COEUR d’ALENE - Jim Martin is on a 4,400-mile, 23-day journey through the West recognizing cities that invest in citizens, commitment and service.

Coeur d’Alene is one of those cities.

Martin, national outreach chair with The National Stars and Stripes and Learning Center based in Bloomfield, Mo., presented Mayor Jim Hammond and City Administrator Troy Tymesen with a proclamation on Monday.

“Why we're doing this is because we think it's very important for our communities and our nation to really re-embrace the ideas behind informed citizenship, commitment and service," he said.

Martin said the city of Coeur d’Alene was chosen to be honored, in part, for its relationships with veterans organizations, business leaders and the education community.

He said the city has worked hard on partnerships and developing unity with its residents and entities beyond city limits.

“We're not going to get very far if we don't have everybody on board, as many people on board as we can get,” Martin said.

Hammond said as mayor, he wants to lead efforts to pull together and "focus on the country that we all share and we all need to support”.

As an example of those efforts, he said he plans to soon meet with community leaders to focus on the positives of the community. He hopes to “get a new generation of leadership going for the community."

He said this region was once a stronghold of timber and mining industries, but when many sawmills closed decades ago, as did mines, thousands of jobs were lost.

“Community leaders pulled together and worked hard to bring new industry into the community and we did really well,” Hammond said. “And now we need to pull together, once again, to focus on being a community of kindness and one that supports all people.

“We've had some challenges with hatred and people wanting to promote that. And we're doing our best to rebut that with love and kindness,” Hammond added.

The National Stars and Stripes Museum & Library is dedicated to preserving the nation's military newspaper, the Stars and Stripes and aims to "encourage, embrace and celebrate citizenship, commitment, and service in our communities around the nation."

Martin said there are so many things out there that are fighting that message, but they can be overcome with efforts like those going on in Coeur d'Alene.

“Just dissidence white noise,” he said.