CURE Joins 100 Paddlers on Minnesota River for its 2015 River History Weekend

River History Weekend_CURE_2015

Every year, CURE’s River History Weekend brings members and friends together to connect with Minnesota’s great outdoors. This year, CURE collaborated with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and other organizations to promote the Minnesota River Public Paddle. The goal for the event was to round up enough people to paddle all 318 miles of the Minnesota River in a single day. Although we did not succeed in covering all 318 miles, over 100 people safely paddled 280 miles and 211 unique river miles.

River History Weekend_CURE_2015

CURE lead two out of the six public trips scheduled for that day. Six paddlers joined the 8-mile route through the newly formed Minnesota Falls rapids from Memorial Park near Granite Falls to Upper Sioux Agency State Park. Thirteen others paddled 13-mile through some of the most scenic parts of the Minnesota River from Skalbekken County Park to Vicksburg County Park.

Read more about the Minnesota River Public Paddle in this Daily Planet article.

River History Weekend_CURE_2015

CURE’s River History Weekend also included a bluebird hike led by Minnesota Master Naturalist Jill Bedel and a cookout at Upper Sioux Agency State Park. The campfire dinner featured local foods from Moonstone Farm, Pastures A Plenty, Easy Bean Farm, and Earthrise Farm.

River History Weekend_CURE_2015 [srizonfbalbum id=1] 

This event was supported in part by our members and Patagonia.

Blog post by Sarina Otaibi and photos by Sarina Otaibi, Peg Furshong, and Kristian Nyberg.

Scroll to Top
Kelsey Olson

Kelsey Olson

Director of Environmental Stewardship

Envelope Linkedin

Kelsey Olson (she/her) joined CURE in 2025 as its Director of Environmental Stewardship. As a skilled environmental naturalist, Kelsey’s work focuses broadly on environmental education and advocacy with a keen focus on rural land use and how that use impacts our environment and climate. Working Lands, how land is used to support agriculture and forestry, is a key focus of her work. She brings 15 years’ experience in public communication, environmental education, and rural community engagement – strong communication strategies are core in her work. This includes two terms of service with AmeriCorps in the VISTA program in Oregon and Maryland and a nearly 10-year career as a naturalist followed. She recently worked on communications and marketing for rural economic development.

Kelsey lives in New London, MN, with her young children, husband, dog, and two cats. They enjoy spending time together outside and finding small treasures in nature. Visits to Minneapolis often include visits to one of their favorite historical museums, the Minnesota Swedish Institute. Kelsey enjoys experimenting in the kitchen, whether this is canning local produce, making kombucha, or other treats!