Cycle
Weekly update #256 12/15/2024 to 12/21/2024
About 12 years ago I shared “Stop the cycle and get involved for both you and the world around you.” Before I expand on this thought from over a decade ago, I would like to share some of my week serving as mayor of the best small town in America.
Congratulations to everyone who participated in Jingle all the 5K supporting Seymour Main Street this weekend. The weather was chilly, but it looked like everyone had a good time. Thank you to everyone who helped organize and volunteer, and tp our Seymour Police Department for helping keep the walkers and runners safe.
Good work to the Tree Board for another successful renewal of Seymour’s Tree City designation with the Arbor Day Foundation. This is our third year in a row of committing to working on our tree canopy. On top of our Tree City work, we also have an internal policy to replace each tree we have to remove with two. Often at least one of the two if not both have to be located in another location like a park. To everyone involved, thank you for all your hardwork adding to the value of Seymour for future generations.
Earlier this year, Seymour Common Council approved applying for the Owner Occupied Rehab program via the Office of Community and Rural Affairs. When we were not awarded on the first round a few months ago, we tried again after reviewing our strengths and weaknesses with the Administrative Resource Association in preparation to apply for this round. We found out this week that Seymour, along with several other ARA members, were awarded this round of OOR. For Seymour, our total was $350,000. Congratulations to all who were announced. I look forward to seeing how far we can stretch the funds this round and how many households we can help along the way.
Certifications, promotions, special events, and so much more were a part of my week this week. While I know I can’t and don’t write about each of them week to week, this week I will put a blanket congratulations to everyone who has recently had a blueberry, as we call them around the city. Each and every one of you adds to your department as you continue to grow and learn and ultimately add to the betterment of our community along your journey.
Well, back to that 12 year old thought that I recently discovered. I will save you the word for word version, but I want to focus on a couple of lines. I still regularly encourage people to get involved and apparently have been for many years now with this line, “Stop the cycle and get involved for both you and the world around you.” I have seen first hand many times how support and encouragement can change the path of so many in our community. The line directly before from 12 years ago was, “Negativity feeds on negativity,” and only you can be the station where negativity gets off the train. It is easy to grab on and run with others' negative attitude, but it is possible to be the stop if you try. Don’t forget the little things as they often turn out to be much bigger than we think years later. Edith Wharton said, "There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." If we are not capable of being the candle, I hope we can work on making ourselves a mirror that reflects the good and not the bad.