Friday Update on December 22 2017
All,
Look for a top 10 summary of City projects in the upcoming Winters Express next week.
This week is just to express gratitude for a wonderful community and to wish all peace and happiness in the coming year.
In Winters, we have much to be grateful for. When you look at the world and even the communities near and far, we need to count our blessings for what is an amazing place to live, work and experience life. A couple things I am grateful for which are the “gifts” I hope we can all cherish.
· Winters is a unique town where congeniality and collaboration rule the day. Probably one of the highlights of my career and life experience was Project Playground and the construction of a new playground at City Park. An incredible group of people dreamed really big and brought an amazing project forward which will be experienced by generations of children to come. We all had a chance to work side by side with neighbors, friends and strangers on something which is really larger than any one person or group. The work was hard but very enriching. While the end result was a beautiful playground structure, the gift to the community was the coming together of a huge diversity of people to make something special. Project Playground gave us all a gift of a life experience, friendships and most of all, a sense of community in its most basic definition!
· Winters is safe and friendly. The idea of walking into the local restaurant, hardware store or a simple stroll down the street where you wave at everyone who passes by is something most people never experience in larger communities.
· Winters is a town which is blessed by people who record our history and tell our story each week at the Winters Express. Debra, Charley, Newt, Maggie, Julia, Donald, Edmund, Eric and many other contributors bless our town each week with a small town newspaper which is second to none. We can all feel lucky to have the gift of these folks telling out story.
· Crime is few and far between because we all know each other and few will steal from people they know. I enjoy the idea of being able to walk or jog anywhere feeling safe. Its what most people dream about and we have it here all of the time.
· Throughout the community, we have people who work really hard to make our town great. Service is important and whether they serve on the City Council, Planning Commission, School Board or the many service, theatre or other community organization, they make a difference each day. They give us all a gift of commitment to making our town better.
· At City Hall, I get to work with an incredible group of people! I tell our staff that “we are in the business of where people live, grow up, create childhood memories, where they raise their families, start businesses, make their livelihoods. People make our town their home, live their lives and eventually die. We have an opportunity to make a difference in peoples lives every day.” We provide the parks where children play, save people’s lives and keep them safe. People cannot start their days without the water and wastewater and they need the streets to drive and sidewalks to walk. We are not perfect, but I am convinced that we do a pretty good job of doing what we are chartered to do. We get to give the gift of a City!
Mostly, I am grateful for the gifts of peace and life we get from living in a small town. “Love” is probably one of the most important words we use. I hear how much people “love” Winters for so many reasons. I think the most important use of love is when people talk about making Winters their home. The place where they spend their life, enjoy their family and friends and find peace and find comfort in a place they know so well.
During this holiday season and as we move into the new year, I hope you will enjoy the gift of love for a community where we can make a difference, find peace, serenity and enjoy life.
Happy Holidays and see everyone next year!
John