Longtime Jasper councilman awarded Sagamore
Councilman Tom Schmidt had an 11 a.m. appointment today so he showed up about 25 minutes early for a 10:45 a.m. meeting at the Jasper City Hall.
He was supposed to be meeting with Stormwater Coordinator Chad Mundy and City Engineer Chad Hurm to discuss an emergency stormwater issue.
However, his early arrival created a bit of a scramble for Lois Kuntz and the rest of the staff at city hall who were trying to set up a surprise for Schmidt in the council chambers. The staff began shuffling Schmidt around the city hall as the staff worked their way into the council chambers.
Finally, still early, Schmidt made it in to see Mundy and Hurm.
Meanwhile, over 50 family members and friends piled into the council chambers until, under the guise that they needed to move the meeting into the chambers to use the display screen, Mundy got Schmidt to come over.
When the doors opened, he was met with a standing ovation and escorted to a seat at the front of the chambers. Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann, who had also snuck into the building, took her place behind the podium and presented him with the Sagamore of the Wabash award. “The Sagamore of the Wabash is to identify the great chieftans. We honor people who are mentors, as leaders, as the great stewards of our communities and our state,” she said as she thanked him for his 40 years of service.
The usually vocal Schmidt had little to say to the crowd. “Right now, I don’t know what to say,” he beamed. “I am completely surprised. I’ve never dreamt anything like this but I would like to thank my family. They gave me so much support through the years.”
Schmidt, 76, has served under four mayors: Robert Parker, Jerome “Chick” Alles, Bill Schmitt and Terry Seitz. He chose to not run for another four-year term this year.
“I hope I did my job well and helped everyone that I could. ” Schmidt said about his service.
Oh yeah, that 11 a.m. meeting he was worried about, that was his usual Friday lunch at Headquarters.
Schmidt, 76, and his wife, Carol, have three children; Phil Schmidt, who lives in Jasper, Denise Bainbridge, who lives in Orlando, Fla., and Greg Schmidt, who lives in Carlsbad, N.M.
