 And they did the smart thing. You do it with all politicians. You put them out in the sunlight with no shade. And it's amazing how much shorter the speech has become. Make you follow the five B's of public speaking. Be brief, brother. Be brief. So I will certainly adhere to those rules. It's a, it's wonderful to be here today on Colonial Drive. Many of you may know that our first home as a couple, DeAndre and I, we lived just four blocks down the road. It's where we started our family here in this great city that, quite frankly, has given me an opportunity to do all the things I've wanted to do in life. Bless me. God bless me. With coming to Columbia over 30 years ago, a fantastic education and a family and a community that's loved me and invested in me in so many different ways. It led me to the St. John Baptist Church just up the road. And I mentioned that because of course, Reverend Roscoe C. Wilson Sr. He baptized me. He married me. And baptized my wife as well. And the ties to that church led me to this community, led me to our assistant pastor, President Wilson, who along with his brother, Roscoe got us here today to recognize Mr. Shives. I'm a big believer that we are all products of the men and women who come before us. Those who work to build this wonderful experiment that we live in, this great nation, the, quite frankly, I believe the greatest nation in the history of the world, built by men and women who sacrifice, who contribute, who give of their time, their talents and their treasures for us to have the opportunity to do that much better than our parents and even more importantly create a world where our children and our grandchildren do that much better than us. That doesn't just happen. It requires men and women of commitment, of sacrifice. All cities across this country, not unique to Columbia, 30, 40, 50 years ago, saw an exodus of businesses, people leaving to go to the suburbs and then the suburbs beyond the suburbs and then the suburbs beyond those suburbs and very few businesses in this community and all around Columbia chose to stay right here in the communities that given to them and they realized that they were going to continue to pay it forward and Shives General Holman and Mr. Bill Shives is one of them. He's right here on this immaculately kept corner for many moons, meeting the needs of families in their most challenging times, doing it with compassion, love, bringing the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ to families when they need it the most and it is an example, I believe, of the very best of us, the very best of us. So it's my pleasure on behalf of the people, Columbia, my friend and the city councilmen for 22 years, 23 years now, Sam Davis. Sam, Samstead does not let me come to North Columbia without having a passport. I have to ask to come out here. But on behalf of Sam, on behalf of our fantastic neighborhood leaders who work every single day to make this neighborhood strong and safe, as you mentioned, Gilly and some others and folks at St. John. Mr. Shives, we're just here and I want to thank John and Sarah. John and I first discussed this and John and I did not call each other and coordinate our outfits this morning either by the way, y'all. Potter called me and told me what his dad was wearing and I decided to suit up properly. But John and Sarah, I thank you for your long time friendship and I know how important it was for us just to come here and I'm a big believer, I get around this country and I mean if you know in five plus months I will be cycling out as mayor of this great city and I've had the wonderful pleasure of getting around the country and getting around the world telling people about what makes this place special. How you have the University of South Carolina and Benedict and Alan, how we're the home of Fort Jackson and we train the greatest fighting force the world has ever seen, we're a state capital which in some days is good and some days bad, that's a whole other story. But I tell people that when you're trying to figure out what makes this place special, you leave posts, you leave campus, you leave the state capitals and you find what really makes this special of the people. You still find men who open doors for women, you find folks who still pull over from funerals, those who are on reticent about thanking God for his many blessings in our life and tell them you can still find sweet tea in restaurants, Mr. Shives, and I tell them you still find people who know the two most important words in the English language and those are simply thank you. Thank you. This is a wonderful way on behalf of the people of Columbia and the thousands of families that you've touched, Mr. Shives, to simply today say thank you and know that your labors, that your contributions, that your commitment to this community have not been in vain and will never be forgotten. Thank you. Stayed to join my friends. Ladies and gentlemen, Bill Shives. Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor. I'm very grateful. There's so many, many people that I have to thank for this day and first of all, my wife Barbara and the children, Gail and John and Jane and of course, Sarah and the children, both Potter and Allie. I'll be very, very grateful. And my nephew Randolph Shives, who could not be here with us today, was not feeling well. But I'm certainly very grateful to all who have taken part in giving us the opportunity to serve so many, so many, many nice families over the years. City Council, back through the years, when I, this of course at one time was a separate city from the city of Columbia. It was the town of Eau Claire that was later merged into the city of Columbia. And of course went under, went in under the zoning regulations of being grandfathered in. When we had the vision of making this facility what it is today, of course we went to the city for the permits and to the council and there was just, you just wouldn't think there would be any way that they would be able to allow us to do it. But somehow, some way, the city of Columbia got behind us and helped us do everything that we needed to do to better this facility to be able to serve not only the community but the Midlands of South Carolina. And I am most, most grateful to all who have helped through the years. I had no idea they'd be a group like this. Here I do better on the other side of the speaker stand than I do on this side. But thank you all so, so much to all for being with us and what you all have done to help us through the years. Thank you so much.