Kevin Eide introduced Gayle Degler, a Carver County Commissioner for 22 years.  Although his Degler Family Farm (link) is inside the Chanhassen city area, Chaska and Carver County have been where Gayle has called home his whole life.  Born in 1951, Gayle was able to share his memories of life here in the 50s and 60s, and to reflect on the changes that have turned an agrarian community into the diverse and flourishing suburb it is today.  Dairy farms along the length of Audubon Road, a downtown with three grocery stores, and a single school, housing all 12 grades, were comparisons we were asked to imagine.  That wasn’t difficult for some of us, but our interns may have to look up examples in YouTube.

Doctors making house calls, hospitals mis-diagnosing appendicitis, picking 80 bushels of cucumbers in a day, and brick manufacturing that “paved” the way for one of the best small towns in the country were images that Gayle evoked.  History lessons also included the benefits of the “failed” plan for Jonathan, the fight for the Carver County Seat, the 1965 flood that was covered in national news by Walter Cronkite (some of us remember him too link).

Examples of overcoming divisiveness within our country and historical divisions with our city also provided positive notes within his presentation.  His post-commissioner time will include helping with the Monday night dinners at St. John’s Lutheran Church and constructing Degler Farm hay bales into roadside attractions.  We thank Gayle for his decades of service to the community, and we as Rotarians look forward to continuing his dedication to a better future.