Choices
Weekly update ⅜ to 3/14 #7
"One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes... and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
What a week! Girl Scouts in City Government day, finance meeting, radio, Chamber Ag Breakfast, Seymour Moments podcast, Board of Public Works and Safety, coronavirus (COVID-19), conferences, 2nd grade elections, Sertoma Freedom Proclamation, and so much more.
I am sure it is no surprise to anyone now that I enjoy speaking with our youth every chance I get. Sertoma hosts a freedom essay, and this year was my first chance to be a part of the awards event. Parents pay attention because kids are like sponges and learn from your example. Mr. Sebold declared that the quality of entries this year was above par, and he is excited for the future because the kids are seeing the importance of freedom. This event also gave me a chance to hear thoughts on freedom from Judge Travis. This week I also had a chance to speak with 2nd graders about elections and how city government works. I will admit that when my wife asked me how it went at the end of the day, my response was something about another chance to speak with our future leaders. It wasn’t until later in the day that the question of the day was brought back to my attention. One young man asked me the following: “What should I do if the Mayor sets me on fire?” After assuring him that I would not set him on fire. I took the chance to turn it into a lesson on STOP, DROP, and ROLL. I was excited to see a few kids quickly raise their hands when I asked who would be leading Seymour in 30 years. They responded with we are.
We had a visit from the Girl Scouts this week, and I believe everyone had a good time. Honorary Mayor Savannah helped us decide on changes to the work starting soon on Airport Road. Among those changes that we will implement are a delay in start date due to utility work. This will make construction and lane restrictions start around May 1 instead of April 1. We will also approve changes to keep an exit lane open on Airport Road for the entire project. We will still see some delays, but going home should be easier than with a full closure. Stay tuned for more details in the future. At the end of the day a couple scouts also stuck around to help Police Chief Lucas and myself with the Seymour Moments Podcast that will post right here on Monday at 7 p.m.
This week at Board of Public Works and Safety we approved future events that will take place later in the year here in Seymour. Now with all COVID-19 stuff going on you are probably thinking how can we be planning on future events. First, let me talk about COVID-19. For the last few weeks we have gone from keeping an eye on this virus to weekly updates, to daily updates, to multiple times per hour updates. We had events cancelled this week just the same as everyone else. Why we will continue to approve events for the future is that the virus will peak and start to decline at some point. As this happens restrictions will be lifted. Currently about 47% of all confirmed cases have recovered. Indiana has 16 cases. As testing kits arrive in various states, I expect to see a spike in confirmed cases here in the United States before it turns for the better. We will continue to work with health officials from multiple levels to make the best decisions possible for our area.
This week was full of much more like finance meetings preparing to start the 2021 budget. We opened bids for sewer work that has to be finished at Centennial and O’Brien. We had the Chamber of Commerce Ag Day breakfast where I had a chance to catch up with old friends and make new ones.
As always I will now loop back to Mrs. Roosevelt’s words above. Ultimately the choices we make are our responsibility. Only you know what is best for you and your family.