October 3, 2022

Dear Community Members,

I could not be more pleased with the reception of the rollout of the Be Kind Community campaign! I’m seeing a lot of energy behind it in the community, with more and more individuals and organizations getting involved. I encourage folks to come down and pickup Be Kind Community stickers at City Hall or at one of the many businesses and churches across the City. Also, it’s never too late to get involved, and the great news is you can do it entirely on your own. Just check out the Be Kind website at BeKind.City and find some ideas for you, your business, your church or service organization! Remember, this week’s initiative is See Someone, Say Something. The idea being that you should make an extra conscious effort to acknowledge people that you might normally just ignore. When someone comes within your ‘sphere’, help them have a better day…and help to make this community more connected by saying hello and maybe even introducing yourself.

One of the places I think we are all seeing the very worst of us is while driving. COVID certainly did something to seemingly o.k. the most horrid driving behaviors I’ve ever seen. Seemingly normal people get behind the wheel and go absolutely crazy. If you never seen the 1955 Disney short film ‘Motor Mania’, it’s perhaps never been more on point. Let’s all (myself included) make a conscious effort to be kinder while driving…and more patient. 

A highlight of kindness in motion this week in our community was the Bike the Bridges fundraiser. This was our first year hosting this very special event that helps lift up 26,000 Special Olympic athletes. We had over 650 riders, probably close to 100 volunteers and we raised over $160,000 for Special Olympics. I was at the 100-mile ride checkpoint, and afterwards showed up at the post ride celebration at the First Street Green. It was inspiring and I think overall served to highlight the welcoming kindness and generosity of this community. Special thanks to our very own Police Department for co-sponsoring this event and a very special thanks to our own Patti Baron who was instrumental in making this an amazing event. Also, thank you to all of you who donated, big or small, it will make a difference in the lives of some of our most wonderful community members. For many of them, Special Olympics is one of the most cherished times in their lives.

Finally, I’d like to close with this comment I received last week from Jacque Martin-Downs: “I liked your newsletter in which you encouraged us to be friendly, Erik. Your letters always put a positive spin on the various issues. I just flew in from MI for the month and was pleasantly greeted by everyone I ran in to, which seemed a bit different from pre-covid days..Maybe, we, as a nation have now realized how our lives could be changed or taken from us with not much effort. That would be a nice surprise to have all of us treat each other with respect.” 

Thank you, Jacque, and I couldn’t agree more. 

Erik Upson
City Manager