River Falls Rotary Club
Via Zoom
Patrick “Packy” Mader is honored to visit the River Falls Rotary Club via Zoom to present Minnesota’s rich sports history at the Olympics. His books, Minnesota Gold and More Minnesota Gold, highlight the stories, lives, challenges, perseverance, and achievements of more than 100 remarkable living Minnesota athletes who competed at the international level–including people from a cross section of sports and areas of the state from 1948 – present.
Packy will be highlighting Olympians with connections to the St. Croix River Valley, Minnesota-Wisconsin border cities, and east metro area as he shares the positive experience throughout his research, interviews, writing, and editing in an engaging and entertaining style. 2018 gold medalist cross country skier Jessie Diggins from Afton/Stillwater, luge racer Tony Benshoof from White Bear Lake, Liz Parr-Smestad, a member of the inaugural women’s national bobsled team from Cottage Grove, cross country skiing Olympians Barb Jones of West Lakeland Township and Stillwater native Kevin Brochman, and five-time Olympian and 2002 flag bearer Amy Peterson from Maplewood, and many St. Paul athletes–including former governor Wendell Anderson–who are Olympians profiled in the two books. The Olympians were approachable, intelligent, articulate, and modest–demonstrating Olympian character and qualities who “give back” to their sport, community, and school.
Come discover Minnesota Gold!
24 Feb 2015, Falun, Sweden — Jessica Diggins of USA in action during the cross country women’s 10 km, Individual competition at the Nordic Skiing World Championships in Falun, Sweden, 24 February 2015. Jessie has won World Cup events and a gold medal in 2018 in a relay event with Kikkan Randall.
Flag bearer at the 2002 Olympics, speedskater Amy Peterson is from Maplewood; Liz Parr-Smestad from Cottage Grove was a pioneer in women’s bobsledding–she is now a teacher in the St. Paul Public Schools.