We honored our many volunteer board, commission and task force volunteers last night at the City’s 2007 Board & Commission Recognition Banquet. It was a wonderful event. There were approximately 150 people in the Garden Room last night to enjoy a good meal and to recognize and appreciate the voluntary service of Eden Prairie residents in city government.
That’s our keynote speaker Roy Terwilliger in the photo on the left. Roy is a banker, statesman, and all around community leader. He has served his country in the Army; his community in the Minnesota State Senate; and now serves the State as the Chair of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission. Roy knows what community service is all about. He ended his keynote address with a poem that I’ve heard him recite before. It says a lot about what has motivated him in life, and is good advice for anyone who cares about his or her community. It’s called The Builder and its author is unknown.
Thanks to Roy for a great keynote address. Thanks to our honorees. And thanks to the members of my staff that worked hard to put on a great event. Bravo
THE BUILDER
I saw them tearing a building down
A team of men in my hometown.
With a heave and a ho and a yes yes yell,
they swung a beam and a sidewall fell.And I said to the foreman, “Are these men skilled?”
“Like the ones you’d use if you had to build?”
And he laughed and said, “Oh no, indeed…
the most common labor is all I need…
for I can destroy in a day or two
what takes a builder ten years to do.”So I thought to myself as I went on my way…
Which one of these roles am I willing to play?
Am I one who is tearing down as I carelessly make my way around?
Or am I one who builds with care, in order to make the world a
little better… because I was there?
