9 months ago I sat through an interview and told 6 people gathered around a table in front of me that I wanted to "fall in love with my home town again."
A month later I was accepted, along with 19 other men and women from the Greater Binghamton community, into the Broome Leadership Institute, a leadership development program sponsored by the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce.
I expected to "fall in love," but what I didn't expect was just how deeply I would fall. I never knew, until now, why my grandpa raved about this community. I once rolled my eyes at my great Aunt Mary who told me she would never live anywhere else. I figured she must have never BEEN anywhere else.
If my grandpa were still here today, I would go to him and tell him that I understand why he loved being the President of the local Rotary, golfing at Enjoie, his season tickets to the Tri Cities Opera, his long drives through the country side, his daily reading of The Press and Sun Bulletin, and his EJ home he so proudly kept up. I would also tell my Aunt that I now understand the wisdom, pride, and loyalty behind her words.
The BLI experience was a whirlwind of a tour of many businesses, leaders, and organization of our community within and around the city of Binghamton. I had unforgettable (sometimes frightening) opportunities such as dropping 60 feet from the top of a tree, petting an alpaca, meeting the CEOs of Emerson Network Power and EIT, touring the IBM Heritage Center, standing in the American Civic Association, and seeing how local radio, television, and newsprint works from the inside of buildings I had never been in. Understanding the politics behind healthcare, the ingenuity behind engineering, and the creative talent behind our arts, opened my eyes to deeply embedded passions, concerns, and experiences people have lived out in this community through their work, entertainment, and acts of good will. Week after week, I came home saturated with information, excitement, and pride, all of which I would share with my family and friends around the dinner table or over the phone.
I was born and raised in Endicott and for the first time, I truly understood why this was called the Home of the Square Deal and why companies like IBM and EJ were so glorious to work for. People did not just live IN this community, they lived FOR this community, doing ALL they possiblly could to make Binghamton, Johnson City, Endicott, and all the other towns in this area a great place to live, work, and play.
And I learned that there still ARE people who wake up every day thankful...even joyful...over the fact they are a citizen of Upstate NY working to build a business, lead an organization, or teach a student within this area we call the Carousel Capital of the World.
Friends, we have a LOT to be thankful about. And I wanted to write a blog to say that. To say that I am proud to live in Endicott, to have been raised in an EJ home, and to be currently residing in a 150 year old farm house on 60 acres of land with creeks, a pond, and sky scraping trees.
One of the most inspiring moments of the entire BLI experience for me was at the IBM Endicott History Heritage Center where we heard the story of IBM from its birth to its current position in the world of technology. We were told about Watson's "hunch" that after the Great Depression, our nation would be in high demand for some new-fangled voting machines. So he decided not to lay off a single worker during the depression, telling his workers he would take care of them and continue to pay them. And boy did they work! They built voting machine after voting machine after voting machine, filling local barns, storage facilities, and anywhere else Watson could put them. Did he really know his machines were going to be bought? No. But he DID know that by taking a leap, by aiming high, by not sitting around in the pool of despair during the depression, he and his company and his town might just come out on top. As you can guess, EVERY machine was bought. His "hunch" brought IBM to the top. His vision brought a town into the international lime light of technology. And that was all because in a time when he could have turned inward, hoarding his money and giving up on the area in which he lived, he instead offered a vision and deep hope for the future. Watson didn't live in the now. He lived for what could be. Wikipedia states Watson was "one of the richest men of his time and was called the world's greatest salesman when he died in 1956." And that, my friends, is the greatness that still seeps and boils in the veins and minds of many of the extraordinary leaders of this local community.
So the next time you catch yourself thinking this is a bad place to live, go buy a ticket to the zoo, tour the IBM Heritage Center, take a good look at our schools, visit the Discovery Center, walk around Roberson Museum, play a round of golf, take in the thousands of pounds of food at CHOW, shop in downtown Owego, attend First Friday Art walk, take a book out from any of our libraries, watch cider get made at the Cider Mill, ride your bike at Otsiningo, drive around the BU campus, take in a play or an opera, or watch a local show on WSKG. And I hope that we all see that the most important thing we can do for this community is to be a part of all it offers!
Shalom,
Pastor Annette 
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