 A delegation of Bemidji residents hit the road and went down to St. Paul for the 12th annual Bemidji Day at the Capitol yesterday. Josh Peterson went along for the ride and shows us how Bemidji's own day at the Capitol can make a big difference back home. Over 50 passionate Bemidji residents loaded a bus and made the trip down to St. Paul to visit with state legislators and to lobby support for various area projects. This annual tradition put together by the Bemidji Area Chamber of Commerce has led the way to better communication and a stronger representation for Bemidji. I tell you the very first year that we came down here the legislators really weren't sure why Bemidji wanted to visit with legislators outside of our own district and so 12 years later it's doors are opening you know people are very happy to see us. For the past 12 years a delegation of Bemidji residents has traveled down to the state Capitol to make their voices heard on key issues and one thing is certain that when Bemidji Day at the Capitol rolls around it definitely makes an impact. I think that one of the biggest outcomes that we've had over 10 years is that people really recognize Bemidji Day at the Capitol and they look forward to it and as soon as we show up in the elevators with all of our red and black plaid people say oh it must be Bemidji Day at the Capitol. There was a noticeable Bemidji presence that sat in on a House Transportation Committee hearing regarding the Paul Bunyan Expressway but it was a less formal setting when the team of red and black plaid got paid a visit by House Speaker Kurt Daut who was joined by state representative Matt Bliss who took questions from the group of Bemidji lobbyists regarding topics such as transportation and local government aid. Any movement with the surplus to be able to refund the LGA back to what was cut in 02? You know unfortunate I know we'll at least do that I would think I think there's broad support for that so we understand the support. The Bemidji group then split up into small groups and made every effort to connect to with every senator and House representative. In one group questions about bonding and transportation were not the only issues discussed. For one Bemidji high school student it was a question about a career in politics that was asked to freshman senator Justin Eichhorn. After you graduated college was like politics your goal or? It was politics being an elected official was never necessarily a goal. Like Colin I went to school for business related stuff. After a full day of lobbying and making one-on-one personal connections with state legislators the 12th annual Bemidji Day at the Capitol is considered another success. In St. Paul at the Capitol I'm Josh Peterson, Lakeland News. Another area is focused on during the Capitol visit were business tax competitiveness education bonding and transportation. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.