Owatonna, Minnesota: A Great Place to Live

Nancy and I have often discussed the fact that Owatonna, Minnesota, has been a wonderful small town (population 22,000) in which to raise our children, as well giving us the opportunity to minister at Pillsbury Baptist Bible College and Grace Baptist Church. As you may have learned from reading some of my earlier posts, we moved to Owatonna with our first five children in 1984, and twenty-three years later our two Owatonna sons (Matt and Andy) are in their twenties. Our family has come of age here in Owatonna, and now we are blessed with having our grandchildren living in Owatonna as well.

The "culture" of Owatonna is relatively conservative, but we welcome innovation. Owatonna is home to impressive architecture (see the Louis Sullivan bank above) and a number of new businesses in recent years. Probably the most well-known Owatonna landmark along Interstate-35 is our local Cabela's store. Folks interested in the great outdoors flock to Cabela's to purchase all kinds of clothing and outdoor gear. Owatonna also has a diverse business and industrial base, which provides many work opportunities for our Pillsbury students.

If you check out Owatonna on the web, you will discover that we have a number of parks and walking trails. Central Park is the venue for a number of performing groups during the summer. I play oboe in the Owatonna Community Band, and we had a top-notch concert last evening. Local business groups donated the funds for the modern bandstand you see pictured here. We are blessed here in Owatonna with an above-average fine arts scene, with high school musicians enthusiastically performing in groups such as the Owatonna Community Band. It's very gratifying to perform music with so many who really enjoy what they're doing.










Nancy took this photo of me before last night's concert, and the photo to the right is from a concert last summer. But I leave you with a "humorous" photo that I took before the concert last night. This sign is posted on the door of each restroom below the bandshell. The wording on the sign gives the impression that whoever wrote it doesn't clearly understand the English language. I'll let you make of it what you will.