Mayor Rogero's Remarks at 225th Kickoff

Mayor

Indya Kincannon
[email protected]
(865) 215-2040

400 Main St., Room 691
Knoxville, TN 37902

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Mayor Rogero speaks at 225th KickoffMayor Madeline Rogero delivered these remarks on Feb. 5, 2016, at the kickoff press conference for Knoxville’s 225th anniversary celebration, at the East Tennessee History Center:

Thank you all for being here! What a great turnout.

We just came from our annual budget retreat, at the Convention Center. If you’ve ever been to our budget retreats, you know they’re not exactly a big tourist draw. Lots of numbers, lots of charts.

But if you step back from it a little bit, it’s amazing to think about what those numbers and charts really represent – everything that we have built together as a City in the past 225 years. 

Our streets and neighborhoods, our businesses and parks, our snow plows and greenways, our Police and Fire departments. The trash that gets picked up every week, the potholes that get filled – and the 311 line you can call if those things don’t happen the way they’re supposed to.

Concerts on Market Square. Festivals in World’s Fair Park. The fact that we even have a World’s Fair Park – that we hosted a World’s Fair, right here in Knoxville! Our beautiful Tennessee and Bijou theaters. This fantastic museum right here.

All of these things are the fabric of the life of a city. It’s a city with a rich and varied history, enlivened by diverse cultures, a crossroads of trade and commerce.

During this 225th anniversary year, we will be celebrating that history in many ways, large and small. We all have our own Knoxville stories to tell, from the First Families of Tennessee right up to immigrants who just arrived here. 

This year is an opportunity to share all of those stories, and to celebrate the city we are all fortunate to call home.

Thank you again for being here, and I look forward to seeing you at events and celebrations throughout this year.