DIGGINS IN DULUTH!
The United States' first ever OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST in Nordic skiing, Minnesota's own JESSIE DIGGINS, visited Duluth on NOVEMBER 4, 2018, at the invitation of DXC, to support of Grand Avenue Nordic Center!
DXC and Spirit Mountain hosted a free daytime event at Grand Avenue Chalet featuring Diggins, where she spoke about her Gold Medal sprint, her U.S. Ski Team teammates, and the future of the sport including ski venues with snowmaking like Grand Avenue Nordic Center. She led youth exercises, and there were free signed posters available, a raffle, outdoor gear vendors, free glitter facepainting, and selfies with Jessie! Chad Salmela's famous NBC commentating call of her Gold Medal sprint was replayed, and Chad spoke about Grand Avenue Nordic. Swix president Steve Poulin even surprised Diggins by presenting her with a custom GOLD mountain bike as a gift!
In the evening, Duluth Mayor Emily Larson, 2-time U.S. Olympic Biathlete Kara Salmela, and Diggins spoke at a sold-out ticketed Going for Gold event at Pier B with nearly 200 people, as a fundraiser for Grand Avenue Nordic Center. Emceed by Chad Salmela, the evening featured an incredibly inspiring behind-the-scenes presentation by Diggins on her Olympic quest and Nordic skiing advocacy, and then Kris Larson (Executive Director of the Minnesota Land Trust) led an amazing fundraising auction which helped generate $150k for Grand Avenue Nordic just that day! See the full list of contributors at the bottom of this page, below.
Bent Paddle brewed a specialty beer called The Snowmaker for both the day and evening events, with all proceeds benefiting DXC's campaign for Grand Avenue Nordic Center. And Cirrus Aircraft and pilot Gary Black donated a private flight in an SR22 between Duluth and the Twin Cities on both Nov. 4 & Nov. 5 for Diggins to get to/from the Cities, along with a lucky auction winner who got to sit next to her, with auction proceeds (over $2k) going to DXC!
It was an incredible day and night with Diggins in town; check out some photos below!
Jessie Diggins ‘Going for Gold’ Contributors!
November 4, 2018
$30,000
Dave & Judith Arvold
$20,000
Continental Ski & Bike
$10,000
Andrew & Meghan Baertsch
Scott & Kathleen Neustel
$5,000
Nikolai Anikin*
Nils & Lisa Arvold
Shelly & Eric Chandler
Bruce & Judith Derauf
Katherine & Tim Rubin
Steve Poulin/Swix
$2,500+
Zach & Kate Beresford
Lily Brown
Marty & Ericka Espe
Ann & Steve Harrington
Steve Kuross & Lise Lunge-Larsen
David & Gladys Salmela
Chad & Mimmu Salmela
Matt Schiller & Betsy Schwartz
$1,000+
Susanne & Johan Bakken
Johan & Nicole Bakken
Teja & Joseph Bettendorf
Rhett Bonner (flight auction)
Mark & Sherry Boyce
Patty Bugliosi & Andrew Thompson
Jesse Coenen & Suzanne Cichosz
Peter Coenen
Leah Gruhn & Jere Mohr
Joanne Hanowski
Tera Hasbargen
Patti Harvieux
Gary Larson
Kristin Lusian & Mike Saline
Dan & Megan Maki
Joe & Mary Morehouse
Sara & Tim Morse
Annalisa & Peter Peterson
Ken & Carolyn Ripp
Philip & Kelly Rogers
Jonathan & Nancy Rova*
Matthew & Carrie Ryan*
Mark Stenhammer (flight auction)
Brent Smith
Kate & Joshua Tesch
Eric Viken & Elizabeth Raduege
Section 7 Coaches:
Dave Johnson, Paula & Scott Anderson, Dave & Bonnie Kask, Frank and Marlo Gangi, Cheri & Keith Johnson, Becky Bartol, Jim Vos, Tyler Fish, Arnold Maijala
$500+
Fritz Anderson & Stina La Paugh
Beth Bernhardt & Martin Bevis
Lisa Bodine & Jeremy Harala
Boreal Services/ Greg Fangel
Joe & Amy Haggenmiller
Diane Holliday-Welsh & Kevin Welsh
Kris & Christine Larson
Siiri & Peter Morse
MaryBeth Nevers & Jon Tofte
Ron Siebert
Maria Stuber & Bryan Cook
Eric & Andrea Watson
Amy White & Nick Johnson
$250+
Todd Campbell & Sue Wegener
Dina & Michael Clabaugh
Sarah & Ryan Grenberg
Brad & Mary Johnson
Stacy Jutila & Jon Dumpys
Pasha Kahn
Theron (Terry) Salmela
Kara & Cory Salmela
$100+
Sonja Baertsch
Gary & Celeste Black
Erik Blow
Lynne Cecil
Audrey & Bradley Cyr
Deb & Clay Diggins
Leslie & Daniel Ender
Greg Fangel & Liz Wagner
Brian Fitzgerald
Robert Fox
Roger Hartley
Nona Goertz
Jon Halvertson
William & Ann Howard
David & Holly Jorde
Kristin Riker-Coleman
Allison Robinson & Travis Rains
Gretchen Ransom
Carrie Rust-Moline & Dan Moline
Jim Wheeler
Kim & Trent Wickman
Up to $50
Frank & Linda Hanson
Charles Wolfe & Deborah Ralston