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SW Minnesota Trip Makes It 87 Counties for Sen. Klobuchar

Senator Gets to Judge Worthington's "Great Gobbler Gallop" Turkey Race

September 17, 2007

Ft. Snelling, MN - With a weekend trip to six southwestern Minnesota counties, culminating in Worthington’s annual King Turkey Day celebration, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar announced that she has visited all 87 Minnesota counties already this year.

Klobuchar visited every Minnesota county during last year’s campaign for the Senate, and she pledged to do it again in 2007.

“Certainly one of the special privileges I’ve had this year as Senator has been to judge the Great Gobbler Gallop during Worthington’s King Turkey Day,” said Klobuchar.  “It was an impressive group of competitors, but I can say that our Minnesota turkey won fair and square, defeating his rival from Texas in a hotly-contested race.”

Klobuchar said most of her visits throughout the state have been more serious, involving discussions with Minnesotans on a wide range of topics, from agriculture to affordable health care to the war in Iraq.

“There’s no better way to keep a Minnesota moral compass in Washington than to continue visiting local communities and listening to what’s on people’s minds,” Klobuchar said.

As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Klobuchar has participated in numerous discussions throughout the state about the new Farm Bill currently pending in Congress.

Many of Klobuchar’s visits have also focused on the economic opportunities offered by homegrown renewable energy, including visits to ethanol plants in Benson and Granite Falls, wind power turbines in Lincoln County and biomass projects in International Falls and Lake of the Woods County.

Klobuchar has discussed economic development issues and toured local businesses in communities like Fergus Falls, Grand Rapids, Red Wing, Austin, Marshall and Montevideo

There have also been meetings on health care and senior issues in many places, including Rochester, Blue Earth, Willmar, Faribault, Owatonna, Aitkin, Bemidji and Thief River Falls

Klobuchar said that highlights of her travels have included seven Independence Day parades on the Iron Range, the annual Farm Fest event in Redwood Falls and the Labor Day celebration in Cloquet.

“It was also exciting,” said Klobuchar, “to be the first U.S. Senator, at least in the mayor's memory, to hold a town meeting in Williams, Minnesota, population 210.”

Other visits have been more somber, including several trips to flood-stricken towns in southeastern Minnesota and attendance at a funeral in Frazee for a Minnesota National Guard soldier killed in Iraq. 

In her travels throughout the state, Klobuchar has also stopped by many Main Street cafes and restaurants to meet with local residents and listen to their concerns.

In addition to Worthington, Klobuchar’s latest weekend trip included visits to Fairmont, Jackson, Luverne, Morris and Slayton.

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