Personal Preferences

Weekly Update 4/16/2023 to 4/22/2023 #169

Over 2000 years ago Cicero popularized a phrase that has been on my mind this week. Before I expand though, let me share some of my week serving as mayor of the best smalltown in America.

This week, I had a chance to see some wonderful artwork from around the state as I helped judge for the VFW Auxillary’s Patriotic Art Contest, which was open to grades kindergarten through high school. The scholarships are awarded to the upper age group, but it is always fun to see the work submitted by all. Some of the work will pull you right in with their patriotic themes. Congratulations to the winners even though they don’t know it yet, and thank you, Barb Barger, for the chance to help judge this event every year. I am always amazed at the skill level presented.

While there are many things in the world that can kill you, this week I can say that I had my first experience with a department where I stopped to think for a minute about it. This week to help with Make Seymour Shine, I helped Travis and Alan with the wood chipper. Getting a better understanding of how the process works, especially on a busy week like Make Seymour Shine, is always fun. Does the pile make sense for the chipper? Can it be run through the chipper? I now have a better understanding of why you may see a city truck drive by your pile before it gets picked up. I also know that we sometimes miss a pile completely especially when we have new drivers training on the routes. All in all, though, I would call Make Seymour Shine 2023 a success and hope all the crew at the Department of Public Works gets some rest after a busy week and knows how much we appreciate their hard work.

Congratulations to Emerson Elementary School second grade Class President Dillon Robinson on her recent election. I always enjoy helping with this lesson at school. This week, I was able to stop by to present her with her very own road sign to help celebrate her victory. We chatted briefly about her campaign promises and if she would be able to follow through with them. Hopefully, she will enjoy her title as much as possible before school gets out next month. Congratulations again, Dillon.

Time to get back to Cicero’s over 2000-year-old quote, “To each his own,” which means everyone has a right to their own personal preferences. This weekend, we had our choices of many fun events in Seymour. The Girls Inc. Gala was Friday night and had its largest crowd to date and helped support Girls Inc. for the upcoming year. Saturday morning you could visit the Health Fair at Schneck. Maybe those aren’t your idea of fun and you decided to stop by the Parking Lot Pickers event hosted by the Seymour Museum Center. Seymour Mainstreet hosted the first Downtown Shop Around for 2023 with 15 stores to visit to get your card stamped. Maybe you are a car lover and decided to go visit the first Arby’s Foundation car show held in the B&O parking lot. If none of these items interest you, I ask what is it that you would like to see as well. Have you considered how you could get involved, like the many volunteers of all these organizations, to see your suggestion come to life? Every day as mayor, I move from topic to topic and each time someone in the room believes their topic is the only one we should spend time on. Regularly, my team is working on roads, parks, planning, public safety, economic development, or any one of hundreds of topics. We continue to work on them each week because that is how we make our community better for everyone. Please remember that just because you may not read about it every day doesn’t mean it isn’t being worked on, and when your topic of passion isn’t the current conversation, it could be a good moment to remind yourself “to each his own.”

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Road Rash

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Use your Time Wisely