Many hundreds of people of all ages clearly enjoyed the St. Joseph Community Showcase April 13 at Kennedy Community School.
There were 24 local businesses featured at the showcase, each with its own booth staffed by employees who indulged in pleasant breezy conversations with those who attended.
Many parents brought their children, including lots of babies and toddlers in strollers.
People at the booths gave out free gifts to those who strolled from booth to booth. For examples, Coborn’s gave out free red delicious apples and bags of healthy sea salt chips, Kay’s Kitchen offered apple pastries and coconut lime cookies and the American Legion of St. Joseph gave out wall calendars.
There was a craft area where children could create art projects, and there was a huge part of the gym where energetic children bounced and tumbled on several inflatable fun structures.
A popular attraction, especially for children, was “Nutsy” the Squirrel, the tall mascot of the LeafGuard Gutters business. Nutsy posed for umpteen photos with children, sometimes with parents too.
Several people said how nice it was to meet the owners and employees of so many local businesses and to learn what those businesses have to offer.
Dalman was born and raised in South St. Cloud, graduated from St. Cloud Tech High School, then graduated from St. Cloud State University with a degree in English (emphasis on American and British literature) and mass communications (emphasis on print journalism). He studied in London, England for a year (1980-81) where he concentrated on British literature, political science, the history of Great Britain and wrote a book-length study of the British writer V.S. Naipaul. Dalman has been a reporter and weekly columnist for more than 30 years and worked for 16 of those years for the Alexandria Echo Press.