2019 BP Calendar "Minnesota Heroes" (Robyne Robinson)

For 20 years Robyne Robinson was a reporter and then news anchor/co-anchor for Fox affiliate KMSP in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. and worked at KMSP-TV since 1990, when KMSP was independent Minnesota 9. In 2005 she received an Upper Midwest Emmy for “Best Anchor”. Hers was a kind and warm face that I grew up with seeing on the news. Her demeanor and confident, professional poise was always something that inspired me to believe the ol’ “you can be whatever you wanna be, kid” sentiment that people always say. It is always different for girls, it just is, it’s the world we live in. To see Robyne paving the way for not only women but also for being the first African American female news anchor in the Twin Cities as well as the first African American inducted into the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame. She makes me proud to be a woman and a Minnesotan.

I think the things that impress me most about Robyne are her determination and constant evolution and reinvention. When she first spoke about leaving TV, it was thought to be about pursuing her growing line of jewelry, which is cool as hell. Then she threw everyone a loop in 2010 when she started talking about joining Minnesota DFL Rep. Matt Entenza to be his running mate for Governor. Though Entenza’s run was not successful, she was grateful for the opportunity.

Robinson has since moved on to working in the arts - first as Director of Arts @ MSP with the Metropolitan Airports Commission, now working as the airports Public Art Consultant through her new firm fiveXfive. She also serves and volunteers on many boards that are supportive of art spaces and women. That is incredible, that is a true leader and hero for the rest of us. She is unwavering in her determination and is the picture of grace and style.

Thanks for all you do for artists in Minnesota Robyne, we are lucky to have you.

2019 BP Calendar "Minnesota Heroes" (Mike Mills)

Meeting Mike Mills, a 21-year veteran, when he popped by my printshop was pretty damn incredible. I had read a few stories I could find on the internet about his deployment to Iraq that resulted in his life altering encounter with an improvised explosive device. I was sort of nervous to be in the presence of a person that has made the ultimate sacrifices to protect my freedom but Mike walked into my printshop with a big friendly grin and told me his story.

It humbles me in a profound way to listen to Mike talk about the suicide rate of our military veterans. Then I watch as he lights up and tells me about the work that he does to help his military “family” cope with PTSD and other things that a punk like me could never understand. He started a website called For The Veteran in which Mills shares his own thoughts and fears about the things he has been through, another amazing resource is Camp Bliss, which is a retreat center in Northern MN for veterans and their families.

Mike received the The Purple Heart and was also the first Minnesotan to receive the American Patriot Award. Clearly Mike has a full heart and is continuing his healing journey by helping others and sharing that love. What a hero. Thank you Mike for all you have done for this country, for the military community, and for your own Minnesota community.

2019 BP Calendar "Minnesota Heroes" (Winona LaDuke)

Environmentalist, economist, and writer Winona LaDuke graduated from Harvard with a BA in Economics in 1982 then moved back to her ancestral land on the the White Earth Indian Reservation in Northwestern Minnesota. Since then she has been actively advocating for rural development and issues surrounding land, food sovereignty, and sustainable farming.

In 1989 she founded the White Earth Land Recovery Project which has secured the return of over 1,400 acres of land stolen from Native people. In 1993, together with the music duo Indigo Girls, LaDuke founded Honor The Earth, which aims to raise awareness of native environmental issues through the arts and media. For her work in activism she has received the Anne Bancroft Award for Women’s Leadership Fellowship and the Reebok Human Rights Award. (Information taken from The Heroine Collective Blog by Claudia Marinaro)

Winona possesses a fierce courage and stoic wisdom that I admire tremendously. She is a reminder to someone like me that the earth is a beautiful gift and that the decisions we make with regards to it will either demonstrate our gratitude or haunt our future. The most precious thing in the world is water, clean water, and it is slipping through our hands at a most alarming rate. Money will come and go but when clean water is gone nothing else will matter.

2019 BP Calendar "Minnesota Heroes" (Robert Bly)

Robert Bly (born in Madison, Minnesota) was one of the greatest poets of the Minnesota countryside. He won the National Book Award for Poetry, which is our nation’s highest award. He has done a lot to influence American poetry for several reasons, one being he translated many poetry greats like Neruda, Lorca and Vallejo, Rilke and Rumi. Bly brought the world into American writing at a time when it was very closed off, in the 50s, which also means he broadened the country’s politics. As Minnesota’s first Poet Laureate he pioneered a shift in how men’s roles could be seen, and challenged macho models. He has over 40 collections of poetry and amassed many awards in writing including the Robert Frost Medal, which was a lifetime achievement award from the Poetry Society of America.

A lovely way to summarize a great man’s legacy is from something that Marie How said to him about the famous conferences he held: “You brought men together and let them feel their feelings without holding a beer in their hands.”

This is especially moving to me in a time in which it seems like men are not allowed to embrace emotions at all, and toxic masculinity is deafening. Thank you for your contributions to the world from one rural Minnesotan creative to another.

An excerpt from his daughter Mary’s favorite poem:

I am driving; it is dusk; Minnesota. 
The stubble field catches the last growth of sun.  
The soybeans are breathing on all sides. 
Old men are sitting before their houses on car seats  
In the small towns. I am happy, 
The moon rising above the turkey sheds. 

    II 
The small world of the car 
Plunges through the deep fields of the night,  
On the road from Willmar to Milan.  
This solitude covered with iron 
Moves through the fields of night
Penetrated by the noise of crickets.

2019 BP Calendar "Minnesota Heroes" (Bud Grant)

Bud Grant - Retired Vikings Coach/Outdoorsman/Garage sale Enthusiast

Bud Grant, this guy is so iconic Minnesota, it ain't even funny. Known for his stoic sideline demeanor, Coach Grant is the  winningest coach in the history of the Vikings. I read that Coach Grant made required outdoor practice in the winter and would not allow heaters on the sidelines of the games. Straight up, thats some grit, that is the making of good players through high expectations and badassery. 

Bud is a big outdoorsmen as well as an advocate for Minnesota Wildlife and Natural Resources. He has enjoyed fishing and hunting most of his life and he gets that the best place to be in mid August is out on the pontoon boat fishin' for bass. It don't get much more Minnesota than that yo! 

Nowadays he enjoys hosting a big garage sale every year at his home where he peddles everything from memorabilia to fishing gear. What a guy; what an incredible life he has led; and what an incredible legacy he has built. 

For more information about the Bud Grant garage sale click HERE