Up with the sun

Weekly Update 6/11/2023 to 6/17/2023 #177

“Up with the sun, gone with the wind” is the start to Bob Seger’s "Travelin’ Man" and the start to this week's update. Before I share more on this thought though, let me share some of my week serving as mayor of the best smalltown in America.

Tuesday, August 8 at 1 p.m. The Wall That Heals will be passing through Seymour on Highway 50 as it heads to Brownstown for display from August 10 through 13. This week, we met with a representative from the committee bringing it to the county to discuss details. If you are available on the 8th, I would encourage you to find a spot along the highway to watch as it passes through town. Then make plans to attend the exhibit at the fairgrounds a few days later. Thank you to everyone working on bringing this to our county.

This week, Seymour hosted another potential industrial expansion. While I can’t get into great detail, I can share that Jackson County Industrial Development brought together a team from the city, area utilities, engineers, and more to answer any possible questions they may have and to show how well prepared we are for possible growth to our area. As we host a possible new community member like this we are always looking to learn for the next time because who knows, the next time could be as early as next week. Good work to everyone who helped highlight our community this week.

One of the events that I had a chance to participate in this week was the Spotlight on Vicar Case Farney at Immanuel Lutheran Church. Most years Immanuel here in Seymour hosts a vicar from the seminary who is in his third year of school. They get a chance to get out in the field and have some hands-on experiences. Each June, they invite them to the seniors luncheon to celebrate their year here in Seymour and let them hear from the church members some of the memories over the last eleven months. Bible studies, Holy Hops meetings, or even coaching tennis at the school were all highlights of the year brought up as the mic was passed around. While I do try to attend a senior dinner each year, this event was a first for me and my family since Case is engaged to marry our oldest daughter, Jozie, later this year. Congratulations, Case, on what sounded like a good year of learning and fellowship with your congregation. 

Yesterday, I headed out early to enjoy a bike ride before the day really got started. As I put in some miles, I couldn’t help but go down memory lane. That time Wayne learned how big turkey poop looks at 20 miles per hour or remembering an eight-year-old girl tell a grown man how to change his flat tires, I smiled over and over again. Life is made up of those little memories that stick with us for decades to come. They are what make us love where we live. Stop for a second and think about your childhood home and what are the memories that come back. For me it was friends and Evel Knievel jumping bikes in the front yard. Leaving hours early for elementary school so we could race in the shelter house at the park before we got there. Going fishing with my uncles when they would come down from Indianapolis to visit. Looking back, it was those moments that made me fall in love with our community. Those moments that made me want to live where I can look up from this computer and see where my childhood home once stood. I already look back and wonder what memories my daughters have made growing up that they will see on a random day years from now. Get out and make those memories with your friends and family because as Bob Seger said later in "Travelin’ Man," "those are the memories that make me a wealthy soul.”

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