Peace be with you

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By Matt Nicholson

How do you _____?

Take your pick of the many words that can complete this sentence. Before I share some thoughts, let me tell you about my week.

Congratulations to Creative Concepts Cabinetry for the recent ribbon cutting at its new location. Stop in and check out all they have to offer in cabinets and beyond. Their new location is easy to find at 100 N. Ewing St., Suite C.

Recently, I was invited to speak to the Jackson County Young Professionals. I took the chance to discuss various departments within the city. I also encouraged them to get involved with the community via nonprofit organizations. As Ben Carson said, “Happiness doesn’t result from what we get but from what we give.” Thank you to the group for the chance to speak and share the news that is Seymour.

Jackson County Chamber of Commerce had its annual Ag Breakfast. Sustainable farming practices was the theme of the event with both scholarship winners and the guest speaker sharing information related to the topic. It also was a good chance for many to get to see the Seymour Ag-Science and Research Farm. Good work to Sasha Norman, Dee Smith and Dan Robison on organizing the event for our community.

This week, I got to perform two weddings. This is still one of my favorite parts of serving as mayor. Both brides were stunning, and the grooms were full of smiles as they looked at them during the ceremonies. Congratulations to all. I hope you have long and happy marriages.

Just in case you haven’t heard, we are in the mix of another round of COVID-19 via the Delta variant. We had a chance to review our protocols this week and make sure we had all of the information correct.

We checked Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, as well, and have received an updated algorithm from Schneck Medical Center to help break it down into the simplest of terms. We didn’t miss the mark much, and where we did, it was on the side of caution. Huge shoutout to the city team for all of your efforts this past week.

Someone this week asked me, “How do you deal with all of the negative people?” Someone else asked, “How do you deal with someone willing to lie about a topic?” “How do you do it?” “How do you have time to get it all done?” “How do you keep track of everything?” Take your pick of the many different ways people are curious about my role as mayor.

While I could easily break down the legwork that goes into any topic we are working on, it really just comes down to one simple phrase for me. Well, four simple words or just 14 letters, if you prefer. The phrase that is my reminder that calmness is better than chaos is pretty simple. The phrase that is a subtle reminder for others, as well, doesn’t take much breath to share is my backstop when storms are on the horizon.

Hopefully, it finds you today when you may need it the most. Now, take a deep breath and slowly say it out loud with me: Peace be with you.

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