Commencement
Weekly update #280 6/1/2025 to 6/7/2025
The weekly update this week could easily be congratulations, but that wouldn’t make much of an update. Before I share some of those congratulations, let me share some of my week serving as mayor of the best small town in America.
Congratulations to the Seymour Police Department School Resource Officers on another wonderful week of SRO camp. This past week, they completed the 2025 run of camps with students getting to learn about public safety and other topics from several area agencies. One of the additions this year was a presentation from a Stat Flight crew. Other demonstrations included K9 officers from the city and county, emergency vehicle operations, and more. They also tried to have some fun with water balloon fights and other items as well. For the last several years, they have hosted two camps on back-to-back weeks, allowing for more to participate. Thank you to the SROs who asked a few years ago to start the event and to all the area public safety officials who have helped make the camps memorable.
This past week saw several opportunities to offer congratulations via local sports. First, congrats go out to the Seymour Baseball team, who won their Sectional for the first time since the 90s in a close game against Jeffersonville. After a last-inning rally, the Owls fell just short in the regional at Evansville. Congratulations, Owls, on a great season. We also had relay teams from both boys and girls track running at State this weekend as well. This weekend, I had the chance to see the athletes from Jackson County Special Olympics head into the opening ceremonies at the Indiana Special Olympics Summer Games. Watch for the Seymour Police and Fire Departments to escort them across town later today as they come home with gold around several athletes' necks. I have covered Seymour teams, a countywide team, and I would be remiss if I didn’t also say congratulations to a statewide team on their win in the first game of the NBA finals. The Pacers made a last-second comeback to take game one earlier this week as well. Thank you to all the athletes for an exciting week to be a sports fan in our community.
My final round of congratulations this week goes out to the over 400 graduates from the community who recently celebrated with commencement ceremonies. At your graduation, I am sure you heard that the word “commencement” doesn’t mean the end, but it means the beginning or the start. Some of you will head off to the military, others will join the workforce, or college might be the option you have chosen; whatever your direction, it is the beginning of your next phase of life. The sky's the limit when it comes to where this beginning will lead you. If you commit to working hard and view every day as a chance to grow, you can do things you never imagined possible. A speaker at the Special Olympics Summer Games spoke about how their athletes are training for life; graduates, hopefully, you enjoy a little downtime and then remember that every day is a chance to train for life. If the military is your path, you will train and gain physical fitness during basic training; if you join the workforce, you will be trained on how to do your job more efficiently. Those continuing their education, college courses, will give you the chance to expand your mind. Whatever it is, I encourage you to remember this quote from Frank Lloyd Wright, "You have to go wholeheartedly into anything in order to achieve anything worth having."