Past Meetings

January 25, 2007
7:00 p.m. General Membership Meeting – Brainstorming! Join us to plan meetings and events for the upcoming year. We need your ideas. What would you like to see or do? Where do you think MN Valley NOW should be headed? What issues are important to you?

February 22, 2007
7:00 p.m. General Membership Meeting
7:30 p.m. Please join us for a presentation of the fascinating documentary on the life and work of archeologist Marija Gimbutas, Signs Out of Time. Gimbutas found that Europe’s origins lay in a cooperative, peaceful, Neolithic Goddess culture. Her theories challenge conventional archaeology, spirituality, theology, and religious studies, while inspiring artists, feminists, environmentalists and activists. The documentary is a joint project by author/activist Starhawk and filmmaker Donna Read, and is narrated by Olympia Dukakis. Discussion to follow presentation.
For more information, go to http://www.belili.org/marija/aboutSIGNS.html. Preview available at http://www.belili.org.

March 22, 2007
7:00 p.m. General Membership Meeting
7:30 p.m. Special Presentation for Women’s History Month – Feminist Forum – several MN Valley NOW members will speak about what they are passionate about. Topics to include the history of the women’s movement, alternative health issues, religion and women’s bodies, feminist politics in Minnesota, and much, much more. If you are interested in participating in this forum please send an email to mnvalleynow@yahoo.org.

April 26, 2007
7:00 p.m. General Membership Meeting
7:30 p.m. Topic: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and the new vaccine. Jerri Johnson will talk about some of the strengths and weaknesses of the vaccine and the clinical research on the safety of the vaccine. A question and answer period will follow.

Jerri Johnson is a homeopath and a health freedom activist. A founding member of the Minnesota Natural Health Coalition and the Minnesota Natural Health Legal Reform Project, she was a co-lobbyist for the passage of the Complementary and Alternative Health Care Freedom of Access Act in the Minnesota legislature. Jerri Johnson is a founding member and chair of the board of the National Health Freedom Coalition.

As a founding member of Vaccine Awareness Minnesota, Jerri holds a strong interest in vaccine safety issues. She actively lobbied for legislation which assured that parents will be informed of their option to decide not to vaccinate their child, and that parents who decide to vaccinate their child will first receive information about potential side effects of the vaccine.

Johnson graduated from St. Olaf College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing. She currently has a practice in homeopathy at Crescenterra Health Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. She is a founding member and board member of the Minnesota Homeopathic Association.

Jerri is active in her church, Presbyterian Church of the Apostles, and was instrumental in the founding of a new committee to look at inclusiveness in the Church for a variety of groups of people. In addition, she has hobbies of gardening and music. Jerri is married and has three children and three grandchildren.

May 24, 2007
7:00 p.m. General Membership Meeting
7:30 p.m. Speaker: Taylor Kristoffe-Jones. Ms. Kristoffe-Jones ran for the Minnesota House of Representatives for District 35B during the recent 2006 elections. She was endorsed by the House DFL Caucus and ran in a historically Republican district. She will speak about her campaign experience, her background, and her plans to run again in 2008. A question and answer session will follow.