Blandin Community Leadership Program alumni in Austin will have the opportunity to meet the Blandin Foundation board of trustees and senior staff Tuesday, Sept. 23.

Former Austin mayor and Blandin alumna Bonnie Rietz will host the event. Rietz is a foundation board member.

The event will take place at the Spam Museum beginning at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 23 with a catered dinner from Piggy Blues.

Greetings and introductions will take place 6 p.m. with entertainment from the Spamettes at 7 p.m.

The overall theme for the Blandin Foundation retreat in southeastern Minnesota is “Optimizing our Opportunity — Charting Our Path to Rural Philanthropy That Matters.”

The foundation trustees and staff hope to hear from the local Blandin alumni how to best achieve its mission of strengthening rural communities in Minnesota in the future.

The deadline for returning the Blandin RSVP notice is Sept. 8.