Memorial Remembers Nearly 400 St. Cloud Area Residents Lost to COVID-19

(KNSI) – Dozens of St. Cloud area residents gathered at Lake George to remember family and friends lost to COVID-19.

People tied hundreds of ribbons on a railing behind the boathouse overlooking the lake to symbolize the nearly 400 St. Cloud area deaths since the start of the pandemic.

The ribbons will stay up all week.

Jake Judd (KNSI News)

St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis was one of the featured speakers and said the pandemic has touched everyone.

“The pain and the loss of the lives that we’ve had, in our community, the nearly 400 people. The challenges that we have had, with isolation and restrictions. I think we’ve all been touched with individuals we know who have who have died.”

Jake Judd (KNSI News)

Kleis says every person lost to COVID-19 is a tragedy for the community.

“When we talk about essential workers and essential people, every single one of you is essential to our community. Remember that and remember those that we’ve lost.”

The crowd observed four minutes of silence in honor of those who’ve died.

Supervisor of Cultural Competency and Health Equity with CentraCare, Mahado Ali, lost her father during the pandemic and talked about getting a phone call saying she needed to say goodbye.

“I couldn’t do anything but cry. Because I was not prepared to travel overseas as I am a single parent, a frontline health care worker and a teacher to my son. Like many of you, I felt hopeless and powerless. It’s hard to watch your loved one dying and you can’t hold their hand. You can’t kiss them on the forehead, or even simply say goodbye.”

Ali says despite everything lost in the last year, brighter days are ahead.

“COVID-19 gave us a box full of darkness, but there’s always the light outside of the box. We are here to honor and remember the lives we have lost. Please remember that we are all in this together as one nation, and we are stronger than we know.”

Jake Judd (KNSI News)

St. Cloud Singer Laureate James Calacsan also performed the song ‘Raise Me Up.’

The event was held Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the first reported death of a Benton County resident from COVID-19. It was the first death from the virus in the Tri-County area.

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