so we're starting tonight with an opportunity um to recognize and thank Mr camalo who started with us in June of 2009 is that right yes nearly 15 years ago um as our town manager he has shephered this town through tremendous growth and challenges and notably helped develop hopkinton's town government in many important ways a few important ways that I reflected on were um our financial processes that are incredibly efficient based on sound financial practices and sustainable even during times of increased budgetary pressures our stabilization fund and free cash provide stability um our pay as you go program has allowed us to better maintain our facilities and meet our needs using onetime money for one-time expenses transparency in the process is notable and very appreciated Innovations like the participatory budget also make makes us stronger and invite participation from the residents uh I remember my first meeting with with Norman in his office and he was giv me the lowdown on what to expect and he said oh we're going to have so much fun well that's debatable however we have had a wonderful relationship a good good relationship and he's always been available whenever I needed to talk to him uh just walked in and uh he's give me all the time that uh was necessary and I greatly appreciate that he's been wonderful with the putting together the town meeting he's been great with the budgets and the finances and um I just can't thank him enough for his leadership I really appreciate how much you work with Civic groups and nonprofits in town on helping the getting their events and I remember when you really helped project just because move into their new building and they were having trouble with their Transformer and you really brought that to life to come um so they could open um and I really appreciate all your improvements over the years on transparency I know government was very slowly but um there's definitely been huge improvements in the communication and transparency since you've been here um and I really appreciate you tolerating me bugging you all the time about Weds of upsite improvements and email communication improvements and accessibility standards so um we're really going to miss you but we wish you all the best in your next adventure we've heard all the professional aspects and everything that you've done done to professionalize Hopkinson but what I want to say is you've done it all very humbly and it's obvious by the way that you seem very uncomfortable that we're honoring you today but um seriously you know it's you you've taken this this town through a period of incredible growth and um and approached to everything with calmness and humility while taking on new in initiatives throughout the way and um I can say personally I've learned an awful lot from you um and and how to interact how to you know how to bring the critical teams together and yeah I I've learned a lot from you and um I'm going to take that with me and and and run with it as well you have a library of knowledge a plethora of information history about the town about the government about various procedures and uh it it has been tremendous working with you and you've been along our um side all the time supporting us supporting the town and uh thinking about uh doing and uh doing great things about the town for the town and as if F and my other colleagues said during um high growth time uh you were uh part of us and uh supporting and uh leading uh with all these challenges that we have had so thank you and and uh I I wish you all the best in your next venture I am uh grateful as a as a friend I'm grateful for you um as a selectman I was very grateful for all the the patience and guidance and your institutional knowledge that you brought to us um and as a as a taxpayer um you know the work that you did from day one when you got here to today when you're when you're finishing up uh the town is i f are in a much stronger position uh this town will be uh will miss you tremendously I won't miss you cuz I'll still call you all the time um but we have um Norman and I that what we would do is we would communicate uh in Zulu um so uh that way if somebody overheard what we were saying it was uh it was hard to decipher and um we have one saying I won't bring up the saying that we have but uh there's there's one saying that that uh resonates with me and I still use I had an orientation today for nurses and and uh and CNAs and I still use that phrase uh about roasting uh which that's as much as I'm going to say to it but uh Norman um as a as a friend and as a cooworker and as a taxpayer and as a town member from the bottom of my heart I thank you for everything that you did uh and I know that your legacy will be carried on um and uh and the town is much much better off and and uh it's not just thank you to you it's thank you to your wife and your kids for for giving you to us for the amount of time uh that they did uh and i i l you for everything that you've done for us so thank you so we have a couple of small gifts we have um uh bouquet for your award in after this yep we have some flowers for your wife rodo and thanks for all the ways that she has generously shared you with us um and uh you may realize that we had a lovely event just yesterday successful fabulous event and we have a momento that not only marks the event but it marks the 100th running and it um I think it uh it it symbolizes so much about what we uh we are all about it is one of the pieces of art from the um the flying feet on the common and uh I just want you to know that this particular piece is titled we are all born to fly the artist is Chelsea Bradway and the Hopkins integrated preschool at Marathon school and this is what uh Mrs Brad Miss Bradway says she embarked on a unique collaboration with approximately 100 preschoolers ages 3 to 5 to create an inclusive art project the project aimed to celebrate creativity and diversity by showcasing the unique perspectives of each child the preschoolers learned about teamwork and the power of art to bring people together Bradway hopes that that this project will inspire others to EMB Embrace inclusivity and collaboration in their own Artistic Endeavors and we thought that this would be perfect for you to have thank you now the only bad news is that the HCA wants to continue to display it for another week so I promised that I would safely bring it back and then get it to you as well but we are very proud to present this to you and we hope that you will treasure as much as H treasure thank you thank you thank [Applause] you um I'll share with you that in my culture when we Express gratitude we don't just say thank you we name the person we're thanking and if I was to do that I'll violate the two-minute rule thank you after 15 years my time in hopkington [Music] an exceptional Community is ending on behalf of rudo n Tavi tando Cindy M dumi and Zola I want to thank the residents and families of hopkington for welcoming us to this beautiful Community from the day I set on a small chair in this room I think I was somewhere here interviewed by the select board in 2009 I felt welcomed and at home suffice to say finding a home away from home in Zimbabwe is not an easy task hopkington made that very easy for me and my family firstly I thank Hopkinton for affirming that residents and families are the heartbeat of any and every Community you all make Hopkinton what it is a great community to work play live and enjoy with you all write and tell the stories that began long before and will continue long after I am grateful for the opportunity and honor you gave me to be one of you as your town manager I am thankful F to having been part of the writing composing and telling of a small part of this community's melody some of you know how close I am to music my family and I sincerely sincerely appreciate and will forever cherish our fantastic journey together with all of you thank you for allowing me to connect with you and bringing my heat and joy into this community your success as a community has been and will continue to be my blessing to the staff thank you for your support care kindness compassion and passion for community service your hard honest collaborative entrepreneurial effort always inspired me to show up and do the best we could together yes I was not perfect you never asked me to be to the residents and staff you truly make hopkington ESP special place thank you for giving my family a great life experience giving us a home away from home my dear friends I wish you continued success in my language and on behalf of rudo my family and the kids thank you [Applause] [Music]