Tapestry of Life
Weekly Update #236 7/28/2024 to 8/3/2024
Several years ago, I wrote some words about the tapestry of life after the unexpected passing of a community member. Before that though, let me share some of my week serving as mayor of the best small town in America.
Painting was a part of the work to be done this week. Monday, I helped spruce up the underpass on Community Drive as the city team touched up the wing walls underneath. This is the third year that we have tackled this project just before school starts next week. It is a small item, but it seems to bring smiles to many faces as the work is completed. The other paint-related item this week was to complete a mural project at Kasting Park. As Parks and Recreation was working on a grant earlier this year the idea for a mural came to my mind. When they didn’t receive the grant, I decided to give mural painting a go and recruited some help from my daughter and the park director. After dodging rain showers over the last week, we finished it up on Thursday morning. Get out there and see if you can find what inspired my thoughts on this project. Thank you to Sherwin Williams for the paint donation, and if you are an up and coming mural artist, reach out because we may have a wall and some support available to help you make it happen.
This week, Vincennes University graduated another group from their Industrial Maintenance program at the Jackson County Learning Center. Seven community members earned certificates and five of those have now completed all four courses offered. It is exciting to see partnerships like this one where READI funding combined with private investment joins with local match provided by the Seymour Redevelopment Commission creates growth opportunities for our citizens. Thank you to everyone who worked hard to create something positive for our area and helped us develop this with more planned for the future.
Back to the tapestry of life to close out this week’s update. After unexpectedly losing a community member several years ago, I shared that the tapestry of life doesn’t stop after your passing. The section that you are actively adding to might slow or stop, but what you have been involved in and those around you will continue to add threads that you contributed to while you were here. This leads to the question of what are you involved in? The choices are plenty and only you can choose what matters enough to you to spend your time being involved with. Are you a member of a community service organization like the Lions or Kiwanis? Maybe you spend your time volunteering with an area non-profit organization helping kids learn to read or feeding the hungry. Who knows you could spend your time coaching sports or preparing tax returns with Jackson County United Way. Regardless of what you choose, I encourage you to choose something to give back and add fibers to the tapestry of life while you are here and who knows who will continue to do so in your memory after you are gone. Adam, thank you for what you did while you were here, and I will leave today’s readers with a Herman Melville quote to ponder. "We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men.”