Here we are on the cusp of the month of May, one of my favorite months.

It’s definitely much higher on my monthly rankings list than February, as I discussed in a previous column. I’ll save all of you from another round of February bashing. That column will be around the corner again in about 10 months.

Today is a time to celebrate a stage of the year that has the potential to bring renewal, fun and beauty to our lives and communities as we witness and participate in the annual planting of flowers, shrubs and trees.

This also ties into a central goal of mine as I begin my term as Mayor of Cassville/America’s Real Hometown, which is community betterment.

OK, you may be thinking, what is community betterment? Is it just a feel-good term or does it really have a purpose for our great community?

For me, community betterment simply comes down to doing the things that help Cassville make a positive impression as people are welcomed into our great town.

The next question is, who can make community betterment happen? The great thing is that we can all participate in the process.

Yes, the City of Cassville staff and council can and should play an important role. However, for community betterment to really be successful, it can’t be a spectator sport like football, baseball or NASCAR. Things like keeping our lawns mowed, planting flowers, doing home improvements, picking up trash, saying hi to tourists at various stores in town are various examples of how we can all participate in community betterment.

Some recent examples of community betterment really make me proud and put a smile on my face. Kyle and Jordan Troutman’s improvements of the historic Cassville Democrat building are going to definitely make a positive impression when people come to Cassville’s downtown.

The recent work by Barry County Wastewarriors, led by Bri Smith, to pick up trash and clean up along the roads and ditches is another example of community betterment and pride. Their work follows the example that has been set for years by Nadine Davis as she has diligently picked up trash around town.

And, every Thursday around 6 a.m. you can see Richard and Sawyer Asbill emptying the trash receptacles around Cassville Square. I’m so proud and impressed by these devoted individuals that they will jump in and do something really important without even being asked to do so.

Our goal and ideal to be America’s Real Hometown, where you want to live, work and play; will always be a work in progress that will only be continually fulfilled by our collective efforts and ideas to improve.

I welcome your ideas regarding community betterment. And, I sincerely appreciate the collective pride in our town that has been evident over so many years. On that note, I better wrap up my column and close my iPad, because my yard needs to be mowed and all of those flowers I found at Michael’s Hardware also need to be planted.

And, for those of you like me who are over the age of 60, I recommend having a big bottle of ibuprofen nearby after your flower planting session.

I wish all of you a fun and rewarding May.

Jon Horner is a local community bank president, published author, newspaper columnist, motivational speaker, and mayor of America’s Real Hometown. He can be reached at jonhorner77@gmail.com.