Lake Elmo becomes 'Beyond the Yellow Ribbon' city
Derrick Knutson
Review Staff
Two Lake Elmo residents have started an initiative to help make the city a "Beyond the Yellow Ribbon" community. The residents received the full support of the City Council at its Dec. 15 meeting.
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon is a program started by the Minnesota National Guard to help "provide services, training and resources to service members and their families throughout the deployment cycle," according to the organization's Web site.
Residents Jennifer Pelletier and Paul Ryberg will be heading up the Lake Elmo branch of the organization. They said at the meeting that they hope to provide families any support they need while their family members are serving overseas or making the transition back to civilian life.
"The basic premise is to support the families of our troops," Pelletier said. "It's not political in that scope. It has nothing to do with your opinion of the war; it's all about taking care of the families because that's the reality that we're in at this time."
Pelletier said Washington County was the first county in Minnesota to be certified in the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon program and there are people within the county who will be able to help Lake Elmo develop and expand its branch.
There are only four families in Lake Elmo that currently have family members serving overseas, she said, but those families need support, as do others in Minnesota and around the country.
Ryberg stressed that, although the National Guard developed the program, it's for all military members and their families.
"Now we actually have people in our city who are charging forward with this," Council member Nicole Park said. "That's great."
The group will be having its first meeting at 7 p.m. Jan. 21 at Lake Elmo City Hall, 3800 Laverne Ave. N.
Derrick Knutson can be reached at dknutson@lillienews.com or at 651-748-7825.
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