Thursday, July 31, 2008

Roscommon County Fair

Just a reminder to everybody that the Roscommon County Fair will be taking place this Friday, Saturday, & Sunday (Aug 1st -3rd) at the Fire Training Center grounds.

A list of events is available at Village Hall. Check out the Higgins Lake - Roscommon Chamber of Commerce website for more information (http://www.hlrcc.com/). The major attraction will be a Jimmy Buffet Tribute Band performing Saturday night - August 2nd from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM. Tickets for the show are only $10 and are available for sale at the Chamber of Commerce office.

The Fair kicks off with the annual Flag Raising - Star Spangled Banner ceremony at 12:00 noon on Friday.


Tom Gromek
Village Manager

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

MLGMA Conference

I had the pleasure of attending the MLGMA Conference at Boyne Mountain from July 22nd - July 25th. MLGMA stands for Michigan Local Government Management Association. This conference brings managers of cities, villages, and townships throughout the state together to both further our education, share ideas, and build camaraderie.

Being a new manager, I found this conference incredibly beneficial and rewarding. The veteran managers do a great job of mentoring the younger managers, and we are lucky to have some of the best managers in the country right here in the state of Michigan.

While I had considered starting a manager's blog in the past, a session on using technology within your community presented by the MML (Michigan Municipal League) and talking with other managers who have blogs, really gave me the motivation and direction to develop this new tool.

MLGMA has an annual summer conference and a winter convention, both of which are highly attended. The MML has a Capitol Conference and an annual convention, and many other regional training seminars. I feel we are blessed to have two strong organizations dedicated to making our communities better, and attempting to solve of the some problems occurring throughout the state.

Tom Gromek
Village Manager

Welcome!

Greetings! Let me begin by expressing a sincere “thank you” for checking in on the inaugural post to the Roscommon Village Manager blog.

This blog is a great tool to update residents and visitors about Roscommon. The information discussed will not be limited to Village government, but will cover community promotion in general. Our blog has been created with the following purpose statement to guide it;

Purpose/Goals: The purpose and goals of the Roscommon Blog are as follows:
◘ Educate the public about the government of Roscommon
◘ Advocacy for the local business sector
◘ Promote the community and its residents
◘ Increase transparency and connection in and to local government via an open forum

Blogging in local government is a communication medium that is ahead of the bell-curve. Governmental websites are becoming very common, and a great means of gaining basic information about a community. But even great websites still lack in two-way communication and fresh content that promotes the community. We firmly believe that our website is an excellent gateway to gain relevant information regarding the Village from any location with a computer. It is our plan that by blogging, we will be able to enhance your online experience with the Village.

If you are interested in being a guest blogger, please let us know at the Village Hall. We are seeking guests to blog about their experience with the Village and highlight their experience with the community.

Also, I would direct any comments or questions about blog posts or Village events to be sent to my e-mail address, tom@roscommonvillage.com. In the near future, I would like to have a Q & A post to answer questions residents or visitors may have, so feel free to speak your mind!

That’s all for now, but check back soon as we will be working on frequent updates!

Tom Gromek
Village Manager