Third local doctor nominated for family physician award

Michael Ulrich, a family doctor with the Albert Lea Medical Center, has been nominated for the 2008 Minnesota Family Physician of the Year Award. This award is presented annually to a family physician who represents the highest ideals of the specialty of family medicine, including caring, comprehensive medical service, community involvement and serving as a role model. Drs. Donald Kammerer and John Grzybowski have also been nominated.

The Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians will accept additional information and letters about nominees until Tuesday. Letters can be mailed to Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians, 600 S. Highway 169, #1680, St. Louis Park, Minnesota, 55426 or e-mailed to kthorson@mafp.org.

All letters are carefully read and considered by a task force who will select up to six finalists. The MAFP Board of Directors will select one of those finalists to receive the Family Physician of the Year Award, which will be presented at the MAFP annual meeting in April. For more information about the award,visit www.mafp.org/awfamphysician.asp.

Dillemuth joins Ramada Inn

The Ramada Inn of Albert Lea announced the appointment of Jolene Dillemuth to the position of general manager.

In this role, Dillemuth manages all areas of day-to-day business operations at the 79-room, full-service hotel and its adjoining restaurant, the Big Island Grill.

&8220;Under Jolene&8217;s experienced leadership, I&8217;m confident that the hospitality and service provided by the Ramada of Albert Lea will be second to none,&8221; said Phil Johnson, the hotel&8217;s proprietor.

With almost 34 years of hospitality industry experience, Dillemuth has trained in all aspects of hotel management with some of the nation&8217;s best known hotel brands, including Best Western, Kahler Corporation, Holiday Inns of America and Days Inn of America. As manager of the hotel for 13 years under the Days Inn banner, Dillemuth as assumed her new responsibilities with relative ease.

While still in the early days of her tenure, Dillemuth has already established ambitious goals for the Ramada of Albert Lea.

&8220;We are planning to extend hours at the Big Island Grill to include lunchtime service, including Sunday brunch,&8221; said Dillemuth. &8220;In addition, we will be stepping up our wedding and event catering services to make the Ramada of Albert Lea top of mind when seeking a venue for a wedding or any other special occasion.&8221;

To contact Dillemuth, or for more information about the Ramada of Albert Lea, call 373-6471, or e-mail jdillemuth@ramadaalbertlea.com.

FMCS donates to Semcac&8217;s &8216;Reach Out for Warmth&8217;

Freeborn-Mower Cooperative Services recently donated $2,700 to Semcac&8217;s &8220;Reach Out for Warmth&8221; program. The ROFW fuel fund was established by Minnesota Statute and is administered by Semcac. Donations made by Freeborn-Mower Cooperative Services will provide assistance to FMCS members to pay their electric bill.

Freeborn-Mower Cooperative Services is a locally owned electric cooperative. Funds donated to ROFW are possible because of unclaimed capital credits. Capital credits represent the return or retirement of margins (what would be called profit in other forms of business) to the cooperative&8217;s member-owners. FMCS is in its 41st year of retiring capital credits to cooperative members. The 2007 capital credit disbursement was $600,000, bringing the cumulative total to $14.4 million. Occasionally, there are former members of the cooperative for whom the cooperative lacks a current address. Since capital credits cannot be returned to these members, the funds are treated as unclaimed property in accordance with state law. As such, the unclaimed capital credits must either be forfeited to the state or may be directed for use in some type of charitable purpose. The FMCS board of directors has determined that the money will be donated for use as local scholarships within the communities from which it was generated.

Piggy Blues now open

Piggy Blues Bar-B-Que opened Jan. 3 in the food court at Northbridge Mall in Albert Lea. It is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. This barbecue restaurant is owned by Ron Meyer and Josh Diaz, both of Austin. It is affiliated with Austin Piggy Blues Bar-B-Que.

Piggy Blues, managed by Ron Meyer, has 10 employees. It serves barbecue food including ribs, pork, beef brisket, chicken, turkey and side orders. It is in a mall food court setting and will have new private dining in February. Piggy Blues does competitions and is award- winning barbecue.

&8220;Best barbeque in area,&8221; said Meyer.

Area clinics participate in &8216;Give Kids A Smile&8217;

Main Street Dental Clinics of Blooming Prairie, Owatonna, New Richland and Rochester will provide free dental care to less fortunate children on Saturday, Feb. 2, at their Blooming Prairie location. People interested in scheduling an appointment may call the dental office at (507) 583-2141 and ask to schedule for &8220;Give Kids A Smile.&8221;

Main Street Dental Clinics are joining dental volunteers in other communities that are committed to providing access to quality dental care for all children. The program called, &8220;Give Kids a Smile&8221; is coordinated by the Minnesota Dental Association and has provided free dental care to more than 3 million children. This is just one example of how deeply committed dentists and their staff are to giving every child the care they deserve.

Patients seeking appointments should be under the age of 18 and must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Information needed when contacting Main Street Dental Clinics to schedule an appointment: The patient&8217;s name, date of birth, address, contact phone numbers, and parent or guardian name.

If you know of a child or children who would benefit from receiving free dental care, Main Street Dental Clinics would welcome the opportunity to serve those children.

City recognized for excellence in financial reporting

The Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting has been awarded to the city of Albert Lea by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada for its comprehensive annual financial report. The Certificate of Acheivement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.

An award of Financial Reporting Achievement has been awarded to the people,

department or agency designated by the government as primarily responsible for preparing the award-winning CAFR. This has been presented to Rhonda Moen, finance director.

The CAFR has been judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program including demonstrating a constructive spirit of full disclosure to clearly communicate its financial sotry and motivate potential users and user groups to read the CAFR.

The GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving approximately 16,000 government finance professionals with offices in Chicago, Ill., and Washington, D.C.