How Many
Weekly Update #208 1/14/2024 to 1/20/2024
How many things do you have going on in your life today? Before I explore this question further though, let me share some of my week serving as mayor of the best small town in America.
I have had several chances to speak over the last week at different functions. The first was the Accelerate Indiana Municipalities Newly Elected Officials Boot Camp. I was asked to participate on a panel at a workshop for council members. Over the last several weeks, the panel had been exchanging experiences we had seen via email. With one panelist out sick, I was tasked with moderating the panel about 90 seconds before it started. The panel was made up of a clerk-treasurer, a council member, town managers, and myself as a mayor. It was interesting to see the differences and the similarities in the answers from different members of the panel. Hopefully, someone found something useful as we shared our experiences serving our communities.
A few days later, I was part of the regional group from Jennings, Bartholomew, and Jackson counties who presented to the Indiana Economic Development Corporation during our region's site visit for READI 2.0. One of the interesting parts is that the region's faces have not changed tremendously since READI 1 work started a few years ago. During the day-long presentation, we highlighted how the work already done since the first award has impacted the region. Projects like Nexus Park in Columbus, Heritage Estates in North Vernon, and the Vincennes University Industrial Maintenance program launched here in Seymour were all stops along the way. We also focused on what strategies we are working towards as we prepare the second application for submission. From start to finish, we will have had eleven months of work to see what percentage of the $75 million we are awarded. The fact that our region has a history of working together in different ways for over 50 years now is a great example of how we have been able to and continue to work together. Thank you to everyone who has worked hard to get to this point.
This week, I was also invited to talk about the upcoming eclipse with Mrs. Perry from Seymour High School and what efforts the community has been putting into getting ready. With an estimated 60,000 to 80,000 people in Seymour for that day, there are several items to take a look at as the planning happens. Thank you to the eclipse team that comes from several city departments and several different organizations around the community for all the work they have put in over the last year of planning, and thank you to Mrs. Perry for the chance to share all their hard work with the kids.
Time to get back to that opening question. We all have many things going on in our lives. This week, several large presentations that I was involved in came and went. While I was busy, I try to remember that each and every person we meet has many things going on in their lives, and some are much more substantial than what I have had this week. With this in mind, I would like to leave you with a quote from President John F. Kennedy, “We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.” I believe that by stopping to say thank you, we also take a moment to open ourselves up to thinking about those around us, what they mean to us, and possibly what they might have said about their lives we may not have noticed during our busy moments.