Jimmy Tingle ... more than just a comedy show

My kids have been listening to me talk about the upcoming Jimmy Tingle event with their father for the past few weeks. It's been a lot of..."I hope people show up," and "I hope people know how important this is for Lynn," and "I hope..."

Tonight they asked me, finally, who Jimmy Tingle is. So I let them listen to some Jimmy Tingle. They laughed. They laughed a lot. It made me happy. Then they asked, "Can we meet him?" So, of course, I hope they can. I hope that growing up in Lynn allows them to meet interesting, captivating, people like Jimmy Tingle, DOn White, Elizabeth McKim, and all of the other fascinating, accomplished people I come across living here in Lynn.

I hope that their vision of Lynn is one in which there are so many wonderful things going on that they want to come home during school breaks and bring their friends with them from time to time. I hope that the city becomes a destination, not a place where people say to their children, "I want you to do better and move out of here."

I know we are headed in that direction, but we need to move faster.

Buying a ticket to see Jimmy Tingle may seem like an arbitrary thing. After all, lots of comedians come through this city. Buying a ticket to an Arts After Hours event or a Lynn Auditorium event, or to the Lynn Museums' History and Hops may all seem arbitrary. You either want to go or you don't, so you buy a ticket or you don't. But it's so much more than that.

You're supporting the notion that Lynn is indeed a worth while place to go, to be, and to do things. The more we do, and the better attended these events are, the more we show that Lynn is worth investing in. It's worth developing here. It's worth it to open a business here and offer jobs to hard working Lynners. It's worth it to raise a family here.

The more we step out of our homes and stay in Lynn instead of shooting up 129 to the surrounding towns, or down into Boston, and reinvest in our own city, the more of a chance we have to keep this thing going.

I don't know about you, but I'm going to keep fostering all of the good opportunities I come across to make this city a better place to live so my kids will be proud of where they came from. And come hell or high water, I'm not going to let this city slip backwards without a fight, and I'm going to laugh at all of the naysayers with every step forward this city takes.

This Friday night, I plan on having a good laugh. Come join me.