Mayor Reflects on Weekend That United Community, World

Crawfordsville and Montgomery County are a very special place. I’ve always known that, and it drives my passion to work hard on behalf of this community every day.  Over the past few days, the rest of the world has discovered just how special our community truly is.  We not only welcomed visitors from around the world, but also made them feel at home, like part of our family, and showed everyone how to put aside the divisiveness that dominates the global landscape.

The feedback from visitors and residents alike was overwhelmingly positive, and I’ve heard so many amazing stories that will create unforgettable memories for those involved. 

This was a significant undertaking for a community of our size, and it literally took everyone to make it such a success.  There were so many city departments, county departments, state agencies, organizations, businesses and individuals going above and beyond that it is impossible to name each one of them.  I would like to extend a collective thank you for now and look forward to personally thank each of you in the coming days and weeks.  Crawfordsville and Montgomery County, you hit it out of the park!

While it’s traditional to measure the impact of large events such as this solely in terms of numbers and dollars, I would argue that although those impacts far exceeded everyone’s goals, the greater impact was the immeasurable goodwill, memories, and global camaraderie that occurred.  We collectively swept the politics, strife and divisiveness that dominate our world aside as locals joined fans from many countries to cheer on one another, with a bit of electric revelry, of course. 

Over the last few days, especially last Friday afternoon, the world became a much smaller place.  We put everything aside to become united, and that celebration of unity was centered right here in our little spot on this vast planet. 

Hold your heads high, Crawfordsville and Montgomery County!  I am humbled to lead such an amazing community, and I assure you that we aren’t done yet, so stay tuned!

Crawfordsville native Todd D. Barton is the only four-term mayor in the history of Crawfordsville. He initially took office in 2012 and before that served in several leadership roles in the city, including fire chief.  He also owned a successful consulting business and is a cum laude graduate of Wabash College.