Tribute to Flo Galloway

As East Lake Fire Commissioner, Flo Galloway, prepares to leave her position with the East Lake Fire Commission to return to Ohio, it is fitting to pay tribute to a woman who has gone above and beyond to serve East Lake residents.

There's a favorite poem of mine by an unknown author that appropriately describes Mrs. Galloway's legacy of service. It's called "Build a Better World."

I watched them tear a building down;
A gang of men in a busy town.
With a mighty heave and a lusty yell,
They swung a boom and a side wall fell.

I said to the foreman, “Are these men as skilled
As the men you’d hire if you had to build?”
He gave a laugh and said, “No indeed!
Just a common laborer is all I need.
And I can wreck in a day or two
What it took that builder a year to do.”

And I thought to myself as I went my way,
“Just which of these roles have I tried to play?
Am I builder who works with care
Measuring life by the rule and square,
Or am I a wrecker as I walk the town
Content with the labor of tearing down?”

Mrs. Galloway, you've been a "builder" in our community with your service on the Fire Commission and in countless other ways. We appreciate you; we will always remember you; and we wish you much health and happiness in the future.