Obvious Things
Weekly update #278 5/18/2025 to 5/24/2025
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said in The Hound of the Baskervilles, “The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.” With this week's update, I will share some parts of my week serving as mayor of the best small town in America and hope to share some of those obvious Seymour things with you so you will have them if you or someone you know needs them for later.
This past week, Leadership Jackson County had the final session of the Class of 2025. Each year the groups present their final presentation and share how their project turned out before heading to a graduation luncheon. As the groups look at how they can leave a lasting impression on the community, their projects often continue long after the current session is over. One example of that I shared about a few updates ago when I talked about YoJack and its work with local eighth graders, which started out as a group project. Since LJC began, it has seen hundreds of local residents complete the program and learn leadership skills and expand their network as they learn about many of those obvious things across Jackson County. As I said a few words this year, I used a familiar phrase to the group and asked “What if” they continued to stay engaged with their community? Where would we be if hundreds of locals spent time working on making our community a better place to live and work? From events to educate new mothers to working on creating a booklet to show off all of the Seymour Parks’ programs, sharing the obvious things is part of what LJC has been doing for years. Thank you to all those involved in LJC. Sign ups are currently open for the class of 2026, but the spots will fill up fast so don’t hesitate to get your application submitted.
What if I shared with you that for $25 a month or $2 a ride and a little planning, you could have transportation around the City of Seymour Monday through Friday 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.? Would you take the chance and use it? Mind you, Seymour Transit is like all things human and is not perfect, but the last few weeks, I have had a chance to see first hand the benefit it brings to many. From helping seniors keep their freedom even when they can no longer drive to helping reduce costs for those headed to appointments, Seymour Transit provides a service that many don’t realize exists. This week as I drove, I had riders heading to the bank to take care of business. Others heading out to shop or heading home from shopping. Several shared about their day on the way to or from work as we chatted the miles away. Some found their way to not so obvious resources like The Alley for dinner planning accordingly with timing their rides to and from. Often I have heard that the service needs to run later or more days or some variation thereof. What struck me in several conversations this week is how the riders know the limitations of the services and make it work for them. I believe the services Seymour Transit offers is one of the obvious things that many of us have not noticed as we may not have needed or known someone who needed them. To close out this week, I will say that if you are aware of an obvious thing that someone may need like parenting resources, food resources, transportation options, or whatever it may be, please share that knowledge because, to paraphrase what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said, we may not notice the obvious things on our own.