Neighborhood news - Aug 2025

DAMON CHAPLIN CHAIRS NACCHO
City of Minneapolis Health Department employee Damon Chaplin has been named as the president of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Board of Directors. The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the over 3,300 local governmental health departments across thecountry.

Martin Wera joins Parks Foundation
The board of directors of the Minneapolis Parks Foundation is pleased to announce Martin Wera will become the organization’s next executive director, effective Sept. 8. A longtime leader in Minnesota’s nonprofit community, Wera has spent more than 20 years connecting private funding to public causes from higher education to healthy aging. The lead philanthropic partner to the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, the Minneapolis Parks Foundation is currently raising $20 million in capital support for Transforming North Commons, a $45 million renovation of North Minneapolis’s legacy park, the largest investment ever made in a Minneapolis neighborhood park. Wera earned his master’s in Public Policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and his Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from St. John’s University. In 2016, he was awarded a Bush Fellowship, which he used to explore the intersection of food, aging, and health. A long-time Minneapolis resident, Wera loves playing baseball in the summer and skating in the winter at Longfellow Park, as well as year-round runs along the Winchell Trail and national park adventures with his wife and two sons.

RAY TERRILL DANCE GROUP
After nearly a decade of leadership by the Ray Terrill Dance Group, production responsibilities for the beloved Dances at the Lake Festival are being transferred to the KASM Dance Collective. Originally established by the Christopher Watson Dance Company (CWDC) in the year 2000, Dances at the Lake was inspired by the model established by Doris Ressl, who launched Duluth’s Dances on the Lakewalk Festival nearly 30 years ago. The 2025 festival at Lake Harriet rose gardens featured 12 dance entities, including ‘it’s not working,’ a new work by KASM Dance Collective. The collective – comprised of dance artists Katy Becker, Sarah Hauss, Allie Retterath, and McKayla Murphy Zelaya – will now serve as co-producers of the Dances at the Lake Festival. The lineup for the 2026 festival will be announced in March 2026. Terrill continues his artistic work as Founder and Executive Director of Minnesota Dance Consort. He will also continue presenting his own work under the name Ray Terrill Dance Group.