norah the mayor of maplewood many people contribute to making a great city that is from individuals on our staff and city council members to our citizen commissions and a by israel boards each one does their best to make our community a better place those who serve in public safety often give the most to serve us and our neighbors five years ago would police sergeant joe  ultimate sacrifice for our community we recently honored his life and recognize his family sacrifice bergeron's new badge i will be retired and i have a proclamation passed by the city council that i want to read read and present to gail hundred four and was issued badge and number four five seven and where as based upon his qualification and the quality of his service he was promoted to the rank of police sergeant in may of one nine hundred eighty eight and whereas upon his promotion his badge number was changed to three fifty seven reflecting his elevation to the rank of sergeant and where as on may first two thousand and ten sergeant birger on was killed in the line of duty will searching for robbery suspect and whereas may first twenty fifteen will mark the five year anniversary of sergeant birger on step and whereas this anniversary calls us to rededicate our commitment to the memory of sergeant birger on this service important that surviving family members and where does the make least has directed that badge number three fifty seven and the corresponding fifty seven series permanently retired and assigned only to thank you mary again i just want to thank all of you again for attending today five years every year this is i know this is a tough year especially for the family for all the members of the department who just several weeks ago the members of the parliament were issued this bads and in accordance with the resolution that was passed by the city council people would police department policy manual item number general order number ten forty six point five retirement a badge states effective april thirteenth two thousand and fifteen by order of the chief of police and resolution of the maplewood city council member would police badge number three fifty seven and the today in a in accordance with the resolution we recognize the fact that gail and and her daughters joe's daughters stand as now holding the place of joel on the roll of the police department and today what we want to do is issue each of them one of joe's bad says gail will be issued badge number three fifty seven joe is sergeant bad and each of the girls will be issued what was we remember him today as we did five years ago nothing has really changed in our memory our love for our fallen comrade i recall oh god joe's coolness when he could have been up tight his humor when it would have been easier to go the other way and i am sure that he is hearing your words well done good and faithful serv in honor of sargent our maplewood legislative delegation passed a bill to rename the maplewood section of minnesota highway thirty six the sergeant joseph morrell highway our legislative delegation including senators weaker and can't and representatives allele ward and fisher worked hard to make this a reality on may nineteenth governor dayton signed this bill into law let's take a look at the state house session where us an opportunity to mark the founding of our nation let's take a look at what will be happening at this year's event hi i'm kiran head director of citizen services for the city of maple and i'm here to tell you about maple is fourth of july celebration of independence with fireworks food music and fun on saturday july fourth from four to ten pm at hazelwood park brought to you by the city of maplewood in our co sponsors the doghouse bar and grill it's free bring your chairs and blankets and all your family there will be inflatables for the kids for just three dollars per respond and they can play for hours and then enjoy one of the biggest and best fireworks in town these things will be purchased at a reasonable price maple woods fourth of july celebration is the place you want to be with outstanding fireworks for food and fun last year we had over ten thousand participants this year we hope that you join us on july fourth four o'clock to ten o'clock pm at hazelwood park fifty three acres of beautiful parkland on the shores of markham visit our website for additional details at maplewood dot dot u s and click on the fireworks icon on the front page or type in fireworks in the search bar or you can call the city six five one two four nine two thousand six five one two four nine two thousand and hope to see you there public servants and citizen volunteers make up the heart of our community maplewood has an active historical preservation commission and an excellent area historical society these volunteers help us preserve and honor our past there is a long history of volunteer firefighters here in maplewood that made for an area historical society is keeping their stories alive through an oral history project lets take a look at their recent work the short definition of oral history is it's the history recorded in the words of those who lived it now the difference between oral history and a memoir or a biography documentaries community histories and we're going to have an example of how oral history is used ten volunteer fire departments responded and gladstone fire was the first to arrive chief al shade was in charge of the firefighters and said the flames were already through the rough when the first rigs arrived none of the volunteer fire departments had a snorkel truck that would allow firefighters to be above the fire so they could direct the water not just a way of passing time it's the way the wisdom gets passed along that stuff that helps us to live a life worth remembering we did seven oral histories we chief and leader and cat captain amy shad doman one of the stories that amy tells in her oral history is was a little girl and i'm not sure maybe five or six or something like that and the gemstone fire was on her birthday and so the family went and brought her to the fire so that she could see her dad as a dad wasn't going to be able to get to the birthday party so the birthday party had to be be postponed it was very much a family affair when there were you know when fires were going to interfere with lives in our busy world it is so easy to forget about our past long before maplewood was incorporated people appreciated this beautiful area and had the foresight to plan for open spaces and treats an arbor day maplewood park staff came together with the heritage preservation  maplewood area historical society to uncover the mystery of the missing g to the rounds acre grove which is on the show are of school in lake it was named for mrs rounds and mrs akers they were members of the fourth district of the minnesota federation of women's clubs fourth district essentially was the ramsey hundred twenty seven three thousand red and white pines were planted in this area we're not certain it's exactly right here we also know three thousand were additional trees are planted one thousand twenty eight but we look at an aerial photo from one nine hundred forty it shows was planted what they called memory grove a little bit farther down on keller lake another one was the washington memorial grove planted down by the frost avenue bridge another girl was for today's flu shot park is planted most of the trees have disappeared it was red and white pine there were some american elms what we're doing today is coring the jack pine to see if they might be from that age and in the first sampling indeed one of the trees showed age of well thank you to the girl scouts for being here and to your cheerleaders and thanks for everyone for coming i think this is a really big day in maplewood today we're here to rededicate the memorial rock planetree and learn about the historic gross eighty three years ago the minnesota federation of women's club fourth district planted a grove of ten elm trees on the site and dedicated it with this rock and plaque the elms disappeared and at some point the rock complex disappeared too until last shallow and to the ground so it wasn't visible that's a story the rock and and i told the mayor this is very very meaningful to me growing up you know as a kid in your twenty's and then living all along here and kids the street and you can say in a long time ago i was here when this history was planted so it's kind of fun so this is the official dedication on this day may sixteenth two thousand and fifteen we rededicate the george washington memorial grow with the planting of an elm tree knowledge the foresight and dedication of the women and scouts that planted the original grows along the failing chain of lakes as they did we value trees for their aesthetic cultural and environmental benefits though only a remnant of the original planting thrives today this legacy lives on in the preservation of the national forest and the story of the gross watch the full story coming soon to having active citizens makes our democracy work our city council appoints residents who volunteer to serve on city commissions and boards commission members assist the city council in developing policies there if like the needs and the values of all of the maplewood community as a member of a city commission you serve as a community advisor to the city council volunteering requires time and effort and provides an opportunity for genuine public service if you're interested and becoming a member of one of these groups call city hall at six five one two four nine two thousand