Wanamingo, MN

"Want to mingle with friendly people, try Wanamingo"

Nominated by Linda Gobin

We moved to this wonderful little town from Iowa in 1991 and we didn’t know a soul then. Our daughter was nine at the time and she made friends quickly but it’s harder for adults. But it wasn’t long before we got to know our wonderful neighbors who all welcomed us into this pretty little Norwegian community. The population here is about 1,200 people so it is small but a close-knit family of fantastically nice people. Our mayor is the kind of guy who gets involved in the community and looks for ways to help improve it. He is a family man with several children who help him run their cafe, the only one in town actually — it’s called Area 57 and has the best food around, too. We have a very nice fire station that was built new a few years ago, also a beautiful community center for all.

Stories About Wanamingo

We live right next to the senior citizen apartments and they have a really nice social area that lots of organization use to play cards, hold church circle meetings, birthday or anniversary or other events parties. The people who live there are all super nice people and will do anything they can for all the neighbors around. These are the kind of people who live in this whole town, helping each other with any crises that may arise and being supportive, you really can’t ask for a better place to live.

It’s not that far away from the twin Cities and Rochester, so shopping is convenient. Also we have a nice little convenience store where basic groceries can be bought, a wonderful bakery, bank, fitness center, beauty salon, dog groomers, medical clinic, one bar and one liquor store that is beside the wonderful cafe I mentioned earlier.

We have a great 4th of July celebration here on the 4th with a parade, activities of all kinds, and fantastic fireworks at night. People come from all over to see those fireworks! We also have a Syttende Mai celebration the 2nd weekend in May, with lots of things going on. It’s a Norwegian celebration.

When we moved here in 1991 we weren’t sure what to expect, but it was the best thing we ever did and we have no regrets.

We always say, “welcome to Wanamingo!”