By Mark W. Olson

By Mollee Francisco

A traditional pow wow, called a wacipi, is a gathering of friendship.

The city of Chaska and the Jonathan Association will play host to such a gathering this Saturday – apparently only the second since the city was founded more than 150 years ago.

“In the time before the Europeans, a pow wow was a gathering of relatives and friends in order to get reacquainted,” said organizer Walt Ripplinger.

Ripplinger hopes to bring that same spirit to this pow wow.

The Jonathan Association recently received the “Homeowner Association of the Year” award for 2010.

The large Chaska homeowners association received the award at an annual meeting and Vision Awards Celebration held by the Community Associations Institute – Minnesota Chapter (CAI-MN) on June 16 in Minneapolis.

The Vision Awards Program recognizes the “best of the best” for outstanding achievements in the community association management industry, according to a Jonathan press release.

The 24th annual Jonathan Festival of Garage Sales will take place from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 24. Registrations for those planning to host a garage sale will be accepted through April 17. Here is more information courtesy of the Jonathan Association website:

The Jonathan Association will not have an election again this year. Only two association members indicated an interest in the three open board seats at the annual meeting Thursday night.

Jim Battenberg, of Neighborhood Eight, will return to his seat on the board. He will be joined by David Snodgrass, of Clover Ridge. Both men were approved by the board's nominating committee Thursday.

Jonathan Association President Nate Bostrom said that the board will continue to look for someone to fill the remaining open seat.

The Jonathan Association is once again gearing up for its annual meeting.

The meeting serves to gather the membership of the large homeowner’s association to nominate members to the board of directors. The Jonathan Association stretches across 23 Chaska neighborhoods and is comprised of roughly 8,000 of the city’s residents.

The annual meeting will take place on Thursday, Feb. 25 at the District 112 Kindergarten Center. Registration begins at 6 p.m. with the meeting starting up at 6:30.

For the second time this year, the Jonathan Association is readying to fill a vacant post on the board of directors. At Tuesday’s monthly meeting, the board accepted Katie Tierney’s letter of resignation.

“When I ran for the Board of Directors in March 2008, my life was far different than it is now,” wrote Tierney. “I was working 20 hours a week from home, and had extra time to dedicate to the Jonathan Association.”

Tierney noted that she accepted a full-time position this past January that requires “significant travel.”

The Jonathan Association is seeking applicants to fill an open position on its board of directors.

The director would complete the term of Jaqueline Bensman, which expires on March 2011.The nine-member board, which represents the large Chaska homeowner’s association, meets at 6:30 p.m., the second Tuesday of every month.

Applications are available by calling the Karen House at (952) 448-4700 or e-mailing jonathan@jonathaninchaska.com.

The Jonathan Fourth of July Parade was held last Saturday, with dozens of children and parents donning their patriotic best for the short march from the Jonathan General Store to the Karen House.