Byline: Chris Lusvardi
Oct. 27--DECATUR -- Gloria Davis challenged Decatur business leaders to check differences of opinion at the door and unite in trying to improve the community.
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Davis, who is in her first year as school district superintendent, spoke at the Community Leaders Breakfast Thursday at the Decatur Conference Center and Hotel, telling leaders to speak with one voice.
'Our vision is to make sure that as a community, we all speak with one voice,' Davis said. 'We cannot be on separate pages when it comes to the critical element within our community, and that is our children. It is all about them.'
The event's featured speaker, Ira Blumenthal, picked up on her theme and had the audience clink their glasses with spoons, one table at a time. The entire room soon was filled with the sound of clinking glasses.
'This community is prospering because it started with one glass and then you linked together,' Blumenthal said.
Audience members were impressed with how the speakers conveyed similar messages.
'That's the way you get things done,' said Chris Shroyer, Main Street Bank & Trust Decatur regional president. 'You start rallying people around the same type of message, and before you know it, it turns into this global mission you've got all this support for.'
Blumenthal, who turned 60 Thursday, entertained the crowd of about 750 people with motivational stories about how to succeed and overcome myths in business.
He said Michael Jordan was the first one at practice and the last one to leave, even though he didn't need to be. He also quoted another sports legend, hockey player Wayne Gretzky, telling the leaders to take chances.
'You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take,' Blumenthal said. 'You cannot score unless you shoot. You've got to continue taking shots right here in Decatur.'
Although she gave a shorter speech than Blumenthal, it was Davis who many of the leaders wanted to hear from as she continues to outline her vision for the school district.
Shroyer, who heard Davis give a speech for the first time, said he wanted to see her plan and how she delivers her message.
'It came across loud and clear,' Shroyer said. 'I think she's probably able to deliver that same kind of message to her staff and the teachers and really what kind of audience she has with that same type of vigor. I think that's going to be a positive thing for the district going forward.'
Davis hopes to work with the leaders to get the community more involved in the schools.
'The success of the school district is clipped to the success of the Decatur community,' Davis said. 'It is not separate. It is not an island unto itself. It is something that has to be a physical part of what we do as we move forward as a Decatur community.'
Chris Lusvardi can be reached at clusvardi@herald-review.com or 421-7972.
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