final
arrangements are being discussed with a food truck, positive feedback from vendor applicants for
the new online registration system, and Dickens expressed confidence for all 30 vendor openings to
be filled even though there are only 11 applications received so far.
Scandia Tourism Committee Minutes
August 23, 2022
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Dickens reported increased response from area business to participate in the dining and shopping
event being scheduled for the third Thursday evening in October, November, and December.
Moratzka recommended partnering with the organizers of Vinterfest to bring in Mike Lynch’s Star
Gazing Party in the ballfield at Gammelgarden. Lynch would need 30’x30’ area cleared in order for
snow to not interfere with his equipment. There is confusion over two booked Star Gazing Party if
the September 10th event is organized by Gammelgarden or the Scandia Elementary School while
the Parks and Recreation Committee has a rescheduled date of October 1st. Moratzka suggested
Gammelgarden’s deposit go towards Vinterfest and the PRC reschedule for Taco Daze instead.
Staff will follow up to get clarification.
Porubcansky confirmed the decision to not participate in the Get Knit Ice Sculpture event in 2023.
Moratzka suggested investigating solar installation of decorative lights as an event she observed in
another community. These light displays had possibilities to be set to blink with music. Consensus
to table this discussion for a future meeting to investigate for winter, 2023 or later.
Adjournment –Motion by Porubcansky, seconded by Dickens, to adjourn the meeting.
Motion carried unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 5:47 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by
Brenda “Bee” Stignani, Office Assistant