One of the most memorable moments of my work with the Minneapolis Downtown Council came when I interviewed Carl Pohlad personally on camera three years ago for use in a living memories segment at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Downtown Council. When asked how it felt to win the baseball World Series in 1987, his eyes lit up, and he said that but for seeing his sons born, it was the greatest time in his life. "There are no words to describe it," he said. We have dozens of cogent memories from Carl that we couldn't use due to time, many of which reinforce his reputation for admiring determination, business acumen and loyalty in others. Carl and his wife, Eloise, probably never will receive the full credit they deserve for the many charitable causes they supported quietly. For example, they were among the first to supply substantial funds for affordable housing projects before others began to take the cause more seriously. The life-giving cause of blood donations received much of Carl's attention, and he seemed to understand its importance (and the fragile life span of stored blood) more than any other business leader I've met. From a downtown perspective, Carl was member of a vanishing generation who grew their fortunes here and remained loyal to the Central Business District throughout their lifetimes. His family businesses are spread out over several floors of a prominent downtown building, including a bottling company whose territories are larger than many nations. But any time I had the privilege of talking to him or his sons about this, it appears they think it to be natural to remain where their roots run deep. The three sons have each inherited to varying degrees some of the family traits that I admire the most -- a love of creativity, modesty about family achievements, courage to risk things when the situations are right and generosity. I have a lot of confidence that through them the Pohlad name will continue to be important to our community. Hubert Humphrey is supposed to have said that in politics, at least, friends come and go, but enemies accumulate. Perhaps the world of business is similar -- rivals accumulating as fast as friends. Pohlad was a highly successful competitor. From my perspective, his legacy is a gift that will keep on giving. Downtown Minneapolis is much better off today than it would have been had he not chosen to invest his life and resources here. SAM GRABARSKI, MINNEAPOLIS; PRESIDENT/CEO, MINNEAPOLIS DOWNTOWN COUNCIL