Small Minnesota Town is Self-Proclaimed Gnometown, USA

There is a small town in west-central Minnesota called named Dawson but they have given themselves a different name: Gnometown, USA. That is because there are a lot of gnomes that call Dawson home. And each of these gnomes have a story behind them.

WCCO writes that "the first gnome moved to town" in 1987. At first, the plan was to use these gnomes as a way to promote the town of Dawson, which it definitely does, we're talking about them right now! But these gnomes also became a representation of the people that live in Dawson.

Each gnome of the 42 in Dawson represents someone. Each year Dawson hosts their annual Riverfest. Leading up to Riverfest you can nominate someone who has made an impact on you, the town, or has "given back in a selfless way", as WCCO writes.

From these nominations, the gnome committee, which is made up of 19 people from Dawson, sort through the nominations and select a new gnome to join the town. This new gnome is then revealed during Riverfest. Unfortunately, Riverfest is canceled this year because of COVID so they will not be adding a new resident this year.

But where do these gnomes come from? Of course, they don't order them from somewhere, there's someone in town who makes all of the gnomes. His name is Loren Femrite. He took over for Doug Larson who was "the original gnome creator".

If all of this doesn't convince you that Dawson, MN is Gnometown, USA, I don't know what will! It sounds like a fun town to take a day trip to.