In Friday’s edition of the LaGrange Daily News, we wrote about the trip LaGrange Mayor Jim Thornton took to the White House.

Thornton and about a hundred other mayors from around the country crowded into the East Room of the White House to visit with President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other members of the Trump administration.

Regardless how you feel about Trump — he seems to bring out a strong opinion from everyone — this is a good thing for our city. Trump only got to spend a short time with the mayors, but Thornton said the entire day was a chance for local politicians to rub elbows with the leaders of our country.

He had a chance to meet and speak with Justin Clark, Director of White House Intergovernmental Affairs; Jeffrey Rosen, Deputy Secretary of Transportation; D. J. Gribbin, Special Assistant to the President for Infrastructure Policy; Ryan Fisher, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works; and Pam Patenaude, Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Many, if not all of them, told Thornton to give them a call if they could ever held from their current roles.

A growing city like LaGrange needs all the connections it can get, especially if it is going to continue to grow and add more opportunities.