It was on this day in 1977 that the City Council of Kinney, MN declared its independence from the United States. It seems the city had been trying for some years to get federal money for a municipal water project. Their grant applications were repeatedly rejected or ignored. Appeals to congressional representatives proved fruitless. The good citizens of Kinney (a tiny hamlet in a very large county bordering Lake Superior) were frustrated.
They hit upon the idea of becoming their own country because, the mayor said, "there's less paperwork involved" in getting foreign aid from the US.
The gesture wasn't recognized by the federal authorities, but for some reason some people in New Haven, Connecticut were sympathetic enough to grant Kinney folks visas to come visit.
Geno Paulucci, from nearby Duluth, the eccentric and wealthy founder of Jeno's Pizza Rolls, was on board. He gave the city a used Ford LTD sedan to replace Kinney's old police car and he filled the trunk with frozen pizzas, too!
In a strange and ironic twist, a neighborhood in Kinney later split off and called itself South Kinney. It built a small dam and reservoir. The town's name has since been shortened to Skinney. When you swim at the town beach on the shores of the reservoir, you are said to be skinney dipping.
This song from Charlie Parr has little to do with events in Kinney, except that Charlie is from Duluth and is a devotee of Jeno's Pizza Rolls.
Charlie Parr, people!
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