The giant bison on South Highway 75 is dressed in a superhero cape and mask as part of local efforts to encourage participation in the 2020 Census.
Members of Luverne’s Complete Count Committee decorated the bison at Those Blasted Things on July 14.
The Luverne bison joins several other “Census Heroes” across the state to remind residents that time is running out for them to respond to their census questionnaires.
Other famous statues in Minnesota include Paul Bunyan, Goldie the Gopher and the Peanuts characters in downtown St. Paul.
Starting next month the Census Bureau will be sending census takers to homes in person if those residents have not responded on their own.
There is still time to respond and avoid a knock on the door,
•go to 2020Census.gov.
•call 844-330-2020 (seven days a week between 6 a.m. and 1 a.m.).
•fill out and mail back the census form if it was received in the mail.
Responses are confidential and protected by federal law. The Census Bureau does not share responses with any government, or law enforcement, or landlords … no one.
Starting last week, more than 3,000 U.S. Census Bureau representatives visited communities with the lowest 2020 Census response rates to encourage and assist people with responding on their own to the 2020 Census.
It’s part of the Census Bureau’s final push to encourage people to complete the 2020 Census before the Nonresponse Followup (NRFU) operation begins nationwide on Aug. 11.
All households that have not yet responded to the 2020 Census will receive a reminder postcard by July 24, a few weeks before census takers are set to begin visiting most households that haven’t yet responded.
The first invitation was mailed in mid-March.
Minnesota has over 71 percent responding, which means about one in four households has yet to respond.