The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

MICHAEL PETERS,MAYOR OF LOMAX

Meet Lomax Mayor Mike Peters. Mike was born in Carthage and grew up in the rural Carthage area. He and his family now live in Lomax.

Mike is the son of Mike and Kathy Peters of Carthage, who retired last spring from the Ferris and Hamilton locations of Peters Greenhouse.

Mike Sr. also retired from the Fort Madison, Iowa prison where he was an upholstery instructor. He also built houses for Habitat for Humanity. Since retirement the Peters are now enjoying their winters in Florida.

They are also the parents of Kelly (Tim) Sanderson of Hamilton and Shawn (Katy) Peters of Fort Madison, Iowa.

Mike graduated from Carthage High School. He attended WIU for electronics his senior year in high school and also attended SCC.

Mike is married to Kim Peters. He and his wife own Peters Greenhouse in Lomax, West Burlington, IA and Carthage, with a new location opening in Hamilton this spring. They have two sons, Zachary and Lucas. Zachary is an assistant manager at HyVee. Lucas also works for HyVee

Mike also works for American Ordnance as an Engineering Tech and Test Fire Tech.

In addition to her work in the greenhouse, Kim works at Stage II in Fort Madison, Iowa and serves on the Lomax City Board.

The Peters are members of the Lomax Christian Church.

As a hobby Mike likes to collect and fix pinball machines and old slot machines.

Every few years the whole Peters family (about 15 - 20 people) like to go on a cruise together somewhere warm. Every summer, after greenhouse season, the Peters try to get away for a week or two to Gulf Breeze, FL.

This allows them to relax after the long greenhouse season which begins in January and continues without days off for many months as well as their regular jobs.

In discussing his job as Lomax mayor, Mike who was elected to the office in 2008 says, "As mayor of a small town life is always eventful. From conducting board meetings to trying to resolve people issues and concerns, as well as explaining why the simplest things are hard to get done because of ordinances or state restrictions by which you have to abide."

He notes that each year budgets get tougher. This year for example, because of the state of Illinois' budget problems, not enough money was released to pay bills each month. Lomax is fortunate to have a reserve that allows the village to cover its bills until the state passes a budget and releases more of their money.