2013 09 Gem Lake News - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Gem Lake News Page 2 of 6 Editor's Note: This story is reprinted from the February, 2009 Gem Lake News to honor Chuck Watson's remarkable life and public service. He died on August 13 in Gem Lake. From an economically challenged upbringing, a stint in the military during the Vietnam W ar era and a job that now involves quite a bit of travel, Chuck Watson has faced many challenges in his life. Raised near the Capitol Building in St. Paul by a single parent, Chuck learned early to value the opportunities that a great education could provide for him. He excelled at St. Agnes’s High School to the point that he was nominated for a prestigious spot in the Air Force Academy when he was 18 years old. Only two spots per year are allotted to Minnesota citizens by their senators. For Chuck this meant a life changing one- -on-one meeting with then senator Hubert H. Humphrey, who he says was the “nicest man in the world.” Although Chuck did not end up attending the Academy, he did learn from the experience to set goals and then work to achieve them, no matter how much effort this entailed. After his three year stint in the military, during which time he worked in the military police, Chuck got started in a career in the construction and tool distribution business. He has now worked in that industry for over 30 years. Currently, Chuck is a Regional Account Manager for DeWalt, which sells power tools to distributors such as Menards. (In 2013 he was the national manager.) Chuck has been married for 28 years. (Now 32 years.) He and his wife Holly have three children. He and Holly stumbled onto a great piece of property in Gem Lake in 1989. “We didn’t even know there was such a place as Gem Lake, “says Chuck. Their first home in Arden Hills had become too small due to their expanding family. The couple began exploring neighborhoods in the Northeastern regions of the Twin Cities and happened down LaBore Road one afternoon. Holly spotted a small hand painted sign on a tree, indicating land for sale. The property was Chuck Watson Serves Gem Lake (continued from page one) fairly large and had a distinct rural feeling to it. “This was before Target, Wal-mart and the nearby hotels were here,” says Chuck. Over the years, the Watsons planted a line of evergreen trees, built their current house and have tried to do landscaping appropriate to their semi-rural setting. In the beginning Chuck mowed almost the entire three acre lot, but gradually he began to let about half of his yard grow more naturally. He planted huge sections of wild flowers and natural grass, which cuts down on maintenance and water requirements. Chuck has been on the Gem Lake City Council for 6 years. In addition to working on such projects as the Comprehensive Plan, Chuck was heavily involved in County Road E/LaBore Road traffic improvements with the City of Vadnais Heights. This involved bringing traffic lights to the intersection and re-orienting the lane configuration. In the years ahead, Chuck has three main goals. He would like to see the city maintain current levels of service, while trying to stay within in current budget range. He would also like to see responsible development that could keep taxes manageable for everyone. This would include well-planned commercial and residential development that takes into account the needs of nearby neighbors and doesn’t get too crazy with the budget. Chuck’s third goal would be to continue to work on communication through the newsletter and web-site and work to get more people involved in the city government. When Chuck had to resign in 2010 due to his schedule he said the following: "I am also really proud of the fact that I never lost track of who I was working for on the council, none of us did. It was never a personal agenda. I always tried hard to remember that we represented the betterment of the community."