ARTICLE
I love this Teddy Roosevelt quote. To me, it says so much about people who fight the fight every day. It’s about people who run for office and put their name out there in a very public way. People who put their home, savings and security on the line to build a business. People who fight for a cause they believe in and try to create change in the world. As you read this, you can tell Teddy was not part of the 21st century. He addresses only men, and he doesn’t use the inclusive terms we have today. "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood. — Theodore Roosevelt Our local officials are changing the world at the local level every day. Yet, it’s very rare they receive even a "thank you" for all they do. Just last week, we held the Annual Mayors’ and Municipal Officials’ Reception. There were mayors from municipalities all across the Lehigh Valley — from Jim Thorpe to Whitehall, from Emmaus to Portland. Mayors Sal Panto Jr. of Easton, Steve Ellis of Phillipsburg and Ray O’Connell of Allentown represented our larger cities. Talk about putting it on the line! Managing cities today with expanding services and limited geographic growth potential is a tough job. And today it’s under a very intense microscope, given the amount of information and scrutiny out there. But they came, and for one reason: To present awards to our mayors from our smaller towns and boroughs. We honored Mayor Richard Fluck for his 46 years — that’s right 46 years — of serving Hellertown on council and as mayor. We honored Mayor Gary Hovis, who’s committed his time and energy to leading Coopersburg for a whopping $400 per year while running an auto body shop with his brother. To be a mayor requires humility and a sense of humor. We couldn’t even decide who was the most entertaining, so we awarded three mayors: The first woman to represent Emmaus — Lee Anne Gilbert; the plaid-wearing, joke-telling Lance Prator of Portland; and rookie Mayor David Heintzelman of Hellertown. Heintzelman runs a very successful funeral business but finds time to lead his city. They made every one of the 250 people in the room laugh. So for all of you who ran the St. Luke's University Health Network Half Marathon and 5K last weekend, when you and others thought you shouldn’t or couldn’t; for you who have pursued public office to create change in your community; for you who served on boards and made decisions that were criticized by others; for you who believe so deeply in a cause that you agitated folks; for you who have done things for your families when others said you’re too nice but your love kept you going — and for you who have tried something you felt was right to the bottom of your heart and to your embarrassment failed … CELEBRATE! Celebrate that you were in the game. You wanted your family, your community, your world to be better. And instead of being one of the timid souls who stand by and critique, you were in the game. You were alive, experiencing the joy of victory and at times the agony of defeat. But it’s being alive and the striving for what you believe in your heart that builds legacy. After all, when it’s all said and done, what prevails for generations to come is our hard-earned legacy. Tony Iannelli is president and CEO of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. He can be reached at tonyi@lehighvalleychamber.org. Read the original article here.