It Takes a Team
Weekly Update 9/25/2022 to 10/1/2022 #140
Jonas Vingegaard won the 2022 Tour de France, but he didn’t do it alone. Before I share my thoughts on this topic though, let me share some of my week serving as mayor of the best smalltown in America.
Thank you to the Redevelopment Commission for being the most recent supporter of Seymour’s effort to become a tree city. Late in 2021, Paul Montgomery spoke at Common Council about the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City program. Having looked at the program before I knew we were close to being able to apply except for the $2 per capita commitment per year. A few months ago the Jackson County Solid Waste District committed to helping Jackson County Municipalities that are interested in being a tree city. Now for the City of Seymour, the Redevelopment Commission has joined in to get us to our desired goal and ready to apply. Thank you again to everyone that has helped along the way.
While working alongside Water Pollution Control, I got to see the new camera equipment that is used to inspect lines. We spent a morning running several hundred feet of line and ultimately cleaning out sections to keep the toilets flowing after the flush. It had been several months since I had helped, but I feel like I didn’t slow the process and helped get the line cleared. Now that we have invested in replacement equipment, they are getting ready to refresh video all over our community. When you see them in your neighborhood, please give them some space to work. They will do their best to be out of your way as quickly as possible. Thank you, WPC, for always letting me jump in and learn about what you do for our community.
We just wrapped up the 49th annual Oktoberfest. This year's event felt smoother than last year's. I don’t know if it was the year off due to Covid or the new faces around the table, but we just seemed a step off on our timing. The 2022 Fest, however, seemed like we added the pieces that needed to happen. Crews and the Oktoberfest board seemed to get in a rhythm and mesh together to solve problems as they arose. Putting on such a large event is not easy, but the Oktoberfest board and all of the city team knocked one out of the park this year.
Speaking of Oktoberfest that brings me back around to my opening thought. Jonas Vingegaard may have won the Tour de France this year, but it took an entire team around him to do it. Each member has their tasks to help lead to success. From a climber like Jonas to a sprinter, each knows their role. Someone must chase down those breakaways to keep from losing time to the competition. This year it felt like the Oktoberfest board and the city were on the same path to host a great community event. Many area non-profits that I spoke to said the fundraising to support their programs was going very well. Even with hiccups, I can’t help but think that each team member grabbed their area and succeeded. I also can’t help but think about the difference in interactions as the week went on. Many goods with the occasional bad lead me to wonder what the difference in interaction was especially when it pertains to the same team member. The great part is we will continue to work on our strengths and weaknesses in order to become better as time goes on. As I wrap up, I want to share a quote from cycling great Greg Lemond, "Perhaps the single most important element in mastering the techniques and tactics of racing is experience. But once you have the fundamentals, acquiring the experience is a matter of time." The fundamentals are in place for many areas of our community. Now we must spend the time to acquire the experience to master the techniques.