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As a reliable volunteer, a good natured helper-outer, a community choir member, a quasi-mom for nine foreign exchange students and for a host of other attributes-- Carol Nelson was selected Taylors Falls Royal Lady of the Village for 2004.

Nelson is a native of Taylors Falls and lives on a farmstead right across County Road 20 from where she grew up. She is married to Dr. Leo Nelson and has reared four children. She and Leo were childhood sweethearts and graduated from the old K-12 grade Taylors Falls School.

Readers who harken waaaay back may recall this year’s Royal Lady as Carol Bonderson, one of seven kids. Her mother was Edna and Carl was her father.

The custom of bestowing a local woman with this honor started in 1989, and not much has changed since. The Royal Lady gets to ride in the Lighting Festival Evening Parade and acts as an ambassador for the events. She also gets to wear the official red velvet cape. She enjoys her interlude of notoriety and acclaim, and then usually gets right back to work doing what needs to get done.

Nelson and all the other royal ladies are promoters of Taylors Falls in their own way and in the purest sense. There is no list of accomplishments that qualify one over another for Royal Lady status....it is a heart felt gift from the community back to the lady who has contributed to that feeling in the first place.

Nelson has opened her home for Lighting Festival tours, she has sung with the strolling carolers and in the vespers choir...she is active with First Lutheran of Taylors Falls and most recently got involved with coordinating the junior staff in the summer Together With Friends church-based day camps. Nelson volunteers with blood drive efforts and the American Cancer Society.

Over the years she worked as a Licensed Practical Nurse at Osceola Hospital and was employed at Gustaf’s in Lindstrom.

Some of her fondest memories are of having foreign exchange students stay at her home while her children were in school themselves.

She and Leo also shared their farmstead with Hmong newcomers to Taylors Falls, so they could have gardens. A trailer on the Nelson farmstead was home to one early refugee family until their permanent house was made ready.

New this year to the Lighting Festival structure was having nomination forms distributed in city water bills. Festival organizer Barb Young said this worked very well and resulted in more participation in the process. Young noted that Nelson “symbolizes” the people in the Taylors Falls area who make the place so great to live in.

The entire roster of Royal Lady of the Village designees have been invited to attend the 20th anniversary Lighting Festival parade, Young noted. All but three have responded to their invitations. One-- Mary Olson-- has passed away.

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Please see the paper’s upcomings section and advertisements elsewhere for details about this weekend’s wonderful traditional festival in Taylors Falls.

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