Friendship garden

In 2003, City of Erlanger officials decided to honor and remember those who have served or  represented the Friendship City with distinction. On Tuesday, June 17, 2003, these officials dedicated the “Friendship Garden,” which is located between the Erlanger City Building and City Center in memory of these individuals. The granite walls in the garden are inscribed with the names of these “friends of the city” that have been chosen by the Friendship Garden Board for this recognition.

The Friendship Garden Board — which consists of the Mayor, City Council members, and city department leaders – has created the following criteria to help identify future honorees for this memorial:

• The recipient must be or have been an employee, volunteer, elected official, or appointed board member of the City of Erlanger.
• If the recipient left the City of Erlanger, he or she must have ended his or her tenure there in good standing.
• Tenure time is calculated by total years served, not the number of continuous years served.
• If a person’s death occurs within the line of duty while serving the City of Erlanger, that person’s name is automatically placed on the wall.
• For all others who meet the first three requirements above, the names of these individuals will be placed on the wall if they satisfy the following minimum service years in the city:

1. An employee: 20 years
2. A volunteer: 10 years
3. An elected official: 10 years
4. An appointed board member: 10 years

• The recipient’s name should be followed by his/her department (not title), if applicable.
• Honorees will be placed randomly on the wall, not by department or another category.
• Honorees who died in the line of duty will have a cross after their names.
• Honorees with 50 or more years of service will be recognized with a star after their names.
• A person whose status moves from volunteer to employee of the city or vice versa may have their name placed on the wall after 15 years of service.
• In the event that a volunteer or employee is close to achieving the minimum years and becomes disabled while active with the City of Erlanger, the Board will have the discretion to decide about including that person’s name on the memorial.

The Friendship Garden Board is always open to reviewing nominations for this memorial. If you would like more information about this honor or have a potential nominee, please contact Sherry Hoffman @ sherry.hoffman@cityoferlanger.com.