Ed Raymond Appreciation Day Friday, March 18

Though HPR’s Gadfly columnist Ed Raymond’s birthday is technically this next week, there will be a celebration in honor of him in a couple weeks and all of you are invited.

We shifted gears this year in how we will approach HPR’s annual birthday party, typically held in September. This year, we opted to host a winter birthday party and not for HPR but instead for Ed Raymond who turns 79 March 2

The event will be a casual social mingling affair from 7-10 p.m. at the Plains Art Museum. One of Ed’s students from Fargo South High School, Johnny Miles, will be playing piano for the event. It’s also an all ages event so his grand kids as well as those of others are welcome.

We’ve been proud to put Ed Raymond’s column in the front of the ‘book’ in HPR each week for nearly a decade. He’s brilliant, provocative and unabashed. A former High School Principal, school board member, jar head and a self-pronounced former Catholic who still has words to say about Lurch / 5-4 / Dubyah, Raymond has never been shy about calling a spade a spade and our government fascist when it at times is. We venture to guess he is one of the most widely read columnists in the Fargo-Moorhead region.

Pass the word. Set Friday, March 18, aside. Join us in celebrating Ed Raymond’s birthday belatedly and acknowledging his lifelong community service.