There are welcome to Blue Earth signs, above, and a group wants to make BE a welcoming community.

Next month, local group B.E. Welcoming has ‘Giant’ plans for Welcoming Week.

The nationwide event, which is organized annually by Welcoming America, will take place Sept. 8-17 this year.

Welcoming Week was established in 2012 to bring together neighbors of all backgrounds to build strong connections, and affirm that welcoming places can help achieve collective prosperity.

“Welcoming America’s efforts align with some of what we’re doing,” B.E. Welcoming member Amy Schaefer explains. “It seemed like a natural fit to participate in (Welcoming Week) activities.” 

B.E. Welcoming has been working to help members of the Blue Earth community feel welcome and valued since the group’s establishment in the fall of 2021.

So far, one of B.E. Welcoming’s biggest achievements has been organizing a community-wide Day of the Dead Festival. The festival is scheduled to be held for the second time this fall, on Oct. 29.

Last June, the group also brought Twin Cities-based band Alma Andina – known for its South American instrumentation and Latin American rhythms – to Blue Earth’s Giant Days. And, B.E. Welcoming has established a 1-800 number to provide translation services to area residents.

Each of the group’s efforts is meant to make more Blue Earth residents feel included in the community.

B.E. Welcoming has planned several special activities in honor of next month’s Welcoming Week.

The group will usher in the week with a Giant Bonfire on Saturday, Sept. 9, at 4 p.m. The community gathering will be held on Leland Parkway, and will feature a wide array of food trucks, plus a free meal for kids ages 12 and under.

Once everybody is fed, they can enjoy yard games and live music.

Attendees are encouraged to check Facebook @GiantBonfire! for updates about parking and a potential shuttle to the event.

“We thought it would be a really fun way to kick off Welcoming Week, and just give everyone a reason to get together and smile, and enjoy each other’s company before the rest of the week’s activities commence,” Schaefer says.

The bonfire is just the beginning of B.E. Welcoming’s plans for Welcoming Week. The group has also commissioned a welcoming-themed mural from area artist Helena Johnson, which will be completed throughout Welcoming Week by community members.

Though Johnson will prepare and outline the mural, the piece’s paint-by-numbers design will allow community members to add color to the mural themselves and complete it collaboratively.

The mural will be painted on four separate plywood panels. The panels will be set up around Blue Earth during Welcoming Week for locals to paint.

The painting spots have yet to be confirmed, although B.E. Welcoming intends to set up a panel to be painted at Sept. 9’s Giant Bonfire.

Additionally, the group hopes to establish painting locations at other spots around the community such as Blue Earth Area High School, St. Luke’s Lutheran Care Center and the Ag Center.

The mural’s overall design will be revealed when the four panels are united following their completion.

Schaefer encourages community members to reach out to her at 515-578-0096 if they have ideas for locations around Blue Earth where the mural, which is portable, can be displayed after Welcoming Week.

“It could even be traveling,” Schaefer suggests.

Other activities are planned for Welcoming Week, too, all of which are designed to inspire community togetherness.

As part of Welcoming Week, the Blue Earth Community Library is partnering with B.E. Welcoming to produce a Story Walk. For the activity, an illustrated children’s book about being welcoming will be taken apart and displayed, page by page, along a walking route in Blue Earth.

Other Welcoming Week activities will be announced on the B.E. Welcoming Facebook page in upcoming weeks.

This will be Blue Earth’s first year participating in Welcoming Week, but Schaefer hopes the celebration will grow into an annual occurrence.

“Everyone wants to feel welcomed and valued,” she reasons. “Making some small efforts goes a long way.”