When I think back over the past year, I like everyone else, think of the things we lost. The easy interactions with friends, bumping into people out and about around town, seeing family and friends consistently and inside!

Thinking only locally, last spring it was hard to imagine missing so many events we have grown accustomed to over the past few years, Addamsfest, and the summer street festivals like the dog days of summer. As the pandemic wore on and our family became experts on local and not so local parks to explore, things slowly became available again. It may have looked different seeing everyone in masks, but I saw friends I hadn’t seen in months when I took a yoga class on Quimby. Exploring our own streets to see how many butterflies we could find, we also found friends doing the same. Instead of going to the masquerade ball or the beer garden, we went to a drive-in movie at the train station. We had the most convenient socially distanced Santa drive by right at the train station.

Then, we met friends out at the seesaws and had a great time going into town for the chocolate tour after. We found new ways of connecting in town, and it made the year not look as bad after all. As I was thinking of the moments of joy my family had in the midst of the most chaotic year of our lives, I realized I had someone to thank. That person is Councilwoman Dawn Mackey. Her ingenuity and creativity helped so many get through the darkest days of an unprecedented year, by giving us local things to do. Those activities not only helped everyone in attendance, but helped our businesses downtown by getting us out and about again. This is why I full-heartedly support Dawn Mackey’s re-election campaign. Just today, my daughter said to me as we were driving through the train underpass, “I love the painting under here, it looks so nice and really brightens it up.” After she said that, I realized it was just one other thing I have Dawn to thank for. I hope you’ll join me in voting for Dawn Mackey this November.