Now that I have resided in Fishers for 32 years, every now and then my mind wanders back to the time of 1991, the year of my move.

on June 16, HAND Inc. broke ground of the Cumberland Cottages housing development, just south of 141st Street on Cumberland Road.  I was there covering it, and had my first chance to have an extended conversation with Hamilton County Commissioner Steve Dillinger.

We were both reminiscing about years past.  Commissioner Dillinger has me beat by a mile in remembering the Hamilton County where he had grown-up in Noblesville.  He was recounting how his State of the County address coming up would focus on the past and the history of Hamilton County.

I was unable to attend that speech, but viewed it online later.  There was the usual update on all the various projects the county has in progress or on the drawing boards, which is to be expected.  But Commissioner Dillinger began his speech showing some photos and telling some stories about the past in Hamilton County.

It is amazing when I look back at the Fishers I found when moving here in 1991.  The population of the town at that time was somewhere close to 10,000.  Compare that with the more than 100,000 souls residing in the City of Fishers now.

When I began my news blog in 2012, it was clear we had a town manager and a town council that planned to be aggressive in developing the city.  We saw the birth of Launch Fishers and the Depot mixed-use development, among other projects.

Then the 2012 referendum cleared the way for Fishers’ first city election.  Our aggressive Town Manager, Scott Fadness, ran for mayor and won.  He remains the mayor today and has no opposition in the upcoming city election.

You can argue that Scott Fadness has been at the center of the growing city, in terms of commercial and residential growth.  He has attracted plenty of high-paying jobs to Fishers and continues that quest.

There are some that long for the Fishers of old.  I get that and understand many liked the small-town feel Fishers had when I first arrived.  But Fishers is able to finance an events center, a new City Hall with the first floor an arts center and a new recreations center recently announced, all without an increase in the property tax rate, only because Fishers is a growing city.

Yes, Fishers did enact a food and beverage tax to partly finance the events center, soon to be home for the Indy Fuel hockey squad and expected to host plenty of events.  The Fishers Town Council considered enacting the food and beverage tax years ago, but since the state limited the funds generated to certain projects like economic development, the town never enacted that tax.  Now, with a specific project in front of them and authorization from state lawmakers, the food and beverage tax is now law in Fishers.

So, I was impressed with Steve Dillinger’s presentation about the history of Hamilton County and our talk on June 16 on how Fishers and most of the county is quite different now compared to 1991.  That does denote progress economically and in terms of population growth.

Fishers may have lost its small town feel, but it is now a growing Indianapolis suburb with some land left for growth.  Remembering our history is good, but keep in mind what growth has meant to us all.