Hello everyone! My name is Harold Mitts and this is my first opportunity to reach out to all of you as your new Executive Director. This is the one and only article that will focus on who I am, as well as why I am so thankful for this chance to serve each one of you and this wonderful lake community.
APPRECIATION: All of us, especially me, owe a great debt of gratitude and thanks to Jan Olson. His 15+ years of dedication and countless hours of guidance, counseling, leadership and problem-solving have made this lake community a better place to live and enjoy. If you happen to see Jan give him an elbow bump during these Covid times.
GRATEFULNESS: I am truly grateful for the opportunity to serve as your Executive Director. A special thank you to Don Leven, our President, as well as the entire Board of Directors for having the faith and trust in me to provide leadership for our lake community. I will always do my best and endeavor to be consistent in following our rules, regulations, and restrictions. I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to acknowledge the office and field teams in their daily quest to serve all of us. My future plan is to share this space in order for you to hear directly from these team members to share with you their daily routines and thoughts.
On a personal note, I am so proud to be the son of a 93-year-old mother. This little Italian lady still lives on her own and is the epitome of the perfect mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She never gives up, which includes still driving a car. So if anyone wants to help me have “the talk” with her when the time comes to take her keys away just give me a call. I am also so thankful for my loving wife Eileen, who has stood by me through thick and thin. I am blessed with four wonderful children and five beautiful grandchildren. It is so awesome to be able to send those grandkids back to their parents when we are exhausted! My oldest son has special needs and I must tell you he has been such an inspiration for all of those whom he has touched. My youngest grandson was born with HLHS; he has one-half a heart. He, too, is proof of God’s Blessing. Finally, I have some of the best friends in the world, many of whom live here at the lake. To sum it up, I am an extremely lucky guy!
SAFETY: Paramount to everything else, safety is at the top of the list for your entire Association team, as well as all of us who make up this lake community. Whether it is boating, skiing, fishing, swimming or kayaking, we all want to return home the same way we left that morning. In the coming months your water patrolman, Mr. Ron DeCombes, will be rolling out a little something special that I am confident all will enjoy. Stay tuned.
RESPECT: One of the attributes of our lake community that I have come to admire is the mutual respect that is shown to one another in a majority of instances. That is something all of us should be proud of and certainly something that we need to continue and expand upon daily. If we take the time to listen and understand others (not necessarily agree) we will all be in a better place. We are one community! Let’s continue to work together to make this lake environment the best it can be.
RESOURCEFULNESS: Entrepreneurial spirit! I wake up each day thinking of ways we can perform tasks better – smarter – less costly — more efficiently. It is a joy to come to the office and talk with staff and our field team to listen to their ideas and comments in order to better serve you. I will be formalizing that process both internally and externally to improve services to this fantastic lake community. I believe the future holds such wonderful opportunities when all of us are thinking, sharing ideas and are in the same boat rowing in the same direction.
So, for those who have read this article up to this point, thanks for sticking with me. I look forward to the coming days, months, and years. The great Lake Lotawana will in many ways stay the same, but in some ways become even better. I look forward to serving each of you and hope you are proud of what we will accomplish going forward!
Thank you so much. Be safe! Harold