This is a photo of Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens that I snapped on Saturday at the City’s first official Veterans Day memorial ceremony. The Mayor presided at a ceremony that included the presentation of colors by a Color Guard from the Chanhassen VFW and local Boy Scouts; a presentation by the group leading the drive to build a memorial for Eden Prairie veterans; and a keynote talk given by Vietnam-era Swift Boat captain and Eden Prairie businessman Lee Ellingson. The day was crisp and cool. The turnout was very good. I would estimate 100+ for our initial Veterans Day event. Not bad. We held the event at Purgatory Creek Recreation Area Park – the future site of the City’s Veterans Memorial. The citizen’s committee raising money for the memorial is doing great work. They will meet their $300,000 goal. When they meet the goal and build the memorial, there will be a dedication ceremony not to be missed.
Chief of Police Dan Carlson gave his final address to his collected employees last Thursday. The Police Department has an annual meeting once each year at which all of the department employees are expected to attend. This is a difficult feat to pull off with the assortment of shifts and days off that police officers, dispatch operators, animal control officers, and records techs all have. But once a year we ask everybody to give up an hour or so to all sit down together in the same room to hear the same message about where we’ve been and where we’re going as a department and as a City. This year’s annual meeting is Chief Carlson’s final annual meeting. He is retiring in January 2007. You can read more about what Chief Carlson had to say about his last annual meeting in his blog by clicking this link right here: Chief Carlson’s blog.
