Derby Girl

"Wow, you have a Derby girl." I can remember the words like they were spoken yesterday.

I was at a conference at Bowdoin College in Maine with other college and university managers. A colleague who I had known and served with on different boards asked if I had any pictures of my daughters. I looked through my wallet and the first picture I pulled out was a picture of one of my girls in her cheerleading uniform. The woman instantly said, "Wow, you have a Derby girl."

I was intrigued. "How did you know," I asked. She replied, "everybody knows Derby girls. They are one of the top cheerleading programs in the country." I was amazed that a simple wallet photo of my daughter from her Derby cheerleading days made her instantly recognizable to someone from the outer reaches of New England.

I hadn't thought of that conversation in years, but believe we all should take a moment to reflect on how lucky we are to have a world class cheerleading program right here in our community.

Think about it...from their Pop Warner years, right through their varsity high school years, our "Derby girls", coaches, and parents compete and win at the highest levels.

The Operations & Procedures subcommittee of the Board of Aldermen has started discussing the creation of a formal process for recognizing accomplishments that bring so much pride to our town.

When we met last week, we realized that some championship teams such as wrestling, cheerleading, and perhaps others, may not have received the formal recognition due them from the city at the time of their accomplishments.

The words "due them" are the problem.  We could not find a formal, written process that discusses what should be done for championship teams and/or other noteworthy accomplishments.  As a result, some teams have received championship rings, others have received jackets, still others received commemorative signs, and some accomplishments were missed entirely.

As we move our great city forward, we will create and ensure a policy is in place that is fair to all and which gives our community a chance to display our civic pride.

We had some great dialogue at the last meeting and will continue the conversation next month.

In the meantime, this former wrestler, dad and husband of a “Derby girl” salutes all of you for making me proud to say, “I'm from Derby, there isn’t any prouder, and if you don’t believe me, I'll yell a little louder.”