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Monday, July 23, 2018

Message from the mayor: What a week, what a city

By Grayson Vandegrift
Mayor, City of Midway

What a week.

Wednesday, two young Midway citizens decided to sell lemonade to raise money for the Homeplace because they wanted to help with the care of the wisest ones among us. Their proud parents posted about their good deed on Facebook, and before you knew it, fellow residents were pledging to match their contributions -- they wound up raising well over $200 in the end.

It’s almost as if these two young women were inspiring us to be ready for the days to come, when we’d all have to band together to help our fellow citizens. Although I’m not surprised at how the Midway community came together, I’m still remarkably impressed and inspired by the endless accounts of residents doing good deeds to help each other get through a surprisingly monstrous storm and its serious effects.

It would take a book to account for all the selfless acts that were performed by people this weekend, so I’ll just say that I am continually inspired by the immeasurable number of good deeds done by people who simply want to help their neighbor get through a difficult situation.

KU and LG&E called in help from other states and had as many as 180 technicians working 16-hour shifts to bring power back to our homes. As I write this, nearly all of Midway has power again. We owe a great debt of gratitude to every line worker and every person who helped clear debris and limbs, and to their families for sharing them with us. One line worker from Chicago said he hadn’t seen this kind of tree damage since he was deployed to assist with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

Our first responders were brilliant as well, especially on Friday night, when things really could have devolved into chaos had they not held everything together.

What a week. What a city. What a county.

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