Blackburns receive Key to the City
PLYMOUTH — For their 37 years of service to the community, Tom and Carolyn Blackburn were given a Key to the City of Plymouth. Mayor Mark Senter presented the key to the couple during Monday’s meeting of the Plymouth Common Council.
Mayor Senter read the proclamation standing next to the Blackburns.
“Whereas, Tom and Carolyn Blackburn man
aged and owned the Plymouth Ponderosa restaurant for a total of 37 wonderful years. Throughout these years, they created an establishment loved by customers and employees alike. And whereas, the Blackburns served the community with distinction demonstrating always their willingness to place their concern for the public good above their personal interests whether that was through United Way, Optimists Club, Chamber of Commerce, junior baseball, Girl Scouts, or any other organization they were apart of or supported Tom and Carolyn could always be counted on to help in any way they could.”
The proclamation that Senter read noted that the Blackburns hired many from the community. “They employed thousands from start to finish, many of them high school students. They employed second and some third generation workers. Ponderosa was a family business. Tom was a great boss and took everything that people had going on into consideration to make sure people didn’t miss out on their family time.”
The proclamation went on to speak about the Blackburn’s work ethic. “And whereas they built an establishment where everyone wanted to work in. You never saw Tom sitting or leaning. He was always helping even if they didn’t need help. He built a relationship with most of the customers and had regulars that came in everyday and thanked him for all his hard work.”
When the mayor presented the Key to the City to the couple, there was a round of standing applause.
“After all we went through last year, this is the one big one that we lost. I truly wanted to do this for them,” Mayor Senter said regarding the presentation. He wished the Blackburns good luck in their future endeavors and thanked them for everything they have done for the community.
“We couldn’t have done this without togetherness and my family,” Tom Blackburn said. He recognized his family that was in attendance that night. “We came to Plymouth and we had great support. It’s been a great experience. I’m really sorry it ended the way it did, but the thousands of kids and workers and people that were on our team made this possible. It was family and we miss it. Thank you.”