Appreciation for those that serve and protect
The celebration was all about giving "thanks" to those brave men and women for all they do for our beloved city. [WDIO, File]
At the Radisson Hotel Harborview, Duluth firefighters and police officers gathered together for a little recognition of gratitude. The hotel hosted the Second Annual "Salute to Our Duluth Firefighters and Police Officers" event.
The celebration was all about giving "thanks" to those brave men and women for all they do for our beloved city. "Thank you because they are out there every day; it’s a scarier place, even though were little old Duluth, Minnesota, says Kilpo. We still have our share of issues, and there out there making sure our guests, number one are safe; that our staff is safe and the hotel is safe.” Nancy Kilpo Director of sales and marketing at the Radisson Hotel Duluth-Harborview.
The idea for the appreciation lunch came from when Nancy was working down in Texas. “Well, I was in the San Antonio hotel industry for 31 years. They would do this during tourism week, and I thought, what a great idea should I ever come back to Duluth Minnesota. I can back in 2016, and I just thought this little bit of San Antonio that I could bring back to the community because I thought it was a nice gesture and a lot of people were doing it.”
As "thank-yous" were given out all around, this moment offered Deputy Chief of the Duluth Police Department Nick Lukovsky, a chance to reflect on when bonding and interacting with community members was hard to do during the pandemic. "We have had to really adaptable and learn how to police in different ways. One of the big things that we have suffered from covid is not having a lot of community engagements and community interaction with all segments of our community. I think that’s been tough on the men and women in our organization.”
Police Chief Mike Tusken spoke about the connection between the community and people that live in the city and law enforcement coming together and embracing each other. “We know that we can only be affected and have a safe community and can improve our quality of life only if we are together, and we do it together. Our community is paramount; we can’t ensure a safe community if we don’t have the help and support of our community that we police.”
Thursday’s event lasted for two hours from noon to two p.m., and several members of both departments enjoyed themselves and grabbed lunch.