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MEDIA COVERAGE _ ANDERSON SELECTED TOP NEWSMAKER OF THE YEAR 2014 "His considerable efforts to whip Handke into shape for Hockey Day and his help on acquiring Houlton Farm lead him to distinction" Star News front page newspaper article by Jim Boyle, Editor, December 27, 2014 http://ersta rnews.com/2014/12/27/a nderson-selected-newsmaker-of-the-yea r/ Excerpts from article: This past year came in like a lion for Dave Anderson, and it is leaving like a lion. The tireless volunteer and longtime champion for the always-improving Elk River park system led the effort to whip the Handke Stadium into shape for Hockey Day Minnesota... Anderson also played a critical role in the City of Elk River landing the Houlton property, a 347-acre parcel of land with more than 3 miles of river frontage on the Elk and Mississippi rivers. Anderson testified in August at the Lessard-Sams Council, asking for a $3.1 million pool of money so the city could turn the vast property located two blocks from downtown Elk River into a conservation area with the help of The Trust for Public Land. For Anderson's efforts on Hockey Day Minnesota and the Houlton property acquisition as well as other headlines he made in between, he has been chosen for the Star News as the top newsmaker of the year... ....Anderson said Hockey Day Minnesota 2014 is an incredible memory he will carry with him forever. He calls it his most rewarding volunteer effort in his life. But in the grand scheme of things, he said, he believes the acquisition of the Houlton Farm property and making it a conservation area is even a bigger deal than Hockey Day. Anderson who has been on the Elk River Park and Recreation Commission since 1987 and has served 17 years as chair said"This is the most important acquisition in the history of parks and recreation for the city:' Anderson said the Houlton property had been on the radar of the commission for more than two decades. The same was true when Bailey Point, in partnership with grants,was purchased in 2012. This pristine historic and scenic property has shoreline at the confluence of the Mississippi and Elk rivers. "Five hundred years from now people will say we had vision acquiring these properties;"Anderson said. Anderson was a good choice to testify down at the State Office Building on the Houlton Farm as he can speak about the great volunteer corps Elk River has helped assemble—be it the one for Woodland Trails Park,the one for Hillside Park or the one for Hockey Day Minnesota. 1 5i1 14 %1 , Great Northern Trail Birch Meadow Bailey Point Nature Babcock Park Bailey Point Nature Preserve Preserve