Matt Thueson grew up in Stillwater and - like many others - moved away for college. In his 30s he decided to return to his home community, a place he sees as full of opportunities, not obstacles.
Above: History Spots pop up around Stillwater during the summer of 2024. Around 70 History Spots can be found throughout Stillwater and surrounding communities. Photos provided by Matt Thueson.
"I decided I wanted to live near the St. Croix River and in this town that I've loved all my life," said Matt. He sees Stillwater as a supportive community in which neighbors care for each other and the things they value. For Matt, those things include education, libraries, the arts, local history, and the many intangibles that connect us all.
In the time since Matt returned to Stillwater, he has jumped right into community life, volunteering extensively and actively looking for ways to give back. For many years, he co-founded and run the White Pine Festival, an interdisciplinary arts festival that brought him into contact with St. Croix Valley Foundation (SCVF). The burgeoning festival utilized SCVF's fiscal sponsorship, collaborating closely to bring the arts to a broad swatch of St. Croix Valley residents and visitors.
"I worked closely with [SCVF] until we got our own 501(c)3 status, and that was a terrific experience of our staff who were there at the time," Matt recalls. "What really impressed me about the organization was that it had such a great reputation and did great work and took great care with everything it did."
That introduction made the invitation to join the SCVF grants programs committee easy to accept for Matt a few years later. He eventually became a board member, serving a term of nine years and championing grants and programs. Matt has also been a consistent donor to SCVF. He sees these donations of time, talent and treasure as his way of carrying the torch of community engagement and a natural way to give back to the community he loves.
Recently, Matt also applied for and received a Great Idea Grant from Stillwater Area Community Foundation (an affiliate of St. Croix Valley Foundation). Matt's History Spots idea represents even more collaborations, this time with Washington County Historical Society, Bob Molenda of Lens Flare Stillwater, and other local history buffs up and down the St. Croix River.
"History Spots are a series of locations around the area where you can scan a QR code and learn about the history of that particular spot," Matt explains, noting there has been a considerable amount of enthusiasm for the project. "One of the things that I really love about doing this is that it gets me engaged, talking with people in the community - the neighbors, the business owners, and all sorts of people who make up the community."
Matt has also relied on the passion and expertise of others, working closely with Washington County Historical Society's Executive Director Brent Peterson, as well as local historian Don Empson. He also partnered with a group of people in Marine on St. Croix working to preserve local history.
"My idea of this is a real community project, so it's not necessarily my idea or what I would do, but really trying to listen to people and make the project reflect that," says Matt.
Matt also sees great potential in the role SCVF can play in empowering community collaboration and bringing people together. And as a true history buff, he also thinks in terms of log jam metaphors, wondering if SCVF just may be the key log to move the others along.
"Are there some of these challenges that our community faces where SCVF can bring together the right people in the right room to start the right conversation and provide some financial resources to help take an idea forward? I think it's an opportunity."
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