Almost every softball or baseball coach has said to a player “finish your swing” at some point.

I know my first Little League coach, Steve Coombs, said it many times. Before I wander down this path, though, I would like to catch you up on some of what the recent week has included for me and, ultimately, for you, too.

I enjoy sitting down to work on the Seymour Moments podcast and the chance it gives me to chat with guests.

This last week, it was Capt. Troy Munson from the Seymour Police Department. He gave us some insight in different areas of local law enforcement. Thank you to all of the guests from the past, and I look forward to sharing with new guests on the first and third Mondays of each month via social media.

The first meeting of the finance committee is in the books for the 2021 budget. The department heads presented their budget requests several weeks ago, and then I was tasked with narrowing them down to fit into what is possible for next year.

Now, it goes to the finance committee for review to make sure everything looks in order. At this point, it has had around a dozen sets of eyes review it and will have several more along the way before it goes to the full council for a vote in October.

Good luck to all of the college kids headed back to school. I include it this week because I took advantage of my first full vacation day since starting as mayor to move Jozie to her dorm. Since school ended in March, many seniors have gone on to join the military, start working full time and now heading off to college. Class of 2020, you are one for the record books.

Heading into 2020, I knew I would have many projects that were in some phase of completion. Some of those are just barely past the start, while others are many years and many meetings toward the finish line. When my time has run its course as mayor of our beloved small town, I hope to leave the next person in a similar position, as well.

I would suspect that like myself, they will have to evaluate those projects and where they are at the time to make the best decisions on how to dedicate time, energy and resources to see them to the finish.

I want nothing more than to see them “finish their swing.”

I believe Mayor Craig Luedeman left with a similar mindset. Every day, my department heads and I put in a lot of unseen work in many different areas preparing projects for the next phase.

We love when someone has a question and reaches out for a better understanding. The majority of the time, we can help them understand how something has evolved and give them a better understanding.

Every now and then, you will have someone skip right to questioning an official’s integrity instead of trying to find answers. This happens in many forms. As we move forward, I will continue to try and finish the swing of those who came before me in the best ways I can.

I will always be watching the next pitch come in, deciding if it is something that we need to swing at or let go by.

I hope you will join me in your personal life and always “finish your swing” because when you do, it will make it even easier for me to “finish our swing” for the future of Seymour.

Matt Nicholson is the mayor of Seymour. Send comments to [email protected].