Heather Wright/The Independent

Twenty-five years ago, as Plympton Township prepared to join with the Village of Wyoming, then Mayor Pat Davidson admitted they had no idea what the future held for the new municipality.

Davidson read from that speech Saturday as Plympton-Wyoming marked its 25th anniversary.

“I quote; ‘We know the answers to many questions and can control them. Some, we don’t know the answers to and can’t control them. Twenty or 25 years from now, it will certainly be interesting to see what the experts have to say about our decision making.’”

Davidson stood beside the town’s two other mayors, Lonny Napper and Gary Atkinson as she recalled the negotiations.

“In many ways, we were very fortunate because the two municipalities traditionally have been complementary rather than competitive and the two councils had a good rapport. To the two councils – faced with ever increasing responsibilities from the province, with decreasing assistance – it seemed like a natural fit.”

Napper didn’t see it quite that way, at least not in the beginning. At the time there was talk his municipality would be divided up.

“We were the only municipality in the whole county that was going to get wiped off the map. We would have been gone forever – all our small villages – so we took a little exception to that.”

That, Napper said, was when negotiations really began.

“The negotiations went on then, here today would make Donald Trump look like a Sunday school teacher; they got pretty intense at times…but we all got together, and it was great.”

All three mayors said the transition from two municipalities to one would not have gone as well without seasoned staff and politicians leading the way.

“We celebrate not only the success of amalgamation itself, but also the people who have made it work,” said Atkinson.

“Together we have built something remarkable, and together we will continue building an even brighter future.”

After the speeches, the fun began with rides for the kids, a dog agility show, music on the stage and fireworks to cap off the night.