10/18/2020
Hello Camden Village Residents,
I normally do not participate in social media as most often comments or opposing views become negative and feelings are hurt. People who know me know I am humble and uncomfortable with accolades; I consider myself a team member. The team makes the leadership successful. Please know that I am very happy there are others willing to participate in public service and welcome new ideas and suggestions. We must all be aware of the personal sacrifices that must be made to fulfill long term commitments and I admire those who have a calling to serve our communities in any and all ways. This is truly why I feel it necessary to reach out and reintroduce myself to the village. This letter is for the citizens who may not know me or my views.
My name is Bryan G. Arno, your village president. I've chaired the village council as your president for the past six years. During this time I think we have reintroduced something we felt was missing within this small village… Hope.
I am a father of 4 and grandfather of 9. I am originally from North Adams and grew up on a farm. My grandparents, George & Zelma Arno, raised sheep, corn, beans, wheat and oats. I have them and my mother, Linda Kay Stimer, to thank for my integrity and ethics.
I have worked in Fremont, IN at New Horizons Baking Co. for 30 plus years. I am a Maintenance Manager and I have experience managing a multi million dollar budget with capital project management experience.
I moved to Camden seven years ago with my better half, Sharlene Dunn, as we started our lives together we decided to purchase a home in Camden. Our house is across the street from the house Sharlene grew up in and up the hill from the best neighbors and friends anyone could ask for; Kenny and Arlene Porter.
Our public service started shortly after our arrival. I first accepted a seat on council and then as protem president for a month before I was elected, by council, as Village President. I believe some of our greatest accomplishments within the community is our outreach and partnerships we have helped to create and continue to develop since becoming members of our small community.
Kidz 2 Kidz - As vice president of our local non profit group. We started with Kidz Day and it later developed into an organized outreach to support our local youth. The upstart was sixteen like minded volunteers and Jeff Firestone's vision... We helped develop a focus in Camden, Montgomery and Reading. We then partnered with New Beginning Church of Montgomery, and the list of active volunteers has grown to 21 people. Please check out our page to see the fantastic results of Kidz 2 Kidz in our community.
Camden Fire Department - I joined Camden Fire Department to further serve my community. I was trained and certified as a FireFighter 1 & 2 with Hazmat Ops. It is an honor to support Camden Fire in all activities of community outreach and support the village. One project with Camden Fire I am most proud of is the cemetery expansion and nature trails at Chester Park. With the support and generosity of Glen Page and family (G&D Wood Products), many village residents, non residents and volunteers from the Camden Fire Department took a woods full of old tires, garbage and buried structures and transformed it into a beautiful place to visit with family to enjoy the natural beauty of Camden Michigan USA.
Montgomery Fire Department - When I came to the village of Camden, The Montgomery Fire Department was not allowed to be dispatched to Camden for medical calls. The Montgomery Fire Department offered a training opportunity to become a trained EMR for medical response. I took the class and became certified at the state level as an EMR and accepted a request to work with them as a first responder. I viewed this as another opportunity to further serve those in need and the partnership has brought a faster medical response to the village of Camden. The department's outreach has been very rewarding to me personally. From backpack drives to fireboat and ice rescue training, my involvement with The Montgomery Fire Department is an honor and pleasure.
Hillsdale County Community Foundation - With this partnership with Kidz2Kidz and the village of Camden, we were able to apply and receive two separate grants from HCCF. This allowed us to build the pavilion and renovate Jaycee Park. This project was a great way to bring the community together and there were countless hours of work and fun to make this happen and the results were fantastic.
Reading Chamber of Commerce - The chamber invited Kidz2Kidz to be a part of their Reading Festival days and we sponsored a 3 on 3 basketball tournament. We were also invited to be a part of the Christmas festivities where we helped kids paint Christmas bulbs. I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids or us!
New Beginning Church - The church leadership, Pastor Herb Strickland and Lisa Altizer- Johnson, had a vision of outreach and invited Kidz2Kidz to be a part of their team. We have worked together on many events and their faith should be an inspiration to us all.
Camden Missionary Church - This partnership has allowed us to put on our Christmas with Santa events where we give back and support families in need through the years, sponsoring as many as 8 families each year and holding many community events and fundraisers such as the annual soup supper. This enables us to keep helping when and where there is a need. Thank you CMC.
Montgomery Legion - The Legion has supported Kidz2Kidz and allowed us to hold countless events. We have been involved with the Montgomery Christmas with Santa and Frogeye days. Taking cue from our dear friend and local saint, Holly Haynes, and her outreach to veterans, we have held our drive for items and sent care packages to servicemen and women deployed at Christmas time. They have also allowed us to sponsor and participate in fundraisers for several people within the community who were in need of assistance and the latest was to bring the traveling VietNam wall to Montgomery. Thank you to the Montgomery Legion and leadership for letting us be a part of your outreach as well.
Hillsdale County Drug Court - ( A New Path) Thank you for the invitation to speak at your meeting and help with the rehabilitation side of the active drug court program. The Village of Camden was able to facilitate the painting of the picnic tables and playground equipment at Chester Park.
Accomplishments of Village Projects and Improvements.
Cemetery expansion
Nature trails
Ball diamond
Chester Park renovations
Jaycee Park pavilion and equipment along with Kidz2Kidz as a wonderful team project.
Sidewalks
Streets
Water tower clean and repair
Fire barn renovation and sign
Village clean ups
Farmers day parades
Kidz day
Office renovations
Security cameras throughout the village.
Approx. $200,000 in cannabis licensing revenue and contributions to date.
Empty condemned buildings and many properties that would have sat vacant have been SOLD!
We look forward to many good paying jobs for Camden residents in the near future.
These are exciting times for the village. New corporate partnerships have brought several opportunities for jobs and residual income to existing business. Property values are on the rise and there is great potential for further growth. As your Village President, I will continue to support and serve in the best interest of the Village of Camden and its residents to help move our community forward into the end of 2020 and beyond.
Our family has been blessed with the ability not only to make many private donations to local outreach and organizations, we have also had the privilege to provide countless hours of public service within our community. If we have touched you or your family in a positive way, or we have worked together bagging trash for people in need, building a pavilion, or just chatting over coffee and cookies. I welcome you to share your personal story. With Covid -19 and the world we live in today many events are on hold or cancelled. We look forward to many events to come and we will continue to support the Village of Camden and pray for our citizens. Please understand that I am committed to Keep Camden Growing.
