Mayor’s Row………..by Ned Mitchell
What do 3,200 pounds of smoked pork sandwiches, 4,320 ears of roasted corn, $30,000.00 dollars in ride tickets and 16,000 raffle tickets sold have in common? They make up the proceeds from sales at the 51st Annual Sesser Homecoming or Rend Lake Days as some know it. We are just coming off of one of the most successful Homecomings ever and we being the “tell it like it is” folks that we are, we want to share with you our event. If you total the sandwich sales, corn on the cob, ride tickets, and raffle tickets you will come up with over $75,000.00 in sales. That does not include sale of water and soft drinks and other food items on the midway. Still, this is a success story in Southern Illinois that that needs to be told. Of course not all of this is profit especially since the entertainment that is provided is free to those who come out and attend. There are other expenses such as advertising, awards and trophies, buying the food products to prepare, utilities, insurance and other incidental costs. Then each year a portion of the profits has to be put back in savings in case we have a rain out event such as we have had in the past.
The folks who make up the Sesser Homecoming Association are experts at putting this event on. We at City Hall fill in the blanks where we can and do what ever is necessary to make the park facilities clean and safe. Our police department is on hand each evening to keep any trouble down and we had none for the second year in a row so we must be doing something right in that category. Our fire department VOLUNTEERS are on hand each evening in case of a medical emergency so if there is an accident or someone becomes ill, we don’t have to wait for a response, they are already in the park. Then we have all those VOLUNTEERS who work in the concession stand, ticket booths, and other features such as the car show, horse show, tractor pull, parade, or just wherever one might be needed. It is simply a time when we come together as a community, put our differences aside (yes we do have those from time to time) and work side by side to make Sesser the really great place that it is. Sure folks are envious of Sesser and rightfully so because this event proves what can be done in a small town like ours when it’s citizens work together for a common good.
Now that I am through gloating about Sesser I would like to add that all the profits from the annual Homecoming event get put right back into this community. There are special projects that the Homecoming Association funds throughout the year and we are always looking for ideas on how to make the town better. We are looking at new street signs as one possibility and perhaps a mini park on Main Street as another but if you have any thoughts along those lines get in touch with us at city hall or any Homecoming Association member. And by the way, thanks for making our event special and the success that it was! We are already at work on next year’s event!
Personally I like to visit old friends at the Homecoming and to meet new ones. We have folks who have moved here from Chicago, California and other places and we welcome them to Sesser. It is great to visit with these new residents and hopefully we can involve them in our town and make them feel at home. This gives us a great opportunity to show case Sesser and let everyone who visits see our community and the core fiber of the many people who live here. The highlight of this year’s event to me however was not the thousands of people who turned out or any of the special events or shows, it was what one former resident said to me. Troy Mallory grew up in Sesser and as many have done moved away to work. Troy still maintains his parent’s home on Matthew Street and from time to time comes and stays a few days with us. He takes a lot of pride in the old home place and keeps it neat, clean and modern. While doing my part to make sure our Main Street was clean for the parade I happened to run into Troy. In our little chat Troy relayed to me that he travels around a bit and visits a lot of communities in doing so. He said, “I don’t care where you go, Sesser is as clean of a community as you will find anywhere.” Even though my legs and back are sore as I am sure others have the same aches and pains and even though I get stressed from worry about this event and other things at City Hall, that statement as Clint Eastwood says made my day. You know by reading this column that I believe in simple concepts and if we can just keep this town clean and safe we have done our jobs at City Hall.
I value and look up to people like Troy Mallory who have worked hard all their lives and even though a career moved them away, they still keep their roots here in Sesser and come home when they can. It just makes one feel good when a former resident comes home and likes what they see and takes the time to tell us about it. Thanks Troy for making my day and for telling me that this generation is taking good care of Sesser. At the end of the day and when our time is served out here those little comments are the greatest rewards we can have.
Of course Sesser was not the only town in the area with things to do over the weekend. Benton hosted a Jaguar car show on the square and showcased Terry’s Jaguar Parts 30th anniversary. We attended that event for a while Saturday in between our work in Sesser and enjoyed the event. Being a Jaguar owner and car nut made for a good visit to Benton and they had some really awesome Jaguar’s on display from several states. Although Benton is not as good a town as Sesser, they do have some fantastic events and this was a great one to attend. Just kidding about the previous comment, but you understand I’m sure! Bill and Tari and family were great hosts as were J R and Betty Moore of Jack Russell Fish Company which by the way is a great place to eat in Benton.
Congratulations to Sesser’s Bill Lewis who has retired after 33 years with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department. Bill was not seen by too many folks in his work for us, he worked the midnight shift for all of those years. Life is all about choices they say and Bill told me that he had two choices. He could stay on the job and continue to ignore his wife Katie’s list of things to do, or he could retire and take care of Katie’s list. Bill is a wise man, he retired and is now working on his wife’s list. Bill is also an expert on small motors and has a repair shop at home to keep lawn mowers, weed eaters and other such items up and running. Congratulations Bill and we are most happy for you that you survived a very dangerous job for 33 years, ENJOY!
We hope you had a very nice father’s day and that you were able to spend time with your dad. Dads of course are special guys and I am proud to be one of them. I spent time with my dad and with my kids and that made my day a very special one.
If you need us, give us a call at 625-3611 or 625-5322 or write to us at P. O. Box 517, Sesser, Illinois or nedmitchell@verizon.net or www.sesser.org we are always happy to hear from you. Your thoughts and ideas are what makes Sesser the great small town that it is so don’t be bashful, communicate with us.
| |
|
