After reading an article in IBJ by Jennifer Ping titled, In the words of Fred Rogers, won't you be my neighbor?, I was inspired to reflect on the man that so many children grew up watching. Now gone, Fred Rogers was a television personality, musician, puppeteer, writer, producer, and Presbyterian minister. Do you remember he was the creator, composer, producer, writer, and host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood?

His life was dedicated to a simple message to love and accept your neighbor. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 40 honorary degrees, and a Peabody Award. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame and was recognized in two congressional resolutions. He was ranked number 35 of the TV Guide's Fifty Greatest TV Stars of All Time. The Smithsonian Institution displays one of his trademark sweaters as a "Treasure of American History".

Is has been more than a decade since Fred Rogers died-2003. To create neighbors in Broad Ripple, Meridian Kessler, SoBro, Glendale, and Warfleigh, we again need to hear his message loud and strong in this decade. Here are some Fred Rogers quotes you might like to share in your neighborhood and with you family:

"All of us, at some time or other, need help. Whether we're giving or receiving help, each one of us has something valuable to bring to this world. That's one of the things that connects us as neighbors-in our own way, each one of us is a giver and a receiver.

"The underlying message of the Neighborhood is that if somebody cares about you, it's possible that you'll care about others. 'You are special, and so is your neighbor' - that part is essential: that you're not the only special person in the world. The person you happen to be with at the moment is loved, too.

"When we look for what's best in the person we happen to be with at the moment, we're doing what God does, so in appreciating our neighbor, we're participating in something truly sacred.

"The more we can be in a relationship with those who might seem strange to us, the more we can feel like we're neighbors and all members of the human family."

We can learn so much from Mr. Rogers still. We don't have to earn all kinds of awards and honors to influence neighborliness and good citizenship.

So, you ask, what do I need to do?:

There are so many acts we can do to make Broad Ripple a shining neighborhood-residents, and business. It is up to each of us to engage and act. In the words of Fred Rogers, "We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say 'It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.' Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes."