Big and Small
Weekly Update 11/19/2023 to 11/25/2023 #200
Two hundred times now I have tried to share some of my weeks serving as mayor of the best small town in America. Big or small, all the events help shape our community, and before I get back to this thought, let me share some of this week’s happenings.
One of the things I enjoy about my role is sharing it with the next generation. This week, I had a chance to speak with St. Ambrose students about just that. Some had really good questions, and I can’t thank the teachers enough for the chance to share. From when Seymour started to recent history, I am always happy to share what I have learned during my time serving our community. If you are a teacher and would like a guest, just reach out. I am happy to read a story, talk local history, or whatever it is you may need.
During the Board of Works and Public Safety Meeting this week we learned more about a new event for 2024 being planned in downtown Seymour. Rock This Town Seymour is in the planning phases but looks to be a good time with classic cars and rock-n-roll for three days in May. This event looks like it will add another fun-filled car weekend here in Seymour. Hopefully, it can also boost the awareness of other events like Hot Rods and Academics, Cars and Guitars, and the Pre-Scoop car show, and others later in the year. Thank you to everyone who works hard each year to bring events to our community. Events like these give visitors a chance to discover our great city and more reasons for locals to find something else they love. Thank you and keep up the good work.
This week, I was updated on the work related to 180 Recovery Community Organization. The group has taken a chance to get connected with a national organization to learn as they work on getting established here in Seymour. They are plugging away to create a team dedicated to proving that recovery is possible right here in our small town and helping to create hope not just for the many who are affected by Substance Use Disorder but also for their family members. I can’t wait for the years to pass and to see how far the group working on 180 RCO comes. Thank you to everyone dedicating their time to this cause.
As I have shared over the last few years and the 199 previous weekly updates, both items big and small, I have always tried to allow you to see into the work that makes our community great. Sometimes, the items that I share are the same ones that you may read about in the newspaper or see on the nightly news if you tune in. Some of the items, like speaking with the youth of our community, won’t make major news, but I feel like they deserve a mention here so that I can let other teachers and group leaders know they can reach out if they would like a guest speaker. Maybe it is sharing from two years ago when a small group visited a compost facility in Northern Indiana to see what knowledge they could bring back to change our yard waste recycling program. It could also be recalling three years ago in weekly update 43 when I realized that while digital meetings are good for business, they may not be so good for personal relationship building. My point today is that, big or small, it has been my pleasure to bring you the happenings from not just my most recent week, but the 199 before it as well. Thank you for the chance to serve our community as mayor, and I look forward to starting my next term in a little over a month. Today, I will encourage you to give away that present that William Arthur Ward is referencing in this quote, "Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."