Mountain Lake native Noel Rahn keynotes MLAF fundraiser, donates $10,000 to be used by the organization
Noel P. Rahn was welcomed home to his Mountain Lake roots tonight (Friday, April 7).
He returned to help provide an assist to middle school students at the schools in his hometown – his alma mater, Mountain Lake Public School, along with Mountain Lake Christian.
Rahn was the keynote speaker at a Mountain Lake Area Foundation (MLAF) matching grant fundraising dinner held at the Welcome Center at Heritage Village. The fundraiser was held to support the MLAF drive to raise $2,500 in a matching grant proposal with Southwest Initiative Fund (SWIF). Funds raised will go toward an Invention Project educational series for area students currently in grades 5-8. (See more on that curriculum below.)
And, by the close of the event, Rahn – the native son – had donated $10,000 to be used by the MLAF in support of Mountain Lake.
Mountain Lake native son links growing up in area to his success
Noel P. Rahn of Edina graduated from Mountain Lake Public High School (MLHS) 60 years ago this spring. He grew up on a farm in rural Mountain Lake; a farmsite that has been recognized as a Century Farm, putting its roots down in 1893.
The 1957 Laker Yearbook shares this about Rahn: NOEL RAHN Basketball 1,2,3 4; Football 1,2,3,4; Baseball 1,3,4; Track 1,2,3,4; Letterman’s Club 1,2,3 and President, 4; FFA 1, Sentinel, 2, Vice-President, 3 and President 4; Choir, 2; Glee Club, 2, 3, 4; Band, 1, 2, 3; Student Council, 2, Class President, 3 and Class Play, 4.
Rahn went on to play basketball for the Golden Gophers at the University of Minnesota’s “Barn” wearing jersey #30 as a 6′, 175-pound guard.
In 2009, he was inducted into the MLHS Athletic Hall of Fame as an Athlete.
Now a retired Twin Cities money manager, Rahn had been the Principal of The Rahn Group. He founded Geronimo Wind Energy, LLC in 2004 and served as Chair until selling the company to Algonquin Power Company in 2014.
From April 1974 to June 1998, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of Investment Advisors, Inc. He served as the Chief Executive Officer of Paladin Investment Associates, LLC. He was a Special Limited Partner of RWI Ventures and RWI Ventures I, L.P. He has also served as the Chairman of TRG Investors, LLC, and had
It was on Rahn’s impetus that Algonquin Power Company and Geronimo Energy, along with investors and local officials, developed a 200-megawatt wind farm in southwest Minnesota. Rahn began this foray into wind energy on his family’s land.
The Odell Wind Farm consist of 100 turbines of 2 megawatts each, spread across wind-blown farm fields in Cottonwood, Jackson, Martin and Watonwan counties.
The Odell project is an economic boost to this rural region, pumping nearly $2 million in payments to landowners each year for the next 20 years. After that, Algonquin will renegotiate its contract with Northern States Power (Xcel Energy), and new agreements will be forged with landowners who have a turbine standing on their property.
In addition to the payments to landowners, the four counties will share approximately $13.6 million in tax revenue over the course of the first 20 years of energy production from the turbines. Townships will collect an estimated $3.4 million during that same timeframe.
The wind farm also created 15 full-time jobs and pays approximately $40,000-$50,000 per year into a Community Fund to benefit the small towns within Odell Wind Farm’s 24,000-acre footprint.
“I call wind ‘oil above the ground,’” Geronimo Energy founder and CEO (Chief Executive Officer) Noel Rahn said at the groundbreaking for the wind farm. At that time, Rahn said his goal was to bring money into small towns.
The community fund is also something Rahn said no other wind farm developer was doing – and the money will directly benefit the people and communities. The money may be spent on anything from school projects to community pools, basketball courts or whatever the board chooses.
The new Odell Wind Farm was initially planned by Geronimo Energy in 2009, and then sold to Algonquin Power in 2014. This marks Algonquin’s first project in Minnesota, although it already has wind farms in Texas, Pennsylvania and Illinois.
Rahn, who readily straddles the city/rural divide, is comfortable dining on prime rib at a swanky New York City restaurant – or having a burger the Bergen Bar – has additionally turned his sights to another form of renewable energy – solar. His company is currently in the top five in the United States in providing solar energy.
