Grace Gerrard was chosen queen of the 52nd annual Swedish Festival on Friday night, June 18, 2004, by the past Swedish Royalty. Her three children and six grandchildren were at the event and read the following tribute. We would like to congratulate both of you, Mom and Dad. This is a special honor to be recognized by the community of Stromsburg. The crowning of King and Queen represents leadership for the community and leadership requires serving the community. You have done many things to serve this community over the past thirty years. For me, Stromsburg was a great town to grow up in as a child and both of you have done many things to make sure Stromsburg continues to be wonderful community for families. Mom has been a member of the volunteer EMT squad for seventeen years and served several years as EMT chief. She has spent countless hours keeping this important service up-to-date and readily available for the community. I remember several family gatherings being interrupted by her pager going off. We have all learned to never park behind her car in the driveway at home. Mom is committed to making Stromsburg a better community. One way she does this is by helping to beautify the parks. She has spent many hours planning, weeding, trimming, and planting. Last Christmas she participated in the lighting of the trees in the square. After we helped with their Christmas lights at home, we decorated a tree in the square as a family. I'm sure it was the tallest tree in the square. We realized when we where done stringing all the lights that the very top strand didn't work. Mom also organized, publicized and facilitated the Stromsburg "Veterans Avenue of Flags" last year and continued to keep it going this second year. Community members and travelers readily notice this patriotic addition to the main highway through town. Mom is an active member of the Chamber of Commerce and volunteers to help with several community events and projects. She has also been a member of the local Selective Service board for almost twenty years. Mom has served in many roles for the annual Swedish Festival. This year she is chairman of the entertainment for the Festival and has worked to bring the Lewis & Clark presenters and exhibits, in addition to the other entertainment. The Swedish Festival remains a fun yearly tradition for our family and the many families of Stromsburg. Because of Mom's concern and pride in the community, she has spent numerous hours in her several years as a city council member. She is a member of Salem Lutheran Church and treasurer of its Foundation Board. Mom has used her numerous computer skills to bring attention to and advertised Stromsburg to many people across the world through the Internet. She has volunteered a lot of her time to design and continually update the community web site. She has helped other individuals and businesses to design web sites, and has worked with Stromsburg youth to become involved with city web site. She is now working with the UNL e-community Agribusiness project. In addition, she shares computer expertise with the library personnel. Every year she designs and prints beautiful bulletins for the Veteran's Day program. Mom has done many other things throughout the years to make Stromsburg a wonderful community for families. She doesn't wish to be recognized for all of her efforts and time spent. She just simply loves the small community of Stromsburg.

Brought to you by The City of Stromsburg and the Stromsburg Chamber of Commerce

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