fifty years of fun in the sun!

The Minneapolis Police Museum recently visited with Retired Sergeant Jeffery Grates to learn about Fun in the Sun.

Fun in the Sun is an annual “Up North” event usually held during the second week of August.

It all began 50 years ago when members of the the Model City Precinct C-Shift rented a cabin up at Borden Lake Resort for a week of recreation and relaxation. Members of the C-Shift stayed in cabins there and also in their own tents and pop-up campers.

Cabin at Borden Lake Resort. Pictured from L to R: Jeffery Grates; Jack Nelson; Robert Beckers

In the 1970s, waterskiing and volleyball were popular activities at Fun in the Sun.


Over time, the location of Fun in the Sun changed. Here is a glimpse of one of the cabins at Camp Holiday on Turtle Lake where the C-Shift stayed for several years.

Retired Sergeant Grates emphasized the friendships and camaraderie enjoyed by the Model City Precinct C-Shift and the also the conviviality of the annual event.

Photograph from 2007. Pictured in back row from L to R: Harry Baltzer; Roger Gates; Resort Owner; Dave Patton; Steve Erickson; Jimmy Knutson; Larry Lattery; Robert Beckers; Jeffery Grates; Mike Strauss, Pictured in front row from L to R: Jack Nelson; Al Pufahl; Craig Nordby; Charlie Miles
Photograph from 2009. In back row from L to R: Charlie Miles; Wes Edstrom; Roger Gates; Steve Erickson; Dave Patton; Jim Hovda; Jim Knutson; Harry Baltzer; Dave Gjerset; Robert Beckers; Dayton Dunn. In front row from L to R: Jack Nelson; Don Furstenberg; Al Pufahl; Jeffery Grates; Mike Strauss.
Photograph from 2020. Pictured in back row from L to R: Dave Patton; Harry Baltzer; Mike Srauss; Jeffery Grates. Pictured in front row from L to R: Bill Heinz; Dave Gjerset; Jack Nelson.

The Minneapolis Police Museum sends its best wishes to the Model City Precinct C-Shift on the 50th Anniversary of Fun in the Sun!

Top photograph from 1972. In back row from L to R: Dave Patton; Jimmy Lang; Steve Erickson; Jimmy Knutson; Dave Risfit (friend of MPD). In front row from L to R: Roger Gates; Jack Nelson; Harry Baltzer; Charlie Miles; Dayton Dunn; Mark Cassman.

Photographs courtesy of Retired Sergeant Jeffery Grates

One thought on “fifty years of fun in the sun!”

  1. I made 3 of the 50 years of FUN IN THE SUN…Very memorable times indeed, one of which included the BRAWL at Garrison when I got shot with a blank pistol and Gates was yelling ” they shot Andy “…

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