ACE Award Northeast District

Northeast District ACE Award Winner

Myrna Kay Peterson

By Adam Giebner

Photo: Myrna Kay Peterson (recipient), Adam Giebner (district chair)

Resilient, graceful, witty, and kind are all words I would use to describe Northeast’s ACE Award winner, Myrna Peterson. I have had the pleasure of knowing Myrna during my time in Grand Rapids and if you talk to anyone who knows her, they would use the same words, and probably more. Words like dedicated, strong, and a force to be reckoned with are but a few descriptors for the person I lovingly call “Myrna, the Patron Saint of Choral Music” or “St. Myrna,” for short.

Myrna started piano lessons in 2nd grade, band in 5th, and had the opportunity to sing in choir at a young age through church and then continuing on through high school. She was a singer for four years at Luther College and has very fond memories of her director, Weston Noble. After college, she was still an active member of her choral communities. She even raised her children to be heavily involved in the arts, all doing piano and participating in choirs and musicals into their adult years.

On June 21st, 1995, Myrna was part of a car accident that left her with irreparable nerve damage from her chin to her toes leaving her a quadriplegic. After an initial seven months of in-patient care, she endured and overcame 32 surgeries in almost as many years. One would think that a person who had endured so much would want to take things easier, lament their lot in life, or might even resign themselves to the hand that fate dealt them. If you think that of her, you haven’t met Myrna.

Myrna has never missed a choir concert in Grand Rapids. This includes high school, middle school, touring choirs, her church’s choir, the community choir…I could go on. And if she does miss a concert, it is because she has double booked herself with another concert on the other side of town. If that did happen, she would try to split her time and ensure that she caught at least some of each concert. Not only this, she has attended or donated to every fundraiser that the choir has put on, including madrigal dinners, pancake breakfasts, jazz choir nights…the list goes on!

But the thing that always moves me the most is how she interacts with the young talent in our district. She is seen talking to the young students, encouraging them, praising their gifts, and telling them to keep performing and growing. I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of a better way for someone to advocate for choral music than invest in its youngest members. I would be remiss if I did not mention that she loves beer choir night at our brewery more than anyone else in town.

Myrna’s work and passion for others goes beyond choir. She has done so much for disability advocacy in our state, like establishing Mobility Mania – Accessibility for All, whose mission is to increase accessibility awareness to make Itasca County the showcase of accessibility in Minnesota and to raise finances for local accessibility needs. She is serving on the MN Governor’s Advisory Council on Connected and Automated Vehicles to make accessibility a reality in Itasca County, and served as a representative on the Minnesota Council on Disability.

The intersection of these values is found in her advocacy for making the fine arts accessible to all people. In her own words, Myrna said: “I have a passion for getting differently abled people involved in visual and performing arts in our community. I feel strongly that everyone deserves a quality of life, regardless of their age or ability. Art expression can be a creative way of building confidence and self-worth. It also is great at bringing community awareness and appreciation for these unique artists.”

It is because of her efforts and advocacy that people of all abilities have had featured artwork in our museums and fine arts center, theatrical showcases seen by sold out audiences, and she was the loudest and proudest supporter for the implementation of a unified music class at Grand Rapids high school.

Because of all of this and more, on behalf of the Northeast district and the entirety of ACDA of Minnesota, we’d like to thank you, Myrna, for all of your tireless work and we are proud to honor you as the Northeast District’s ACE Award Winner.