Bummer, we are not close to you. However, I am looking to involve high schools, universities and colleges in getting the word out about Arduino and have them host our meetings or hackfests/learning sessions in 2013. Let's take Arduino.MN on the road! 
If there's an educational institution that is near you and might be interested in hosting an Arduino event on a weekend or some other time during the week, I would like to speak with them. My contact information is at http://arduino.mn