Hope for the Future
Weekly update #344 8/23/2026 to 8/29/2026
New from old and hope for the future were all pieces of my week here in Seymour. Enjoy the highlights as I share some of my week serving as mayor of the best small town in America.
The 2026/2027 Mayor’s Youth Council met for the first time this week. We often start the new session with a scavenger hunt around downtown to help them see what businesses are in the area, and most years afterwards, we hear someone say that downtown isn’t as scary as they thought it was. This year, the clues highlighted some of our new businesses, recent renovations, and a chance to discuss the Seymour Museum Center. Every meeting with this group reminds me that the future is much brighter than most will allow you to believe because the kids are engaged and participate when they attend. Thank you to this year’s members for kicking the year off with a fun night. I look forward to seeing what you all can accomplish over the upcoming year.
One of the clues for the scavenger hunt was related to the Bollinger Building on 2nd Street. This building has been undergoing renovations for several years by a few owners. It started several years ago with windows and exterior work before being purchased by a group who tackled the second and third floors, working to turn them into apartments. This week, they cut the ribbon on the third floor with the second getting wrapped up in the near future. Conrad Lofts has several items that are throwbacks to Seymour’s history for decoration and will do a good job of sharing some of our story to the traveling nurses who may call it home. Thank you to everyone who has been involved in getting this project to where it is over the last several years.
We had a short ceremony to celebrate the naming of Kasting Park Diamond #1 to Juergy Field in honor of Art Juergens. Art spent a lifetime serving the youth of our community as a teacher, coach, board member, and elected official via the school board. After his passing, the Parks and Recreation Board discussed several options before deciding, and I believe they made a good decision with the renaming. As I said at the ceremony, everyone there has a Juergy story, and for me, he was often a calming voice in times of turmoil, and I appreciated that more than he knew. Thank you, Juergy, for all you did over the years.
Friday night, the Wall of Fame committee inducted seven new members into the Seymour High School Wall of Fame. SHS graduates are eligible after being out of school for ten years and are judged based on professional accomplishments and service to their communities. Usually when I speak at a school, I am trying to share with our youth that they can go out and accomplish amazing things and not to ever let anyone tell them that just because they are from a small town they can’t. As this event honors those who have done just that, it is a great chance for the students to see it. If you are in SHS for a concert take a glance at the 66 graduates who are on the wall and see who you know. Congratulations to all the inductees from just a few days ago all the way back to 1996 when the first names were added.
This week, I will leave you with a quote from French philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, “The future belongs to those who give the next generation reason for hope.”