European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 6, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                $6 million big spending for Little by Kay Bartlett associated press grand rapids. Minn., is a pretty Little Townsl 8.000 where the freight train poke through twice a Day where the Mississippi Isno longer navigable and where people would never think of trying to beat someone out of a parking space. The drugstore has a cardboard Box filled with pennies hear the Cash Register. The signs says if you need a Penny take one. If you be got an extra toss one  it s grand rapids minn., not to be confused with the much larger grand rapids mich., and it is going through hard times with lumbering Down and the Iron Industry in recession. Unemployment runs about 17 percent in the county. But this Small town has a special Blessing. It s the Only Small town in America with a foundation Worth Moie than $100 million right in town. More important the foundation was not established to solve world problems nor to fight a specific social Iii or disease. It s there just to Benefit the people of this area to enhance their Quality of Fife. The Blanc in foundation established 44 years ag-3. Is required by Law to give away $6 million each year an amount twice the City budget. Not All the Money goes into the City but the foundation s imprint is obvious a first class Myca Blandin Beach the restored old school and train station the High school swimming Pool a performing arts theater far finer than most off Broadway Heaters of comparable 600-seat size and no school in the country has handsomer band uniforms. Not to mention the Little things like fancy two Way radio for the police Ball Fields hockey rinks All built with a Little help from Blandin. Roughly half of the Money each year is now spent in the primary area grand rapids and 40 Miles around it the rest goes into the secondary areas or for statewide projects. Nonetheless it s enough Money to carry a sense of responsibility. Ii we re not careful Well intrude into everyone s life says Paul Olson the executive director ii we spent $6 million in a town where the City budget is Abou $3 million we would just run this town right Down the rat Hole. We would stifle their sense of initiative. Maybe not in the first generation but ii you look at wealthy families the second third and fourth generations gel pretty  they even speak Here of  that refers to people with a cause to ask Blandin for the Money first and figure out a Way to raise it some other Way Only if rejected. Or As Keith Tok who runs the Ace hardware store says. It s always been go to Poppa and see what you can  it could t have happened to a nicer place. There Are 25 churches in town one taxicab 37 restaurants 266 organizations and 545 businesses some just mom and pop operations. The population stands at 8.000. But that s a Little misleading. It s closer to 30,000 if you count the people who live 15 minutes away on one of the Beautiful lakes. Despite the comforting presence of its opulent Benefactor we re definitely not wallowing in Money says George a. Rossman publisher of the twice weekly newspaper. His file cabinets and memory Are awash with official statistics. He finds them All beneath a stuffed immature Bald Eagle killed 75 years ago when it was Page 14 the stars and stripes still Legal. To even has the papers to prove this. Ronman knows Lor instance that the median income per family is $20.894 in the county that 84 percent of the residents Are homeowners Hal the median value of a Home is $36.000 and Only eight houses Are listed As being Worth More than $200.000. He knows that of the 43,000 souls in the county there Are 1.083 indians our eskimos 29 Blacks. 11 japanese one korean one India Indian 19 chinese. This foundation started out modestly giving away $200.000 to $300.000 a year until a 1969 irs ruling forced it to sell the paper company since it was a profit making operation. Those who knew Charles k. Blandin say that must have set him to whirling in his grave which incidentally is in the Park he built Tor Mill employees. The 1977 Sale netted Over $80 million. Coupled with other foundation monies interest and loan repayments that total is now $ 134 million putting the Blandin foundation among the top 250 foundations in the United Stales. For the first time a professional foundation Man was hired a staff came into town a building was put up to House it and some local Folk looked on with a wary Eye. I think we be got a monster by the Tail and i Don t think we can spend this Money within Blandin s intentions says Clarence Tex Akre. A retired Mill worker who was appointed to the Board of trustees by Blandin. The Money cannot be Given to individuals and or used for anything that tax dollars should support. No capital expenditures Are made outside of Itasca county of which grand rapids is the county seat. There s a bit of stretching of the tax Dollar Rule. The school swimming Pool for instance kept getting rejected in referendums. So the foundation finally decided to build it and it did t go cheap. Then the foundation never does. This Pool is olympic size has a diving tank and portholes so the coaches can evaluate the underwater follow through on the Butterfly. My kids complain when they come Back from Meels with other schools. They say the pools Are Crummy says Anne Huntley. One of the five City Council members and United Way Appeal chairman. A could deluge the area if we wanted  says Margaret Matalamaki. One of the seven grand rapids members of the Board of trustees. It is necessary to go out of the  that is within the prerogatives of the foundation. It gave for instance $300,000 to the twin cities zoo on the Assumption that people Here Benalil from it and grand rapids could never support a zoo. Surrounding communities Are considered part of the environs and they too. Receive funds Lor special projects centers for senior citizens Ball Fields an inevitably fire trucks. It used to be that we funded almost everything anybody asked for because we had the Money. We funded Little league uniforms swings for the Parks and playgrounds diving boards skating rinks development of baseball  says Vivian Trboyevich who remembers when it was run out of a Little office in the paper Mill. She s been with the foundation for 25 years that was in our Brick and mortar period " she save now we do More  a sure Way to get a laugh at a Board meeting is a fire truck project or a Blueberry  says Eugene Rothstein a trustee who runs a real estate business he has 11 children and estimates he has attended 1 200 hockey games lived through 110 years of piano lessons and 50 years of College tuition. He s 64 and  i Don t know How Many fire trucks we be bought Over the years says role maybe 12 or 15. And then once they be got the tire truck they need somewhere to House it. And we usually end up giving them that too. Blueberries. Someone always has a project to Maks the wild blueberries an economic crop he says. It s never worked. Maybe someday it  the foundation has been virtually everywhere supporting everything from camper ships for needy children to putting up towers so loggers to the North could watch television to loaning Money to a feeder airline so it could continue to operate twice daily flights to and from the cities to loaning More than $250,000 to produce a documentary about life on the Iron Range. Samples irom the 1984 annual report $337,20010 the Range Community fund to help Range communities with High unemployment $ 15,000 to help buy Rescue equipment Lor the Warba Feely Sago fire department $80,000 to make grand rapids a site to Pilot test a the foundation hat Dona a lot for the  Friday. Deo