Celebrating Fosston: KVRR 2016 Town of the Year Wrap-Up

Fosston crushed all the competition in our Town of the Year competition.

Today is the day we honor Fosston on their victory.

It really comes down to a few people mobilizing their neighbors and then
to have that community spirit to keep it going…and we found a lot of community spirit in Fosston today.

It was a warm welcome for Rob and photographer John Hanson at DaRoos Pizza in Fosston.

According to the lunch time crowd, they should not have expected anything less.

“It’s a good city. It’s grown.  People are very nice. And you can walk down the street and say hello to anybody, everybody got a hello for you and that’s what mean a lot,” said Joyce Kringle.
 
Cordwood Pete and his donkey Tamarac greet visitors from the east on US Highway 2.

Paul Bunyan’s little cousin packed a mighty wallop as a half pint logger.

Much the way Fosston does today for a city of 1500.

Located on Highway 2, roughly halfway between Crookston and Bemidji, its geography makes Fosston a prime location for shopping and medical facilities.

A new grocery store being built in town is evidence of a booming economy.

The town also boasts a strong manufacturing base.

If you’ve had any instant soup lately, there’s a good chance some of the vegetables came from Fosston.

At Integrated Process Solutions, they are making controls for water treatment facilities.

Parts for the new Fargo Water Treatment Plant will come from here.

Owner Pete Nelson says modern technology allows him to have employees in other parts of the Midwest while the company is based in Fosston.
 
“You don’t have long commutes, there’s not a lot of traffic,” said Nelson. “People are hometown people. They’re northern Minnesota people.”
 
Mayor Jim Offerdahl says the city has been able to help industry locate here by using money from the city owned electric, gas and cable TV systems for infrastructure.

That also helps keep property taxes relatively low.

The people of Fosston have other reasons they like it here.
 
“You know your neighbors. You know your fellow business men. People like the small town living,” said Mike Solsten.
 
All of this community warmth is despite the cold  Minnesota weather.
 
One of the things that makes Fosston meteorologically interesting is that it is always one of the coldest places on the map and partly it could be because their thermometer here is located in a low spot where the cold air can sink in.
 
Plus, there’s nothing like a nice indoor pool to forget those long Minnesota winters.

With plenty of restaurants  and growing industry, Fosston seems ready to continue long into the future.

Rob would like to thank DaRoos Pizza for hosting him and John and Mayor Jim Opperdahl for really giving them an inside look at Fosston.

He also wants to thank everyone who turned out at Veteran’s Park for the LIVE weather show.

Look for Town of the Week starting back up after Labor Day.