What Makes Ronnie Roll: Enjoy The Ride, Part 2

By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
This particular Monday started off with a particularly meaningful set of thoughts about Mondays. We knew that we were going to continue on our series centered around Steve Gilliand’s Enjoy The Ride. And Mayor Ronnie mentioned that in Gilliand’s book, he discusses a secretary that worked for him for many years who would start off each work week by declaring, “I hate Mondays.” The mayor sipped his coffee and said, “Think of that! That is 1/7th of your life, and you are going to lose it by choosing to hate it? What a waste!” I nodded in the affirmative, as I had just come off a weekend of battling the crud, and knew that I needed to step it up, even though it would seem justifiable to rue the day along with the cough that functioned as an involuntary workout of one’s core. Gilliand used to be an anti-Monday type of guy, but then he came up with an antidote to his secretary’s “Eeyore vibe.” In Enjoy The Ride, he says cheerfully, “Life picks on everyone. Don’t take it personally.”

Mayor Ronnie had just come from Leak City, where he had welcomed the latest conference attendees to the rigorous week-long seminar held several times a year to teach them how to manage all kinds of hazmat and fire-related disasters. This current group hailed from places as far as Puerto Rico and Idaho, and as always, the mayor invited them to experience our special brand of Classic. Southern. Character. We talked about the fact that Leak City was a wonderful way to send our essence as a town out to places all over the country who would have never heard of us, and acknowledged that the outstanding job Steve Carter and his crew do in training these folks could be indirectly having a positive impact on our growth. He said that amongst other things, he had encouraged the attendees to explore Athens on their downtime, starting with the Mardi Gras parade.

The State of the City address had gone well, and the State of the County luncheon and address is coming up. It will be held in the Limestone County Event Center on February 28 at noon, and tickets can be purchased at the Chamber of Commerce. “This is a time of tremendous growth in our city and county, and people need to come out and hear what is going on, and what’s coming up,” the mayor said.
We both talked about what a beautiful job the County had done in pulling off the 200th birthday bash held in the Event Center. The photos, displays, memorabilia, refreshments, music, presentations, all of it were top-drawer. Mayor Ronnie mentioned that when the City of Athens does their celebration in November, Mooresville is invited to be a part of the party, due to the fact that the incorporation of both towns occurred within days of each other.

As always, so many things were coming up, including the Home and Garden Show, Chili Challenge, Poke Sallet, and more, and so we thanked God for our blessings, in our time and in our lives. Then it was time for Ronnie to roll.
By: Ali Elizabeth Turner