Plymouth City Employees are truly appreciated and essential
In Part 1 of my article thanking Plymouth City employees, I spoke of first responders. Not just police and fire but those street and water employees that dedicated themselves to repair broken water-mains in sub-zero weather. On one occasion two years ago, I witnessed Plymouth Utility Director Donnie Davidson directing traffic while his men worked in the middle of Western Avenue while it was 20 degrees below zero. There are “wants” and there are “needs” of a municipality. Getting water turned back on to a neighborhood is an obvious need.
QUALITY OF LIFE is a term used often when speaking of attracting persons to our community. Here in Plymouth, we have the peace of mind of living in a small thriving community with the benefits of a big city. One of our main attractions is our Parks & Recreation Department headed up by Mike Hite. I will put our Parks Department up against any other city or town in Indiana. We have nine parks throughout The City that are managed and maintained by seven full-time employees. In the summer months we add 40 seasonal employees, many of them being lifeguards for the municipal pool.
In the Summer of 2019, we cut the ribbon for the second phase of the Greenway Trail that runs from Founders Park to River Park Square. Plans are currently underway to add a third phase inside River Park Square as well as a second phase of the park itself. These are both Stellar Community Projects. Another addition in the long-range plan is the Greenway Trail to go north from the tennis courts all the way up to Price Memorial Park. Price’s Pond, as it is known, was donated to us in the fall of 2015 by the Price family and what a beautiful addition it has been!
But none of this just happens by itself. These are dedicated employees that mow the grass; maintain the pool and Nixon Field; organize many events for our park users; arrange the many shelter rentals and of course welcome the Blueberry Festival each year to Centennial Park. We truly appreciate our park system here in Plymouth but appreciate also our employees getting things done the right way.
For the last several years I have been involved in the Junior Achievement program for the Plymouth School Corporation. I speak to third graders in a six-week program called “Our City.” I talk to the kids about all of the departments and they understand the difference between water & wastewater; police & fire; park & street. But there are two departments that the third graders never consider might be a municipal division (and many adults as well.) One is Oakhill Cemetery and the other is the Plymouth Municipal Airport. Both of these departments are essential to a city like Plymouth. And both of them only have two full-time employees. They are dedicated and know exactly what they are doing at all times to bring out the best for their departments.
Our cemetery is “world-class” with a former leader Jim Ousamer that was there for nearly 48 years and his father 35 before him. They know what to do and how to do it in a very solemn and professional way. Cemetery Superintendent Mike Collins and his assistant Dennis Manuwal lead by example. Sometime this spring in a ceremony, The City will be renaming the Oakhill Chapel to the Ousnamer Memorial Chapel in memory of Virgil and Jim.
The Plymouth Municipal Airport was awarded the “Airport of the Year” by AVIATION INDIANA in 2019 at a wonderful ceremony at the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City. It is led by Bill Sheley and his assistant Zach Davis. The time they put in to make the airport special just amazes me. The most important thing to happen on the far northside is the new aviation school that began over two years ago. Alphaflight (a team of flight instructors) has partnered with the Career Technical Education (CTE) program and will be offering to juniors and seniors who are part of the North Central Area Vocational Cooperative (NCAVC), which include Plymouth, Triton, Union-north United, John Glenn, Knox, Triton, Rochester, Culver, Oregon-davis, North Judson-san Pierre, and Argos. The seniors in the class are now in their 4th semester and things are looking very promising on the horizon.
Overall, I am enormously proud of all of our Plymouth city employees. They all take their jobs seriously and many risk their lives for the safety of our residents and visitors. Next time you see a city worker please pat them on the back thank them for a job well done!
In the next few months, I will be featuring certain Plymouth city employees that don’t necessarily standout but are behind the scenes to bring forward a positive atmosphere for our community.