A girl in a sundress is drawing a picture of herself on a four-sided easel set up in a shady spot—but she needs help with the nose. A little boy in a floppy hat and saggy shorts lifts a chubby leg and climbs into a sand box. At the far end of the playground, several more small children take turns banging melodically on a metal trash can lid mounted strategically on the chain link fence.
Welcome to Pamella Willard’s world.
Read MoreThink back to breakfast.
Did you spoon up crispy flakes or crunchy O’s? Did you slurp down light little puffs or listen to the happy melody of crackling crisps? Did you enjoy a mouthful of sweetened oats or savor the texture of a healthy breakfast bar? And as you were eating them, did you think at all about what went into the way those bites tasted, the way they crunched, crackled, or melted in your mouth?
Read MoreLori Wightman had no intention of staying in New Ulm.
When she accepted an assignment from Allina Health Systems in July 2002 to serve as interim president of New Ulm Medical Center, she intended to keep it exactly that. “I figured I’d be here six months, that I’d just keep things held together until a new president could be found,” Wightman says. “I didn’t necessarily want to stay in New Ulm.”
Read MoreThe tour begins at the front desk. Bryan Paulsen points out the limestone laid into the wall, the brick columns stretching from floor to ceiling, the exposed concrete unearthed from layers of acoustic tile. He notes the lack of sheetrock, the minimal use of paint, the high efficiency lighting. He leads the way along a long, rounded corridor, bordered on one side by windows and on the other by handsome wood and glass walls. There, he says, is the main conference room. Here, he says, are the workstations.
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