• • Lakefield Standard

Tobacco shop meeting is tonight at City Hall

The Jackson Business Development Committee will host an open public meeting this evening (Thursday) regarding a proposed tobacco shop in downtown Jackson.

The meeting will start at 5:30 p.m. at Jackson City Hall.

Sue Pirsig, Jackson’s economic development coordinator, said business owner Terry Gray will be on hand to meet with business leaders and community members, talk about his business and answer any questions.

Gray is co-owner of Herb N Legend in Luverne, the shop after which the proposed Jackson store will be patterned. Among items that will be offered for sale in the specialty shop are glass pipes and chubblers, loose tobacco and incense, rolling paper and accessories, Bohemian-style clothing and hemp wear and leaf teas and jewelry.



The Pines welcomes meetings, gatherings

The Pines in Jackson has space available for private gatherings.

Mary Lou Drahota, manager at The Pines, said the space is perfect for card clubs, book clubs, Bible studies or other special get-togethers.

Space can be reserved by calling Drahota at 847-5762.



Jackson theater hosts exclusive engagement

A highly-acclaimed movie designed to raise awareness of the plague of teen suicide is coming to Jackson in a regionally exclusive screening.

The Historic State Theatre in downtown Jackson will play host to the film, “To Save a Life,” starting Friday, March 5, at 7:30 p.m. The film will also show March 6-7 at 3 and 7:30 p.m. and again Thursday, March 11, at 7:30 p.m.

Theater owner Mike Schwartz said the Jackson Ministerial Alliance lobbied him to bring the film to Jackson and he was glad to meet the request.

“It’s a highly-regarded movie and we secured, really, an exclusive engagement,” he said Monday. “There’s only 440 prints of it out right now and we’re the only theater in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa — and maybe the whole state — to have this film right now.”

Leading the lobbying charge for the alliance was Mike Espey, a local advocate of teen suicide prevention.

“Teen suicide is the No. 1 cause of teen deaths in the United States today,” Espey said. “This is something that has touched too many of us and something to which I am dedicated to raising awareness.”



Chamber bids farewell to one, welcomes another

The Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce Board bid farewell to a former officer and welcomed a new student member recently.

Holly Smith, who had served on the board for the past year and a half and as board treasurer, began new duties with AGCO Corp. out of Chicago this week. New to the chamber board is Kristy Porter, a sophomore at Jackson County Central High School, who joins the board as a student director.

Chamber director Marilyn Reese said she wished Smith the best and welcomed Porter on board, saying, “As a student director, Kristy will have the opportunity to learn about chamber of commerce business organizations, board and committee meetings and experience the workings behind chamber community events.”