Beltrami History Center Receives Massive Donation After Announced Funding Cuts

After hearing news of the Beltrami County Historical Society losing all of its allocated funding from the County Board… a man from South Carolina with deep ties to the area has decided to donate all $7,500 the history center was set to lose. Rick Beltram, owner of B Square Enterprises, a regional manufacturer’s representative group in the south and northeast, pledged his donation after reading a Bemidji Pioneer Article on the funding cuts. Beltram has a genealogy connection between him and Count Beltrami, an explorer in the area from the 1820’s.  Emily Thabes, Executive Director of the Beltrami County History Center, says she was very appreciative of the donation.

“We were surprised and overwhelmed,” says Thabes. “It’s really wonderful that there are so many members of our community who believe in what we do. We also hope that the gift encourages our commissioners to recognize the importance of history, too, because while private gifts are really valuable and really important, it doesn’t take away from the need for our government to support history as well. So we hope that the continued community support will just further encourage the county to remember us when the budget decisions happen in December.”

Beltram plans to deliver the pledge to the history center during next year’s Beltrami County Fair.