We had our Friends’ Annual Meeting at Cherokee Regional Park in St. Paul, on June 17, 2014.
Public Service Award: Ramsey County Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt
Ramsey County Commissioner, Victoria Reinhardt, was awarded the Public Service Award by Friends of the Parks and Trails of St. Paul and Ramsey County at their recent annual meeting. This award is given to an elected or appointed official who has done an outstanding job promoting and supporting parks and trails and protecting the environment.
Commissioner Reinhardt was first elected to the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners in 1996. During her tenure on the board, Victoria has been a champion for the environment and a strong advocate for Ramsey County Parks and Trails. She is very proud of the Tamarack Nature Center’s Discovery Play Area and programming that focuses on experiential learning that will spark a lifetime of respect and love for nature in our children.
Her creative thinking has helped find new ways to build and maintain our trail system and grow recycling markets at the same time. One example of this is using recycled shingles in asphalt trails. Currently, she is busy making sure that future transit improvements will work with and not harm our growing trail network in Ramsey County.
Founded in 1985, Friends of the Parks and Trails of St. Paul and Ramsey County is a non-profit organization dedicated to being a key community voice in the environmentally responsible policy, development, and use of local parks, trails, and open space. Through their Tribute Tree Program, over 6,000 trees have been donated to parks in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. For more information, visit www.FriendsoftheParks.org or call 612-703-9044.
