I just returned from a trip to Cozumel, Mexico. Thanks to the drug cartels giving the whole country a bad name, employment is way down. Tourists are not going there in the same numbers as before and much of the country depends heavily on tourism.

It’s a hassle traveling overseas. But, unlike America, the service is fast and so, so, so courteous. I truly felt bad for the employees who came to work every day fearing they would lose their jobs.

Much of Mexico is not close to where the cartels are operating. I would go again in a heartbeat.

We had our monthly AADC meeting last week. It was well-attended even though it conflicted with the annual Mayor’s luncheon honoring those who work with the disabled.

Of course, since we are three months away from the end of the year, we are also three months away from no longer having sufficient funds to continue.

Our needs are few and we can function on only $5,000 per year since we have no paid employees. But thus far we’ve had no luck securing even that small amount.

I’m one of those people who go into denial right about this time of year. I keep thinking winter is still a couple of months away and, if we get a sunny day over 50 degrees, then I really forget that winter is coming. That’s why my deck furniture is usually frozen onto the deck by ice and snow until spring - I just can’t stand the thought of putting it away - what if there’s a really nice day coming up and I can’t sit outside?

Northern State University and members of the community are hosting a two-day Culture Fest on Friday, Nov. 4 and Saturday, Nov. 5 in the NSU Barnett Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 5 to 7:30 p.m. On Friday, International Students and members of the community will visit about their lives and cultures. On Saturday is the anuual NSU Fall powwow with Grand Entry scheduled for 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Food will be served at 5 p.m.

For more information or to participate with a booth or activity, call 626-3011 or email info@northern.edu.

An open note to the hundreds of daily spammer to this site - I delete you.

Oh, I know it doesn’t do any good. Except it does make me feel better.

Attendance at the “Welcoming Our New Faces,” workshop last Thursday was great. The seats were filled. I attended the morning session. Quite interesting.

Check out our calendar for the upcoming Culture Fest and the International Day of Peace.

Unfortunately, the calendar section of this site does not provide a lot of space, so here is more information on the Sept. 1 meeting. The meeting is being hosted by Absolutely!Aberdeen, the Aberdeen Development Corp. and the Aberdeen Area Chamber of Commerce. Refugee 101 will be offered inthe morning and repeated in the afternoon. The USDA Session will be offered only over the noon hour.

Refugee 101 will be presented by folks from Lutheran Social Services and will include two award-winning documentaries.

The USDA session will present programs available which can assist families with building, repairing and renovating homes.

The sessions are free, lunch is $10. Contact the Chamber at 225-2860.

Aberdeen is getting a lot more colorful - and I don’t mean just the Autumn leaves! New students from China, Korea and Japan are attending NSU and Presentation. Burmese refugees are being recruited and folks from Pakistan and numerous other countries are moving here to work as physicians, teachers and engineers.

As the old saying goes, “Let’s reach an understanding so there will never be a misunderstanding.” It’s important that our newcomers understand our Midwestern culture and it is equally important that we understand their culture.

People of extreme differences CAN live in unity. If this were not true, marriage would not be so popular.

1) September 1, Two alternative sessions will be held in Aberdeen, facilitated by LSS, using their “Refugee 101” course, and other such tools. Both will be held at Aberdeen’s new Public Safety Center in downtown Aberdeen. We will confirm times and exact logisitics. We will endeavor to invite employers, HR professionals, the ministerium and others who can learn together. We will endeavor to have new “arrivals” as a part of this dialogue to learn from them, as well. Thank you to Chief Lanpher for offering this great space to us, and to LSS and Cornerstone for suggesting this learning opportunity.

2) September 1, at noon, in the same location, the Chamber may host their Government Affairs Committee monthly lunch, which is also a great resource on affordable housing resources. That is still tentative. Gail will let us know when confirmed.

3) Resource guide—we will work with LSS and others to pull together into one place some of the tools that employers and others can use to be helpful to new arrivals. The American News may also assist with this piece.

4) Video Tape the “Refugee 101” program—the American News offered to do this and make it available.

5) Send out the “referral form” by LSS to employers and HR professionals, so they have it in their hands, and can make effective referrals to the system of great services.

6) Housing—transitional and permanent—a group of us will continue to work on this. Feel free to suggest ideas.

7) Survey—Develop a survey of employers, confidential in nature, that measures the number of new arrivals in our communities.

Workforce Transportation—a group of us will work on this issue to see what can be achieved.

Much of what we said was to support the companies as they welcome new staff to our community.

On Tuesday, Aug. 16 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. there will be a meeting for all interested parties at the Aberdeen Development Corp. Loosly titled, “Welcoming the Karen,” this meeting is a brainstorming session to deal with opportunities which will may occur as businesses recruit this population to work in the beef processing and windblade manufacturing plants.