Hey, thank you guys. Thank you for your patience. Um, the Madison Grand opening and ribbon cutting today. Good afternoon everyone. We are here today at 73 Lamar Avenue to celebrate the official grand opening and ribbon cutting for the Madison The Madison is a wedding and events venue located in old Cottage Grove which was settled in in 1843. The historic white gothic arched roof dairy farm built in 1947 by Jacob and Arlene Vanderberg is an icon in Cottage Grove. Nestled on five acres of gorgeous green pastures with beautiful old oaks and which overlook a valley with stunning sunsets. The historic home that still stands today next to the Madison was built by John P. to be one of Cottage Grove's founding fathers. She needs to talk into the mic just so I can hear you. The historic home that still stands today next to the Madison was built by John P. Fervor, one of Cottage Grove's founding fathers, who was the proprietor of the village Merkantile. As mayor pro Tim, I am excited to officially welcome the owners of the Madison, Brad and Louise to the city. Thank you guys. Brad and Louise Madison of Mad Love Photography have worked in the wedding industry as photographers for over a decade before returning to Minnesota 12 years ago. Brad and Louise both made their living working as actors in Broadway theatrical productions. They have lived all over the world in places like New York City, London, and Germany. And they are thrilled now to call Minnesota their forever home for themselves, for theirelves, and their children. Experience the entertainment. Thank you. Experience in the entertainment industry gave them some unique skills that have carried over to their careers in the wedding industry. Both Brad and Louise love being able to communicate with their clients, their families, and their guests in a way that is an energetic, intimate, and genuine way. Their entire business model is built on genuine relationships with their clients. They always say that they truly love what they do and love getting to know and serve their clients and their families. To learn more about the Madison's, visit their website, themadisonm.com. Like them on Facebook, or give them a call at 651-3364421. On behalf of myself, Mayor Bailey, and the city council and staff and the community. We want to once again welcome Brad and Louise to the city and wish you much more success. With that, I would like to introduce Lori Lavine, our CEO and president and president. Thank you. I couldn't remember the other CEO and president of the Cottage Grove Chamber of Commerce. Thank you all. Thank you on behalf of the Cottage Grove area Chamber of Commerce and their business organization. Um, and we welcome you to the community. we welcome you to the chamber and we would like to present you with this plaque um for you to hang in this beautiful establish establishment. So congratulations and welcome to the area. Thank you so much. All right. So do we uh cut it first? Well, we do. Yes. Do a speech first and then we cut it. Go ahead. If it's all right. All right. My theater training will come in use here with no amplification. Hopefully you all can hear me. This is my wife Louise here. I did write down something because I couldn't trust myself not to ramble. So, I am going to read off my phone here if you don't mind. Surreal. This is the first word that comes to mind when I think about how we got here. November 8th, 2023. That's the date Louise and I first stepped foot inside the walls of this beautiful barn. I'm going to be dead honest with you though. Louise and I were really just kicking the tires. We We really didn't think we could afford it. We didn't think we could make it happen. Um but we worked so hard and we sacrificed so so much and our kids sacrificed even more for us. But somehow someway we made the dream happen. There are so many people that we want to thank and it kind of feels like the Academy Awards. I'm afraid I'm going to leave somebody out and if I do I apologize. Um, but here's the short list. Anyway, we'd like to thank Sarah Kaminsky who introduced us to Kathy Lindo with the SBDC. The SBDC is an invaluable resource for new business owners wanting to take advantage of the SBA programs. Timothy Dell Forge, I'm not sure if he's out here or not. Timothy Del Forge selfish self selflessly helped us and led us without any personal gain whatsoever. We'd like to thank the amazing people over at Lake Elmo Bank and especially Nathaniel Mirs who always went above and beyond for us. Thank you guys so much. And uh to our dear friend, our superstar agent and friend Jessica Fischer, we would not be here without you. Of course, we we want to thank all of our amazing vendors who stuck with us. We know that it was tumultuous at times, uh, but we're so grateful that you're here to grow with us. Lastly, a huge amount of gratitude goes out to the city of Cottage Grove, our friends at the Cottage Grove Chamber of Commerce, and our amazing neighbors on Lamar Avenue South. They've truly embraced us and we're so happy to be a part of this beautiful little community. As we continue to make this barn our own, we look forward to welcoming our brides, grooms, and their families into our home. That's what we really think of this place as our home. It's not just a business. We look forward to serving all our clients. And as always, our mantra is and will continue to be team bride and groom. Thank you so much. I've never done this before. We just chop it. Is this your daughter out here? It is. Maybe she'd like to come help, too. Lily, you want to come help? Come on, Lily. There you go. This is a family thing, right? I'll hold the bottom and you guys can control the top. All right, we just give it a good old chop and keep the three. Three, two, one. [Applause] He is right there.