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August 3, 1999
Good Neighbor honored during National Night Out Rally MondayPatty Rodewald recognizedas first-ever Good NeighborBy GUY PRIEL Journal Staff Writer NEW ULM -- Approximately 300 residents took advantage of the cooler weather and low humidity on Monday as they gathered at German Park for the Fourth Annual National Night Out Rally. Patty Rodewald received the first-ever Good Neighbor award at the event. The award was established by local National Night Out organizers to honor and thank citizens who freely share their time and energy with others to help make the community an enjoyable place to live, City Councilor and NNO spokesman Ron Fleischmann said. "I am so excited," Rodewald said, upon hearing about her nomination. "I am on such an emotional high. I have good friends in the neighborhood, and they have been really good to me." She received a clock and a variety of gifts from local merchants, and her name will be placed on a plaque at city hall. Not only was Rodewald named as the Good Neighbor for New Ulm, she was recently named as WCCO radio's good neighbor. That honor surprised and pleased her. "I thought Wow! It was such a great feeling," Rodewald said. Although she recently retired from the Liquor Mart, where she worked for 27 years, she is busier than ever. "I recently spent three days helping a friend move and I recently took a friend to the eye doctor," she said. "I'll be taking a friend to Farmfest. I just find time to do these things. Some people need help, and I find a way to help them." Rodewald was nominated by her neighbor, Linda Rathman, who said she is not only special to people on the block but also to people all over town. "She is a special neighbor who is hard working, caring and sharing," Rathman said. "She is always giving back every day." Rodewald works as a hospice volunteer, watches friends' dogs while they are away on vacations or at doctor appointments, mows neighbors' lawns, helps with lunches for graduations, special occasions and is available when someone has a death or illness in the family, Rathman said. "She even introduces old neighbors to new neighbors and makes a point of meeting anyone who moves into the neighborhood," she said. She also helps refinish furniture, has sewn many quilts as gifts, shares her garage, shares her garden, bakes and babysits, she said. "She even helps a neighbor's grandson, whom she takes to the river fishing and teaches them many things," Rathman said. "They even ask to stay with her overnight. It is really neat to see her do that." Eight-year-old Tyler Cross calls Rodewald his best friend when he's not at school. He helps her mow lawns and gets paid back with fishing trips and other enjoyable one-on-one events. "It is a chain reaction," Rathman said. "Others in the neighborhood have started doing things because of her example. She is the best in New Ulm and is the most giving person I know. She is an inspiration to us all." Rodewald's actions bring back memories of the 1960s when everyone was a good neighbor, Rathman added. Monday's festivities included a musical celebration by Menagerie, a magic show by Wayne Hunstad and a performance by the Just for Kix dancers. A glowing kazoo finale was led by Menagerie, with glow sticks and necklaces provided by the Public Utilities Commission. The evening, designed to make people aware of crime and drug prevention, was organized as a way to prepare residents for tonight's National Night Out, where they are expected to join their neighbors for a block party, Fleischmann said. "The event will help citizens strengthen their ties as neighbors and will allow police officers the opportunity to discuss neighborhood crime prevention," he said. The event was organized nationally in 1983, when members of the National Association of Town Watch wanted a way to help build neighborhood unity throughout the country in an attempt to stamp out crime. It is supported by the U.S. Department of Justice.
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