Prayer breakfast an inspiring event

The date was Thursday, Jan. 8. The time was 5 a.m. And the outside temperature was 4 degrees with a negative wind chill factor. These were not ideal conditions for even a mayor to want to rise and shine to attend an early morning prayer breakfast.

However, I did make the effort to attend the event and arrived a few minutes after 6 a.m. The parking lot was entirely full, as were several of the adjoining lots. I parked on the back lot of the Victorian Hotel. I was amazed at the turnout, which eventually totaled more than 400 men.

This event was not planned by a large committee that spent several months planning and reviewing the agenda. It was planned by a small group of men who marketed the event via social media and included texts, email blasts, Facebook, and Twitter, all within about one month before the actual event. I received a text invite from Coach Tuke, emails from Kevin Greaser and Bob Neff and several word-of-mouth invitations.

The keynote speaker, coach Tom Matukewicz, brought a very meaningful message to the audience and particularly to me, as he talked about attitude, effort, discipline and passion. Short statements and prayer were delivered by the Rev. Ron Watts, senior pastor at LaCroix Methodist, the Rev. Mark Anderson, senior pastor at Lynwood Baptist, and Father David Hulshof of Saint Vincent de Paul Parish.

Coach Tuke's approach to his life and his teams, as stated above, are based on attitude, effort, discipline and passion. I began, during his presentation, relating his comments to my position and our city of Cape Girardeau. I pictured myself, our council, and our staff as coaches and all the citizens of Cape Girardeau as the team.

We have a great city in which to live and raise our families. Our citizens are well-informed and have always supported programs that intend to improve our city and quality of life for its citizens. This of course is not true of 100 percent of our citizens. We must continue to develop programs and strategies to involve a larger segment of our population. This reaches far beyond our city government and needs enhanced involvement from our not-for-profit agencies, our religious community and our many service clubs.

One strategy that I would like to lift up again is our Neighborhood Development Initiative. It is still in its pilot stage with only two neighborhoods in the beginning stages, that being an area of South Cape Girardeau and the Red Star District. It is our goal that this initiative will grow into a citywide program and involve many more citizens who will take more interest in their neighborhood and their city.

My challenge to all our citizens is multifaceted and would include the following: "What can you do? Can you do more? What area of your interests can you make a difference?"

Join a church, become active in a not-for-profit agency, join a neighborhood group, regularly report issues and concerns to city government. Expand your own to-do list that will be beneficial to the growth of your city.

My challenge to the small group that initiated the above-mentioned prayer breakfast would be to make it an annual event with April timing to eliminate the below-zero roadblock for some, including your mayor.

Harry E. Rediger is the mayor of Cape Girardeau.