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Ground Level Blog
Dave Peters

Todd County future aim: Technology to draw young, serve old

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Mike Dagen in his Hewitt home. (MPR Photo/Chris Welsch)

This sounds a little odd to say but what 33-year-old Michael Dagen and 78-year-old Beverly Meyer have in common is that technology has made life more pleasant in Todd County.

Dagen and his wife, Amber Fletschock, brought a youthful infusion to Hewitt a few years ago and are revitalizing an old hall, planning a music festival and hoping to be part of a Todd County artist/musician/craft revival or sorts. They had high-speed Internet access before they had running water.

Meyer, who is chronically ill, avoids frequent trips from her farm house to the doctor because she has a gizmo that transmits her blood pressure, pulse, weight and other conditions to a computer in Staples at 10 a.m. every day.

They tie together the final piece of reporter Jennifer Vogel's four-part series exploring the future of Todd County and offer a glimpse at the myriad and even unforeseen ways changing technology might help a place like Todd County deal with the coming wave of aging. You can read it on our Todd County page and also see it in the four papers that have been running her Ground Level series -- the Clarissa Independent News Herald, the Browerville Blade, the Staples World and the Long Prairie Leader.

The series, the resources on the web page and the work we'll present at the forum Thursday evening at Long Prairie-Grey Eagle High School paint a portrait of Todd County and some of its challenges but also offer some ways for residents to look ahead -- everything from retrofitting old homes and strengthening old-fashioned volunteer networks to welcoming young newcomers and building access to new technology.

Join us Thursday for a look at those issues and more and to join in what we think will be a good discussion. The video and audio work of reporters Nikki Tundel and Curtis Gilbert will be presented and host Kate Smith will guide us through a conversation with U of M fellow Ben Winchester, state aging expert LaRhae Knatterud and health system medical director John Halfen.

See you there. Dinner on us at 5:30. Program at 6:30.

Coming soon on the Todd County page are Spanish-language translations of the four-part series. Also, we'll provide simultaneous translation at the forum Thursday evening.