“My first school was a one-room country schoolhouse,” Rahn stated in his opening remarks this evening. I went on to high school ‘in town,’ where I was inspired by MLHS teaching and coaching legends Burt Munson and James P. Crawford. I am a farmer by heart – and proud of it.”
Rahn attributes the combo of small town, small school, role model teachers and others who crossed his path while growing up – along with good old-fashioned hard work and the motivation of competition – to propelling him to be successful in his adult life. That drive led him to a job at PaineWebber, a former American stock brokerage and asset management firm acquired by the Swiss bank UBS AG – his first following college graduation.
“I approached the firm, but they said I was too young,” recalled Rahn. “But, I was persistent. I learned that the manager went to work early each day – 6:30 a.m. – and through which door he entered. I was at that door every morning to greet him, and finally wore him down, and I got a job. That was the start.”
Rahn advised those at the fundraiser that, in order to “do,” one must, “Think things through thoroughly – and then move forward and take that chance!”
Inventing the possible
The Invention Project was presented by MLHS Principal Michelle Larson. It will be a four-day summertime experience that balances STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) content and entrepreneurial concepts. During four days in July, local students from current grades 5-8 work will through 12 sessions related to the invention cycle. The curriculum is published by the National Inventors Hall of Fame and delivered to the students by licensed teachers.
Participants will explore possibilities through dreaming, designing, engineering and marketing. They will also be challenged to create their own invention while learning the principles of business such as rapid prototyping, marketing, shipping and profit.
The end goal is to stimulate interest in STEM among junior high students by providing experiences not typically found in the regular classroom. In addition to the 12 invention cycle sessions, two additional components, Move and Hangout, will also be used. Move consists of games with a purpose related to creativity. Hangout is activities for small groups at the beginning and end of each day. These components foster relationship building among the students and encourage physical activity for a health lifestyle.
The sessions taught by three licensed teachers from the school district qualified in Science or upper elementary grade levels. Three high school or college student assistants will help with the project.
The school’s lunch program offers free breakfast and lunch in the summer. These free meals will be incorporated into each Invention Project day.
The normal cost of the program ($230/student) is beyond many of the school district’s families. In order to move forward with the project, a grant of $8,600 was received from the Remick Foundation. These funds will be used to purchase the curriculum ($7,500 for 12 sessions and $1,250 for Move and Hangout), create promotion material ($100) and pay stipends for the director ($500) and assistants ($600). MLAF monies will be combined with the Remick grant to cover the cost to present the project to students.
The requested payment of $30 registration fee for students will also be covered through part of the MLAF grant. Registration money will be used to pay the stipend for teachers ($1,500).
Peacemeals serves meal, talented students from city’s two schools entertain
The dinner was served by Steve and Judy Harder, along with Maryann Harder, or PeaceMeals of Mountain Lake, part of Jubilee Fruits and Vegetables. Their farm in a restored prairie utilizes natural methods of production, avoiding synthetic pesticides and herbicides. More information can be found at their website, http://jubilee.mtlake.org/, or on their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/JubileeFruitsVegetables/.
Vocal and instrumental entertainment was provided by talented students from the musical departments of the city’s two schools. The performers included senior Danica Dick of Mountain Lake Christian who sang a vocal solo, accompanying herself on the keyboard, as well as a piano solo; MLHS senior Lily Kauffman and junior Jareya Harder with a vocal duet, accompanied on keyboard by Mountain Lake Public School Instrumental Director Kurt Jahnke and a clarinet trio featuring senior Karen Soutthivong, sophomore David Larson and Jahnke.
About the MLAF
The MLAF is a 501 (c) (3), and was established in 1996 to attract and administer charitable funds for the benefit of the Mountain Lake Community. It is a permanent resource for the community and provides leadership and financial resources in the form of grants, to meet the needs and economic and social growth of the community.
The MLAF Board of Directors includes Wade Nelson, chair; Tim Swoboda, treasurer; Misty Karschnik, secretary; Vern Peterson, Brian Harder, Joyce Bucklin, Sharron Hanson, Pat Weir, Cheryl Hiebert and Kris Langland.
Check out the MLAF Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/foundation.mtlake.org/.
An additional gallery of photos from the evening can be found below:
