On the Street - October 14, 2011

• During the month of October, Fashion Bug in Alexandria will be selling pink ribbon T-shirts with 100 percent of the profits going to Living Beyond Breast Cancer, a non-profit organizaton dedicated to empowering all women affected by breast cancer. The tee is available in plus and missy sizes S-XL and 0X-4X. Also, on October 15 and 16, Fashion Bug will be having a Bra Fit event. There will be free gifts, drawings and cake, along with information about breast cancer awareness.

Fashion Bug is located at 2420 Highway 29 South in Alexandria, next to Slumberland.

• Licensed psychologist and former Alexandrian, Dr. Dion Darveaux, has opened an office in Fergus Falls.

He provides comprehensive psychological evaluation and treatment of children, adolescents (including their families), and adults.

Darveaux and his wife moved to the Dalton area in 2009. “We are really excited to be a part of this area and to begin my practice in this community,” said Darveaux. “We wanted to move closer to my home town, aging parents, and grandchildren. It seems that my skills fit nicely with the needs in the community.”

Darveaux, a native of Alexandria, received his bachelor’s degree from St. John’s University in Collegeville, and a master’s degree from Eastern Illinois University. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, specializing in school psychology.

Early in his career, Darveaux worked as a school psychologist in Alexandria (internship), Rosemount and Minot, North Dakota.

• Kathy Mattson is a recipient of Knute Nelson’s (KN) “Tree of Excellence” award. This award is the highest level of recognition through the KN Employee Recognition Program. Mattson has been employed at KN for more than six years as a care attendant at Nelson Gables. She was nominated by her peers who had this to say about her: “She loves her job and is always friendly and caring to everyone… Anticipates the needs of her clients in providing care… She is committed to helping coworkers, a real team spirit… Takes pride in her work and takes satisfaction in a job well done… Is a great communicator in report… Always does her job with a smile and that little giggle.”

• Lakes Area Theatre (LAT) has received the Deed of Assignment to Intellectual Property Rights for two popular radio theater characters. Melva Johnson, formerly of Fergus Falls, signed over the rights to her two creations of the characters Phoebe and Maude. These two characters have been featured in three productions so far and will be featured in future shows. The productions are the work of area playwrights Ann Hermes, Jamie Sandberg, Sharon Thalmann, Christy Meier, and Claudia Bursch. You can listen to these and all past shows of LAT on their website www.lakesareatheatre.com.

• Kathleen Pohlig, owner of Cherry Street Books, recently attended the Midwest Independent Booksellers 2011 Trade Show at the Depot Hotel in Minneapolis.

The meeting featured education sessions, presentations of new books by publisher reps, vendors and many author book-signings. A highlight of the event was the Midwest Booksellers Choice Awards presentation and reception.

The books and authors honored for 2011 were chosen by booksellers at 200 locally owned and operated independent bookstore members in the nine-state region.

Winners this year were: Nina Revoyr, author of Wingshooters (adult fiction), Wendy McClure for The Wilder Life (adult non-fiction), Clare Vanderpool for her young adult novel, Moon Over Manifest (which also won the prestigious Newbery Award this year), William Kloefkorn for his poetry collection Swallowing the Soap: New and Selected Poems, and Jone Yolen (author) and David Small (illustrator) for Elsie's Bird, a children's picture book.

Tags: on the street, business