Dalton RobertsSelf-image is so important. It is not a silly idea of Norman Vincent Peale and his merry little band of positive thinkers. It is a fundamental law of the universe.
As far back as I can remember, Chattanooga had a problem with its self-image. We were losing industries. Our air was bad. But here’s what I have come to know as the truth: Every town, just like every person, has enough problems, if they dwell on problems, to keep everyone depressed.
All that has changed. Chattanooga now has a “can do” spirit. We like to think we have a “can do” attitude because we have done it (cleaned up the air, gotten new jobs, etc.), but someone had to convince us we could do it before we would try.
I think Bob Elmore had a lot to do with that. Back in the 1960s, he was active in the Jaycees when that great organization was at its peak here in Chattanooga.
When I joined the Jaycees, more than 300 young men were members. They knew they could do the impossible because they had always done it — things such as building the Jaycee Towers and starting a juvenile court.