Mayor’s Row…………..by Ned Mitchell

                One might thing that with everything going wrong in Washington and Springfield we might not have anything to be happy about.  That is not the case in Sesser, Illinois my friends as we have a lot to be happy about.  Sesser is now in full swing as our 53^rd annual homecoming or Rend Lake Days is up and running.  This is the event that all who attends comes away from Sesser with a good feeling.  Where else can you bring the entire family for food, music, and fun in a safe atmosphere and not spend much money?  You don’t have to spend any money to sit and listen to the entertainment each night, all you have to do is bring a lawn chair and enjoy the surroundings of the beautiful Sesser City Park.  City employees and volunteers have put a fresh coat of paint on tables, benches, rest rooms, trash cans and just about everything that would need a coat of paint.

                Homecoming volunteers have assembled at the park and put the huge corn cooker together and in place as well as the barbeque smoker.  Ice trucks have moved in, soda coolers installed and stocked, pork shoulders for the barbeque sandwiches are cooking, carnival rides are set up, inspected and ready to thrill the youngsters.  All is in place and now all we need is you to attend and spend some time with us. 

                On Wednesday of this year’s line-up for free entertainment we have “Salty Dog” along with the carnival and concession stand.

                Thursday evening will feature “Terry Lee and the Rockaboogie Bank” and roasted corn will be available at the concession stand.  Get there early for the roasted corn to avoid standing in line!

                Friday evening kicks off with an overload horse pulling contest at 5:00 pm and works up to a great show by country music legend Janie Fricke who is sure to please those in attendance.

                Saturday’s events get off to an early start with the first ever 5K event.  You can run or walk this 5K event so you don’t have to be a trained athlete to have fun at this event.  If you would like to join in call Deb Hutson at 625-6717 or 218-9145.  This is a great opportunity to do something new in Sesser!

                If you are a fast runner or speedy walker you will be done with the 5K event in time to see the fantastic car show open at 9”30 am in City Park.  This car show has been continuous for 46 years now and gets better each year.  You will see some really great vehicles at Sesser City Park.

                There will be lots to do in the park until parade time when floats, politicians, bands, antique cars, members of local Shrine Clubs, and other parade down Sesser’s Main Street to officially kick off the last evening of the event.

                Saturday night’s free entertainment will feature Moe Bandy and his group performing at 8:00 pm.  This is always a popular show and will draw a huge crowd.  Moe Bandy will perform until 10 pm when the queen, princess and prince winners will be announced.  The finale of the event will be the drawing of a winning name for a weeklong trip for two in Hawaii. 

                Speaking of a free trip to Hawaii, we do encourage each of you to purchase a ticket for a chance to win this trip as this is how money is raised to provide the free entertainment for all to enjoy.  It takes somewhere in the neighborhood of $15,000 to provide all the free entertainment and activities during the four day event and the main source of that money is generated by ticket sales by candidates running for queen, princess and prince.  When you are approached to buy a ticket please do so and that will help us to keep top notch entertainment and events coming to Sesser. 

                The concession stand is another community project staffed by VOLUNTEERS and this goes a long way in making this a profitable venture for the Homecoming Association.  Nobody involved with the Homecoming Association is paid anything to do the work they do and I am here to tell you that I for one appreciate the long hours they put in to make this event successful year after year.

                Our contribution at the city is to keep the park clean and safe for young and old alike. 
We have a lot of time and expense involved too with city workers and police officers who forego any days off during the week of this annual event.  We do a lot of pre planning to make sure it all goes off without any problems.  We also try to stay behind the scene and out of the way unless we are needed.  Other VOLUNTEERS who work long and hard are the men and women of the Sesser Fire Protection District who are on hand during the event just in case someone needs medical attention.

                As we have been saying for decades “Come One-Come All-Let’s Have a Ball in Sesser” and this year will be no exception.  We look forward to visiting with you!

                We have other exciting news in Sesser too that has been a long time coming.  As you know by now Sesser became the first city in Southern Illinois to form a Tax Increment Finance District (TIF) a year or so ago solely to deal with promoting housing development.  We were the first to include the whole town in the TIF District too and we have now inked three housing deals that will bring new people to Sesser.  One residence is already sold and will bring two adults and two school age children to Sesser and we are very excited about the potential that is there for the TIF District.  The other two agreements will find developers buying property with abandoned structures on  site, removing those buildings and building a new single family house that will be on the market for sale.  Here is where this TIF District will really help Sesser.  We will get rid of an eyesore and replace it with a new home.  Once the home is built and sold we will have new families moving to Sesser.  The developer will be able to recoup the cost of demolition, water and sewer service and the cost of the property.  This money will be paid back to the developer over a period of time with the proceeds of the TIF District.  In both instances the developer has agreed to in turn offer this money as in incentive to the buyer of the home.  We at city hall are excited at the potential of this TIF District.

                Sesser is no stranger to new and exciting concepts in local government.  We were the first city in Franklin County to adopt Home Rule 20 years ago and others have now followed our lead and done the same.  We are the first to put a TIF District in place that takes in the whole town that will promote new residential development and others will follow us down this path too.  We at city hall are proud of Sesser and hope that you are too!  We invite you to join us is making Sesser a better place to live, work, and play.

                Make Plans now to attend the live performance of “Always Patsy Cline” coming up next Tuesday evening at the Opera House at 7:30 pm.  Tickets are available at the door or by calling 625-5322.