By Kevin Cederstrom
kcederstrom@parkrapidsenterprise.com
Terry Eilers left his position as Park Rapids Chief of Police with a 2nd Street Stage send-off Thursday evening. Eilers, a long-time supporter of the summer music series downtown, retired effective July 1. Representatives of the Downtown Business Association presented Eilers with a lawn chair and "lifetime pass" for he and wife Pauline to the free concerts held each Thursday in the summer.
Cynthia Jones thanked Eilers for his dedicated support to not only 2nd Street Stage but to the downtown business community as a whole.
Eilers has 40 years law enforcement experience, the last 13 as the Park Rapids chief. He took the stage Thursday to accept his gifts and was presented a certificate of appreciation, which read: "The holder of this certificate is hereby awarded Honorary Lifetime Membership in the Park Rapids Downtown Business Association, in recognition of valuable contributions to the downtown business community. We thank you for your patience and support through the years and wish you the very best always."
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In addressing the crowd Thursday, Eilers joked he’s been wearing a uniform so long he’ll need to hit some garage sales now to find regular clothes to wear every day.
Eilers thanked the community for its support of the Park Rapids Police Department and praised the efforts of the DBA for putting on events like 2nd Street Stage, which is now in its fifth year and drew hundreds of people to downtown Park Rapids to see this week’s band, "The Woodpicks."
"This community has always supported things like 2nd Street Stage and has been a big supporter of the police department," Eilers said. "Early on, this community really helped us out. People in the community stepped up with donations when we needed equipment. And when we needed help on a case here and there people have come forward."
Eilers has been a regular attendee in uniform at 2nd Street Stage, which continues to grow in attendance, offering police presence and community involvement. He said the police department as a whole is engaged in the Park Rapids community.
"It’s been fun doing these," Eilers said. "When people show up and get involved they enjoy it and I know our officers enjoy the community events. It’s a lot of extra work for us and my guys have always used comp time and switched hours around to be involved in these things."
Following Thursday’s presentation a number of well-wishers greeted Eilers and his wife. Mayor Pat Mikesh shook Eilers’ hand and said, "Thank you for your service Terry", before the chief left the 2nd Street Stage scene one last time in uniform.
