Inside Root River Current: Community Leadership

LANESBORO – Root River Current’s leadership team has grown by one. 

At its annual meeting held April 14 in Lanesboro, the Board of Directors elected Joe Goetzke to a three-year term. Joe is Executive Director of the Lanesboro Area Chamber of Commerce, a former member of the Lanesboro City Council, served as the marketing director at Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center and was the social media coordinator/consultant for Root River Current in its founding years. 

The Board also re-elected the following founding directors to three-year terms:

• Steve Harris, a Fillmore County-based free-lance writer, former school administrator and pastor who also held marketing and development positions in the Twin Cities.

• Loni Kemp, of rural Canton, has been a rural Minnesota advocate, policy analyst and writer, focused on issues related to sustainable agriculture, renewable energy and a healthy environment.

• John Torgrimson, rural Lanesboro, is a journalist and author who has also provided administrative leadership for Seed Savers Exchange, Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center and Oxfam Hong Kong, and for 13 years was co-owner/publisher of the Fillmore County Journal.

Elected as officers for the 2025-26 year are Steve Harris, Chair; Tom Brudvig, Vice Chair; Loni Kemp, Secretary; and Richard Nethercut, Treasurer. John Torgrimson and John Gaddo were re-appointed as co-publishers.

Additional details about Root River Current’s Board of Directors and leadership team can be found on the RRC Leadership page.