In a celebration of America’s food and agriculture industry, several families from Freeborn County ventured to Minneapolis Tuesday night for an AgNite event put on by the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council.

The event was organized to correspond with the timing of the Republican National Convention in St. It was, however, attended by guests, delegates, policymakers, and food and agriculture industry leaders with the main purpose of showcasing the successes and innovating solutions in America’s food and agriculture industry.

Albert Lea lawyer Matt Benda and his wife, Heather, were two of the people who attended the event. Matt is the former chairman of the Freeborn County Republican Party.

“It’s going really well,” Matt said about halfway through. “All I can say is at the event we’re promoting agriculture and putting a really good face on agriculture.”

He and Heather volunteered to help at the front door to make sure people got to their right places.

At that point, Matt said, he had seen Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation President Tim Penny and was hoping to supposedly see Gov. Tim Pawlenty and people of his staff before the night was over.

Albert Lea Economic Development Agency Director Dan Dorman, who also attended the event with his wife and son, said the family didn’t know what to expect from the night so they thought they’d go up and check it out.

They saw several other couples from Freeborn County, who were mostly representatives of the ethanol industry, said Dorman, a former Republican state representative.

“It was kind of fun to see them there,” he said.

He estimated several thousand people were in attendance.

Organizers put on the event while the convention was in St. Paul because many of the critical issues being debated on the campaign trail have roots in the Midwest, whether it be the U.S. energy policy, agriculture prices or changing global food demands, according to the AgNite Web site.