a semi-major coup in the life of a retired school teacher who becomes a promoter

My job has been in a state of flux since I started at River Rock. First I was an office manager, a job I was very bad at because it involved a lot of details and a lot of math. And some art. None of these are my strengths.

Over the year that I have been there, it has evolved to be more promotion and marketing although, marketing to me, sounds more like what McDonald's does.

Over the past month, I have worked at getting River Rock connected with Minnesota Cooks, a project of the Minnesota Farmer's Bureau, an organization that promotes family farms.

Today, we met with Bruce Miller, the director of the Minnesota Cooks calendar project, and accepted his proposal that River Rock be part of their calendar in the coming year.

This is gigantic in my novice promotional world. Not only is it a print publication that is doled out at the State Fair where people love free stuff but it involves being on stage at the Carousel Park, being interviewed by Mary Lahammer of Almanac, and being a part of a day at the fair with some of the really, really big guns in the local food scene in Minnesota.

I think I spent the last years of my career in education floundering in the depths of despair and that probably has leant an exaggerated air of unreality to this endeavor. I am so excited by all of this that it's hard to explain.

So, even though I have loathed the State Fair in the past (too loud, too crowded, too hot), I will be there on August 26th to hobnob with the chefs of Minnesota, to pass out promotional material about River Rock, and to bask in my tiny bit of glory.

Champagne all around!