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September 8, 2020 <br />To: Hugo City Council <br />From: Scott Arcand <br />Re: Park name in Adelaide Landing <br />I am asking that the Hugo City Council consider naming the park in Adelaide Landing after the long-time <br />owner and Hugo resident Arthur Arcand. <br />Short of writing an essay, there are several reasons to name the park after the long-time landowner <br />rather than the development name. <br />Using the development name is easy and at face value seems fine. However, it does not spur any <br />further thought about the area or its history. What was on the land prior to all those houses? What <br />crops were grown there? Were there farm animals? Did they use horses or machinery? I wonder how <br />difficult it was farming back then. I thought that food came from Festival! I wonder how long it took <br />them to get to White Bear, Stillwater, or St. Paul. <br />Soybeans, Corn, Wheat and Rye. Cows, chickens, pigs, and horses. Horses were used to work the fields <br />before they were able to purchase an Oliver tractor. Travelers down on their luck would work on the <br />farm for a day or two for meals before moving on. When equipment could not be repaired on site by <br />the farmer, they would go to Thompson Implement in downtown Hugo for repairs and parts. Grain was <br />hauled to the Hugo Feed Mill in a wagon and pulled by a tractor. An employee would take a sample to <br />test for moisture, weigh the load and pay the farmer for the grain. <br />This is just a little back story that might be interesting to residents more so than a park named after the <br />development with no real meaning behind it, a sort of cleansing of the history. <br />Respectfully, <br />Scott Arcand <br />