Join us for an afternoon of connection, creativity, and conversation at Rural Assembly Everywhere’s live event hosted by Department of Public Transformation and the Rural Assembly on Thursday, July 23rd from 2:00 – 6:30 PM CT at The YES! House and Bluenose Gopher Public House in downtown Granite Falls, Minnesota!
This year’s gathering explores the power of neighboring, storytelling, gathering spaces, and rural creative life through a mix of livestreamed national programming, local conversations, music, food, and community conversation.
At this event, we’ll celebrate the ways rural people continue to care for one another, create culture, and build vibrant and equitable futures rooted in courage and care.
The afternoon begins with a livestream watch party of the national Rural Assembly Everywhere broadcast, connecting Granite Falls to rural communities gathering simultaneously across the country.
Following the broadcast, local panel conversations will dive deeper into themes shaping rural life here in Southwestern Minnesota and beyond.
The event will include food and drinks, opportunities for reflection and conversation, music and mingling at Bluenose, and an evening open mic celebrating local voices and creative expression.
Whether you are an artist, organizer, neighbor, musician, storyteller, educator, community builder, or simply someone who cares deeply about rural places, this gathering is an invitation to connect, reflect, and remember that rural communities are strongest when we have the courage to create and care together!
Event Schedule:
– 2 PM - Gather + Greeting from Rural Assembly Team with Appetizers from Falls Cafe
– 2:30 PM - Rural Assembly Everywhere Watch Party (livestreamed event)
– 4 PM - Sweet Treats and Door Prizes
– 4:15 PM - Panel Discussion “The Geography of Care: Neighboring in Good and Hard Times” with Misty Butler (Montevideo), Julie Walker (Marshall), Kirsten Jensen (Willmar); Moderated by Melissa Peterson (Granite Falls)
– 5 PM - Happy Hour + Appetizers and Door Prizes at Bluenose Gopher Public House
– 5:30 PM - Panel Discussion “The Courage to Be Heard: Why Open Mics Matter in Rural Places;” a conversation with Southwest Minnesota Open Mic/Open Stages hosts Betsy Pardick (The YES! House host), Ryan Meehan (Bluenose Gopher Public House host), Brice Dempcy (Madison Mercantile host); Introduced by Brian-Paco Bertrand (Bluenose Gopher Public House) and Moderated by Luwaina Al-Otaibi (The YES! House)
– 6:30 PM - Open Stages hosted by Ryan Meehan at Bluenose Gopher Public House
This event and Rural Assembly Everywhere are free to attend; however, registration is required and space is limited. Register today to secure your spot! Join us, bring a friend, and stay for the open mic!
Featured panel conversations include:
The Geography of Care: Neighboring in Good and Hard Times
A conversation with rural organizers, advocates, and community leaders about mutual aid, solidarity, and the everyday acts of care that sustain rural communities through uncertainty and change, featuring:
Panel Moderator: Melissa Peterson has lived in several different parts of Minnesota in my lifetime, I have always lived in small towns and rural areas. I have experienced the suspicion and distance that can come from being an outsider in a rural place, as well as the fierce protectiveness that small towns extend to one of their own. I have first hand experience of the power that a statement as simple as 'we're glad you're here' can make, and how a community reaching out to include and support newcomers as well as longer-term residents creates strength and resilience. I believe in the power of community and solidarity and am honored to moderate this panel.
Misty Butler (Montevideo) is a rurally-based Minnesota communications leader, organizer, and community advocate. Her work has included helping residents of a manufactured home park organize to form an association to address landlord abuse, resulting in involvement from the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, and the City of Marshall. During Operation Metro Surge, she helped organize mutual aid and rapid response efforts in the Montevideo area to support neighbors impacted by immigration enforcement. She also works to defend rural communities, immigrant families, and democratic accountability through her work at CURE.
Kirsten Jensen (Willmar) is the administrative coordinator for Arrive Ministries Willmar location. She has been volunteering since the start of the Arrive office in Willmar, around 4 or 5 years and has been on staff for over a year. Arrive aims to mobilize volunteers, in partnership with local churches, to extend love and friendship to new neighbors to promote thriving in a new homeland. In other words they work with refugees and immigrants in their community to provide support and opportunities to share and grow with one another. Churches have played a big role in coming alongside to achieve this, but also the community at large in Willmar has stepped up and done that too. They provide programs such as sewing, English classes, cooking groups, mom's group, reading club, and soccer camp to name a few. All of this is done to welcome neighbors into the community and welcome the people that have already been established here to meet and share life together. They love to provide a safe space for people to come and be together and let them know they are seen and loved.
Julie Walker (Marshall) - bio coming soon!
The Courage to Be Heard: Why Open Mics Matter in Rural Places
An uplifting discussion with rural musicians, artists, and organizers about the importance of open stages as spaces for creative risk-taking, belonging, experimentation, and community connection, featuring:
Moderator: Luwaina Al-Otaibi, The YES! House Program Director
Brian-Paco Bertrand is a poet in the world. As a local of rural southwest Minnesota, B-P is a supporter of open mics and creating other safe spaces, especially where people can have creative expression, release things, connect and dialogue. Sharing with friends, fellow artists and audiences brings a better quality of life here and for local communities. Brian-Paco likes showing up and doing a bit of performance, usually of poetry either new, old or developing.
Brice Dempcy started an open mic in his hometown of Madison, Minnesota with the hope that his community would have a safe place to find who they are, up on stage and off. Performing has always transferred off stage into the confidence and courage to take on any "heckling" life throws at Brice. He’s just hoping the participants of his open mic get the opportunity to grow on stage, and bring those lessons with them off the stage.
Betsy Pardick is a musician from Southwest Minnesota that has hosted open mic nights since 2019. Her favorite part of hosting Open Mic Night is seeing a performer on stage for the first time, and the growth that happens after. She provides a safe and encouraging space for new and old performers. When she has free time, you can find her supporting other regional open mic nights, as well as performing with her band, Nautical Moth.
Ryan Meehan lives and works in Granite Falls, Minnesota, where he is passionate about creating spaces that bring people together. As a founding board member of Bluenose Gopher Public House and one of its first employees, he has helped shape the cooperative into a hub for community connection. Ryan hosts Bluenose’s monthly Open Stage, creating a welcoming stage where first-time performers and seasoned musicians alike can share their talents, tell their stories, and build relationships. Beyond Bluenose, Ryan serves on the Granite Falls Park Board and the Squid Festival Committee, reflecting his commitment to vibrant public spaces and thriving rural communities.
Rural Assembly Everywhere in Granite Falls
Thursday, July 23, 2026
2 – 6:30 PM CT
(optional Open Stages to follow from 6:30-8 PM CT)
@ The YES! House | 726 Prentice St, Granite Falls, MN 56241
Our Creative Executive Officer, Ash Hanson, will join Erin Borla, Executive Director of the Roundhouse Foundation and a 2026 TIME100 Philanthropy honoree, for a conversation at Rural Assembly Everywhere on July 23.
Together, they'll explore the realities of rural philanthropy, persistent funding gaps, and what it takes to invest meaningfully in rural communities for the long haul.