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Thanks for visiting my campaign site. I wanted to share a few details about me so you could learn who I am and where I came from. None of this is on a ballot and I mention it because I think how somebody spends their Saturdays tells you more than a resume does. I love my community and want to continue being involved and giving back in many ways! If you're curious and want to know more, or just have a question and want to reach out, please call, email or text me!
Call or text: (218) 234-2815 | Email: shaun@carlsonforcouncil.com
A little bit of Background
A little bit of Background
I mostly grew up in Moorhead, graduating from Moorhead High School in 1997. My dad sold telecommunications equipment and supplies for Dakota Supply Group for thirty-six years and my mom stayed home to take care of everything else. I've always enjoyed technology and spent much of my childhood taking computers apart and putting them back together to make them just a little better. I loved building things, in general, and spent far too many hours building lego sets or just creating new things. This early experience really contributed to my desire to understand how things work!
I graduated college in 2001 from NDSU. To help pay for college I enlisted in the North Dakota Air National Guard, worked part time, and became a resident assistant job (paid for room & board). It was important to me to come out of college without debt and it was a lot of hard work to get there.
After graduation I moved to the small town of Brandon, MN. It was a big change from Fargo-Moorhead and I stayed there almost ten years, built a house, joined the fire department, worked part-time for an ambulance service as an EMT, found a church home, and learned what it actually means to be part of a small town.
I came to Detroit Lakes in 2012 to work at Arvig in Perham. My wife, Anna, grew up here so this was the obvious place to land. We've lived here ever since with our three kids, Alyssa, Penelope and Dylan.
My wife and I on a trip to the North Shore.
Family trip to the Grand Canyon.
My Family
My Family
Anna and I have been married since 2012, just before we moved to Detroit Lakes. We have 3 children, Alyssa (19), Penelope (12), and Dylan (10).
We enjoy our family time and try to spend time outside as much as we can (especially in the summer!). I've recently been getting out fishing more with the kids and Penny and Dylan have been learning to sail with the Laker Sailing School.
Twenty-five years in uniform
Twenty-five years in uniform
I enlisted in the North Dakota Air National Guard in 1997. In my 9 1/2 years enlisted I was promoted to Technical Sergeant (E-6) before I was commissioned as an officer in 2006. I deployed to Saudi Arabia in 2000 and the United Arab Emirates in 2017, spent nine months on active duty after 9/11, and oversaw personnel operations for Joint Task Force East during the Fargo flood fights in 2008 through 2011.
I started my career as a communications specialist where I supported base computers, did tech support, and worked in the comm center (classified communications). After getting my commission, I was a military personnel officer and ultimately a force support officer (Food, Fitness, Lodging, Morale & Welfare, Recruiting, Personnel, and Mortuary). I also had an additional duty for nine years as a Sexual Assault Response Coordinator. It was an additional duty and a heavy one. Most of what I did was training, including bystander intervention training for the entire wing, and it made me comfortable having uncomfortable conversations with people. I finished my career in the Wing Inspector General's office building the wing's self-inspection and process improvement program, and retired as a Major in 2022 after twenty-five years so I could be home more often with my young kids.
North Dakota Air National Guard. Enlisted 1997, commissioned 2006, retired as a Major in 2022.
The first year of awards for Lake Lights & Holiday Nights at Rural MN CEP for their amazing indoor display in 2024!
Lake Lights & Holiday Nights
Lake Lights & Holiday Nights
Going on 3 years now, in December, Anna and I run Lake Lights & Holiday Nights with the support of Project 412 and the Detroit Lakes Chamber. It started because we noticed there seemed to be fewer and fewer holiday lights every year.
The main point is to give people a reason to come into town and visit our local businesses in the months when tourism is slower. By creating this contest, we offer a chance at a little friendly competition, get volunteer community judges involved, and push to make DL the place to visit during the holiday season!
For the competition, there is a hand-carved trophy for the top three businesses and Chamber Bucks for the winning homes (so the prize money gets spent right back here). My wife and I are supporters of Project 412 and donate to them so we can make this event happen!
Watch for this year's competition and join in the fun yourself!
Amateur Radio
Amateur Radio
I started my journey with Amateur (Ham) Radio about 5 years ago for my father-in-law. I started out slow, but found out pretty quickly it was fun to get out into parks and portable locations and "play radio" around th world. I'm now the president of the Detroit Lakes Amateur Radio Club and actively promoting Ham Radio in our commity.
In 2024, thanks to the generous cooperation of the Detroit Mountain Recreation Area, we moved our repeater to a lift hut at Detroit Mountain. That took our coverage from maybe five or ten miles to well over seventy miles. This shift has helped the repeater a read resource throughout the region.
More recently, we through private donations and an ARRL Foundation grant we purchased and installed an always-on, ham radio receiver at the Becker County Museum so kids in the STEM area can sit down, turn the dial, and hear what is actually out there. We have also installed a radio transmitter and antennas so we can hold classes and demonstrations with a hobby that fits right in with the STEM education goals of the museum. The museum has been a wonderful host and enabled us to reach more people with this hobby.
Church Life
Church Life
Anna and I attend Zion Lutheran Church on Lake Ave in Detroit Lakes. This is the church Anna grew up in and it quickly become my home too. I help with the technology needs where I can and have been involved with music since joining the church more than a decade ago now! I have so many great memories of her singing with me at church growing up!
For the last couple of years, I also volunteer with the Lutheran Early Response Team. After the Floyd Lake tornado this July I called our regional coordinator, Pastor Rehborg, that same night to get the response rolling as quickly as possible. I took PTO and spent about 2 1/2 days total helping church members and residents of that area, while teams from LERT and our church worked the area on and off for about two weeks.
My life in faith, and helping others in whatever capacity God places me, is a key element of my life and my values. I'm so blessed to have an amazing church family to support and build up our entire community!
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