The 30th president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, said, “All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.”

This week was like the ones before it and required effort. Now mind you that some things require more effort than others, but I don’t mind the work to see growth.

Recently, I had a chance to help with the Seymour Police Department’s agility testing. I believe we had 111 apply to fill just a few open spots. Of that 111, just 57 qualified to take the written test administered by Testing for Public Safety. This process will be a tough one for many reasons, but I look forward to seeing who makes it to the swearing-in process down the road.

If you missed my monthly visit with Curt Nichols at 92.7, don’t worry. You can find a recording of it on my Facebook page. We caught up on the current state of construction in our area. Some of it is the city’s, and other projects are the state’s. We caught up on different happenings with various departments and much like this weekly update tried to share some of the many things Seymour has going on.

I spent the better part of a day recently hosting visitors from Rushville. It was a good chance to share ways we have done different things and learn from one another for future projects. I am excited to look at adding some programs they have related to many areas, including youth, housing and the downtown area. Thank you, Mayor Michael Pavey and company, for taking the time to come visit Seymour.

I know some of you will be shocked by this, but when Charles Smith from Immanuel Lutheran School asked if I would participate in a group ride with the Cancer Warriors, I couldn’t say no. We had a nice, short ride that helped them add more miles to their goal in fighting childhood cancers.

Thank you, Mr. Smith, for the chance to be involved. Thank you, Sheriff Rick Meyer and Officer Tim Toborg, for the support during the ride, and a big thanks to the kids for being Cancer Warriors.

Back to President Coolidge’s quote. The foundation of any community is the members of it. If you are being active and putting in the work to grow physically, intellectually or both, then you are putting in the work for a better tomorrow.

When you put that effort into learn something new, no one can take it away from you. That effort could be sharing your artistic talents with the world and getting involved in future projects. Physically, it could be as simple as picking up trash that you might have normally walked past and left for someone else to get.

Every little bit we can contribute adds up to large gains for us all. When you first join a board, you naturally try to learn as much as possible to better serve. After you have been on for a while, are you still trying to grow and learn for a better tomorrow? Work on staying active and keep growing for our future.

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