Blackduck Doorknock

Under cloudy but clearing skies we spent an afternoon knocking on doors in Blackduck and had many great conversations and got to know some of the needs of the city and its people.

We heard about the recent closure of the Senior Meals program that had been running out of the “Duck In and Eat” cafe and would like to see something like that resume. It’s hard for many seniors to get back and forth to Bemidji and larger towns and they would like to see more local options for shopping, and the Blackduck area is older, on average, than Minnesota at large. The Senior Center is very active.

We also spoke to a young man with a shared passion for removing invasive thistles from our landscape. He called them “sharps” and was trimming them with a scissors. His mom said he loves playgrounds and she would like to see more public playgrounds. The boy said he had recently bonked his head. We all agreed support for healthcare for kids, e.g. the Children’s Health Insurance Program that expands Medicaid eligibility to children, was essential for Blackduck’s future.