HEROES Mandan Event

Who: Mandan Progress Organization

What: This year sees a lot of milestone anniversaries for iconic Mandan events, including the 30th anniversary of Buggies-n-Blues, and the 50th anniversary of Art in the Park. The Mandan Progress Organization is also celebrating their 30th anniversary, and their involvement in the community has created a vibrant and thriving culture.

The Mandan Progress Organization (MPO) started in 1993 and immediately took on the Independence Day Parade, Mandan Rodeo Days, and Buggies-n-Blues. “MPO stepped in to facilitate these events so they would continue to go forward because these were longstanding events. Both the parade and the rodeo are well over 100 years old,” explains Matt Schanandore, current executive director for MPO. “That really kicked off the mission of the MPO to be an organization that creates experiences.”

Over its many years, the MPO has brought a wide variety of events and experiences to the Mandan area. “In the early 90s, they did a study on what Mandan could be. They knew Mandan struggled to be a retail town, but was very successful being an event town that would bring a lot of people to the community. That’s how a group of people all got together and decided they would start an organization and hire an event coordinator to bring events to Mandan,” describes Del Wetsch, past executive director for the MPO. “There’s been a lot of fun stuff that we’ve done.”

The creativity and innovation behind the events put on by MPO is impressive. The mission of the MPO seems to always have been to keep growing and trying new things, and the stories of old MPO events is a testament to this. Some of these past events over the last 30 years include a buffalo chip throwing competition, hospital bed races, tug of war, and making and selling a sub sandwich that extended several city blocks to kick off Mandan Rodeo Day. MPO also hosted a Wild West grill fest that ran ten years. The event included food vendors and wagon rides. Another unique event the MPO put on in the early years was a beach party that was held for six or seven years. They would hire a band and had a stage for people to dance in front of. The event included food vendors and a style show that’s grand prize was a destination cruise. “The MPO has been that catalyst for creating those experiences and core events,” describes Matt.

Over the years, thanks to the efforts of people like Matt and Del and groups like the Mandan Progress Organization, Mandan has become known for its events and experiences. The MPO is even expanding into winter events like the Holiday Lights on Main which were a tremendous success this last Christmas season. The more people who come to visit Mandan the better, and the MPO advocates a pride in their community. “I think the future of the MPO is really bright in relation to the city and how it can continue to be a voice of promotion for Mandan, really giving Mandan its own voice and making it unique,” describes Matt.

Kristi Kraft, the MPO president, echoes this sentiment from Matt: “We’re just so excited about what’s happening in Mandan. We’re in a very special time in Mandan with so many things happening. We see our role as being a cheerleader for the community and bringing people here and telling them what a great place it is to live.” The events put on by the MPO bring people into Mandan, giving the city a chance to show off its thriving culture and highlighting the exciting new things happening. “We partner with the city, the park district, the county, so we have the unique opportunity to be an arm for community experience and bring people here,” says Kristi. “Then, when people come here and see all the new things happening, it brings success to our businesses, it brings more folks to town. It’s a win for everyone, and we’re pretty passionate about it.”