Town Manager, Marc Verniel (left) and former mayor Ron Rordam unveil a plaque dedicating the Huckleberry Trail bridge over Southgate Drive to the long-time civil servant.
Liz Kirchner
communitynews@ourvalley.org
Like a jovial cocktail party, but with bikes and joggers winding through it, a small crowd of town luminaries, government officials and local artists gathered on the summery Huckleberry Trail to dedicate the bridge at Southgate Drive to former mayor Ron Rordam in recognition of his own decades-long dedication to the town.
The handsome black sign post with gold lettering and a fleur-de-lis ornament now stands on the library end of the bridge, and the bridge itself is ornamented with a plaque.
Presented with leis for the occasion by local artist Joanne Sunshine, Rordam, fresh in a seersucker suit, and his wife, Mary, walked to the event from their house on nearby Draper Road.
“We call him ‘Citizen Ron’,” Town Manager, Marc Verniel, said as he and the mayor pulled the cover from the marker. “He was with the town for 22 years on council, ten as mayor, and in planning before that.”
Rordam was first elected to the council in 1996 and became mayor a decade later. Before serving on the council, he spent four years on the town’s planning commission. Verniel had been an intern in the early nineties.
“We grew up together,” he said laughing.
Town Attorney Larry Spencer (from left), former mayor Ron Rordam and Town Manager Marc Verniel gather on the Huckleberry Trail to dedicate a marker to Rordam recognizing his decades-long service to the town.
Rordam thanked the crowd warmly standing beside his wife.
“We walk this path every day. We certainly appreciate this, we both do,” he said.
To the comradely crowd, staff said that they chose this spot knowing the Rordams walk on the Huckleberry Trail.
“You’d see Mary…and wait a little, then you’d see Ron. Now he’s keeping up. Retirement suits him,” someone in the crowd said.
The former mayor said he’s looking forward to his next adventure.
