Dave and Amy Freeman’s 100 day, 2,000 mile journey to Washington DC reached its conclusion with he successful delivery of their “floating petition” canoe to the White House. The trek raised awareness of the dangers of a proposed copper mine near the Boundary Waters watershed.
Cathryn Kennedy’s team publicized the first North Pole Express at Union Depot, taking families on a short train ride to see Santa. Here Lee Valsvik from KARE-11 interviews Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority’s Chair Rafael Ortega.
Artist Ralph Gilbert’s gigantic murals, which trace the history of St. Paul in transportation, from the Mississippi river to the orphan trains, complete Union Depot’s gigantic $1.25 million public art investment. Cathy placed this interview with Gilbert and Mary Abbe at Vita.mn to celebrate the public unveiling of the 15 foot murals.
Photo credit: Nate Ptacek
Save the Boundary Waters’ Paddle to D.C. launched on September 7th, as David and Amy Freeman started paddling in their canoe from Duluth, MN to Washington, D.C., in order to raise awareness for the 1-million acres of protected lands and waters of the Boundary Waters  Canoe Area Wilderness. Cathy helped gain media coverage including with the Associated Press, Minnesota Public Radio
The innovative Rail~Volution Conference, which each year brings together citizens and elected officials to discuss transportation and communities, was hosted this year in transit-rich St. Paul and Minneapolis. Cathy helped place Rail~Volution in the Star Tribune, alongside one of her other clients, the newly-revamped transit-hub Union Depot.
A crew of 17 Mortenson women volunteered on July 16 to help build a special Habitat for Humanity home in south Minneapolis.
Led by construction executive Kelly Mansell, the Mortenson team helped install siding, hang sheetrock and frame a garage as part of the WomenBuild home, which is entirely constructed and funded by female volunteers from Twin Cities organizations.
This Habitat house will soon be home to a family of five, originally from Somali, who have two children with epilepsy needing wheelchair accessibility.
A highlight of the day was an early morning visit by Edward Moody of WCCO-TV, who reported live from the house interviewing Mortenson’s own Kelly Mansell.
Cathy and her colleague, Pam McCarthy-Kern, targeted the StarTribune to tell the story financial planner Nicole Winter Tietel, who broke into the traditionally male-dominated insurance business and continues the legacy of the fourth-generation family business at Winter and Associates in St. Paul.
Celebrating Al Quieâ’s 90th birthday, Cathy arranged for Pat Kessler of WCCO to go on a horseback ride with the former governor, where the pair discussed early education, staying active, and Quieâ’s controversial decision to leave the governorship in 1983.
More than 16,000 Minnesota kids were homeschooled last year, and Cathy helped place this KSTP story of one Minnesotan homeschooler who teaches her ten children from her home in Eden Prairie, for MACHE, the Minnesota Association of Christian Home Educators.
Two Habitat for Humanity homes built in the Twin Cities were constructed and supervised, for the first time ever, by an all-female build team, who provide everything from funding to labor to supervision. Cathy placed this inspiring story for Mortenson with Jamie Yuccas at WCCO.