Every morning, I look in the mirror and am greeted by a scar from freshman year of high school that reminds me to finish what I started.
Before I relive the pain of days gone by, though, let me share some of the last week with you.
When hiring an employee, I look for someone who will find the solution and get the job done. This is a quality I appreciate because I believe there are several ways to accomplish the same task, and if we allow everyone to find their own way, we may find something more efficient.
This is great until we are working on something like temporarily relocating city hall. Then trying to coordinate self-motivators who look at things differently becomes more of a chore. Big tip of the hat, though, for all involved in getting city hall relocated to 211 N. Chestnut St. while renovations take place in the 300 block.
After a company receives an abatement, they are required by Seymour to return each year for a compliance hearing. This last meeting, the city council heard compliances from 15 different companies, one of which is also expanding again. In total over the last 10 years, these 15 companies have added around $300 million worth of improvements to the area along with hundreds of jobs.
This normally makes the last meeting before the deadline a marathon session, and like usual, the council made it look easy. Thank you to all companies for your continued growth and improvements, and city council, thank you for your work reviewing these compliances every year.
On May 14, we celebrated Seymour’s own flower engineer, Laura Eglen, as she headed into retirement. Even if you don’t know her name, you are bound to have seen her work in the downtown area over the last 22 years. Congratulations, Laura, and thank you for making Seymour beautiful and providing many wonderful memories and smiles for all who have gotten to know you over the years.
In freshman woodshop class, I aced my safety tests before being turned loose with all of the power tools.
One day, I was cutting a piece of wood on the table saw and didn’t get it pushed all the way off of the table before reaching to turn the saw off. With that kickback, I became the first injury for a new teacher and learned a valuable lesson on making sure to push all the way through on any project you start.
I also got a chance to share some of my recently learned Civil War knowledge when the teacher checked on my condition by asking who the president was, and I responded with for the North or the South. This lesson shines at me every morning all these years later when I look in the bathroom mirror. It also helps remind me not to give up until I have exhausted all options, including some I had not originally thought of.
Thomas Edison said, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
Have the courage to get started and have the conviction to keep going even when it doesn’t seem possible. The greatest parts of our community came from residents rolling up their sleeves and making things happen. Don’t be afraid to get involved yourself and be the voice of change that leads to a brighter tomorrow for everyone.
Matt Nicholson is the mayor of Seymour. Send comments to [email protected].