WEST
PARK
CITY
OFFICIALS
NOVEMBER 2013
www.communitynewspapers.com
WHO’S WHO In City Government Mayor Eric H. Jones, Jr.
Vice Mayor Felicia M. Brunson
Commissioner Thomas Dorsett
Commissioner Sharon Fyffe
Commissioner Rita “Peaches” Mack
City Manager W. Ajibola Balogun
305-669-7355
GRATITUDE-A NECESSARY ATTITUDE By Mayor Eric H. Jones Jr.
A
lthough we s h o u l d remember the significance of all our holidays, I believe that Thanksgiving is the holiday which should be used for a time of quiet reflection. Let us take a moment during this Thanksgiving holiday season to reflect on our lives and on our blessings. We have endured through some difficult times as a city. Our economy has been relatively stable in the years of recession. Many have family members who are serving our country in foreign lands. Many of us have lost loved ones, or have faced other personal crises. And yet, we are blessed to live in a country where we can learn from, and appreciate, the differences which make us unique. We are free to vote or not vote. We have the choice of education for our children. We have some of the finest medical technology in the world available to us. In America, we have the freedom to travel as we wish, and we have the freedom to worship as we see fit. Additionally, we are privileged to live in West Park, Florida. We are fortunate to have City employees who are committed to providing the best service possible to our citizens. We have excellent schools and teachers who are dedicated to the education of their students. We have a community that is filled with caring individuals and groups, such as our Senior Citizens Care Center, the Mary Kendrick’s Thanksgiving Feast, the City’s Christmas Toy Giveaway, our Back to School Giveaway, our After-School and Summer Programs, our Scholarship Program, etc. People of all races, ages and socio-economic levels come together as we work to
Mayor Eric H. Jones Jr. and the rest of the Commission members presented a framed South Florida Times Newspaper Article to Commissioner Thomas Dorsett. The Article recognizes Commissioner Dorsett as a Bahamian Legend. (Pictured from Left to Right): Vice Mayor Felicia M. Brunson, Commissioner Thomas Dorsett, Mayor Eric H. Jones Jr., Commissioner Rita Mack, and Commissioner Sharon Fyffe.
make West Park a nurturing and caring community. In a sense, gratitude is an expression of modesty. In Hebrew, the word for gratitude - hoda’ah - is the same as the word for confession. To offer thanks is to confess dependence, to acknowledge that others have the power to benefit you, to admit that your life is better because of their efforts. That frame of mind is indispensable to civilized society. As you sit down to your Thanksgiving dinner, if you had been a Pilgrim, would you have given thanks? Consider what they had been through, the men and women who broke bread together on that first Thanksgiving in 1621. They had uprooted themselves and sailed for America, an endeavor so hazardous that
published guides advised travelers to the New World, "First, make thy will." The crossing was very rough and the Mayflower was blown off course. Instead of reaching Virginia, where Englishmen had settled 13 years earlier, the Pilgrims ended up in the wilds of Massachusetts. By the time they found a place to make their new home Plymouth, they called it - winter had set in. The storms were frightful. Shelter was rudimentary. There was little food. Within weeks, nearly all the settlers were sick. "That which was most sad and lamentable," Governor William ––––––––––See GRATITUDE, page 3