As I was named Honorary Mayor in 2022 and looking back at the time since then, Portland has come a long way after digging out of COVID times. I’ve always volunteered for different organizations and especially my Church, Good Shepherd, way before my time as Honorary Mayor. My Men’s Club and Ladies Club supports many things down here in Portland. Portland Youth League is one of my passions. We just finished our home games for this year’s Youth League. We were able to have all of our walking tacos and also our Portland BBQ shoulders donated to our concession stand, both were great and generated income for our league. Coming out of COVID and trying to find some normalcy, I was part of a new group taking over PYL. Huge thanks to Matt Brinson and Joey Hightower to allow me to be a part of this. And also a huge thanks to the ones who were there before us! Portland has been blessed for the ones who came before us. Former Honorary mayors like Molly Leonard, who was a force to be reckoned with, Jerry Brinson, also a force, and the person we all know as Elvis, Bobby Otis.
With the help of our Men’s Club we held several raffles that benefited our Men’s Club, Shawnee Post and PYL. I was involved in procuring money to make possible the repairs of an old International Harvester tractor that was sitting in a barn in Corydon, Indiana for twenty years.The money raised was used to have the tractor moved to a garage and pay for the parts needed to make the necessary repairs. The labor was donated too! Still being used 5 years later.
This group of truly talented people who presented this year’s Portland Festival 2026 has a lot to be proud of. They truly deserve a huge round of applause. There is a saying that I hate, “you can’t do this in Portland “. This Festival Committee proved that you can. Congratulations!
I’ll close with a favorite and not so favorite memory of my mayorship. Riding in the parade and throwing candy to the kids was amazing! The very next year on my last day of being Mayor of Portland, my wife Cheryl and I were tasked with following the LMPD Mounted Police. The group who was supposed to follow the horses were a “no show”. So we followed behind the horses at the last minute and walked the parade with them. Doing our civic doody. Thanks to Pete O’Connell for loaning us the barrel and shovel. Boy, what a difference a year makes!
