AN AMBLE IN THE WOODS DOES THE WORLD OF GOOD
FROM SCHOOL DAYS, I REMEMBER A MEMORABLE LITTLE VERSE BY GEORGE POPE MORRIS, 1802-1864. IT READS, "WOODMAN, SPARE THAT TREE! TOUCH NOT A SINGLE BOUGH! IN YOUTH IT SHELTERED ME, AND I'LL PROTECT IT NOW."
I'VE BEEN OVER AT THE BOG, ENJOYING A BEAUTIFUL SUNNY AFTERNOON. THE LOWLAND IS SO FULL OF LIFE, AND LIFE SOUNDS. I COULD STAND ON THE EMBANKMENT, LISTENING TO THE SOUNDS OF THOSE BABBLING LITTLE CREEKS, UNTIL SUNSET, AND NEVER FEEL I'D STAYED TOO LONG. I ALWAYS ENJOY THIS TIME OF YEAR, WATCHING THIS FOREST AND COMPANION LOWLAND, EMERGING WITH RICH GREEN GROWTH…..THE TIGHTLY COILED FERNS READY TO UNFOLD INTO THE WARM SPRING SUN. HEARING THE TELL-TALE RUSTLE OF SMALL TOADS IN THE OLD DRY LEAVES FROM SEASONS PAST, AND THE SCURRYING SOUND OF UNSEEN CHIPMUNKS, CLAWING AT THE BASE OF GNARLED TREES, FORAGING FOR SOMETHING TO GATHER FOR THEIR NEST. I FOUND DEER TRACKS JUST OFF THE PATH, AND BY THE LOOKS OF THE TUFTS OF BLACK FUR ON SOME LOW BRANCHES, IT APPEARS A BEAR MAY HAVE BEEN HERE A DAY OR SO AGO. IT IS AN URBAN GREEN SPACE, YET WHEN YOU STAND JUST BELOW THE EMBANKMENT OF EVERGREENS, IT SEEMS AS IF YOU ARE MILES FROM THE NEAREST INHABITANT. WHEN YOU STEP BACK UP THE PATH, YOU CAN SEE THE NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSES AND LAWNCHAIRS. THIS DEDICATED OPEN SPACE, PROVIDES NATURAL WATER FILTRATION, BEFORE A HUGE QUANTITY OF CONTAMINATED RUN-OFF WATER, FROM THE URBAN AREAS, DRAINS IN MUSKOKA BAY.
IT IS HARD TO IMAGINE, THIS SAME BOUNTIFUL GREEN BELT, MIGHT WELL HAVE BECOME PAVED OVER WITH ENTOMBING BLACK-TOP, AND INTRUDED UPON WITH NEW BUNGALOWS, CAR-PORTS AND DOUBLE GARAGES. HOW CLOSE WE CAME TO LOSING IT, AS A RESULT OF GOVERNMENT FOLLY. THERE ISN'T A DAY, OR TIME OF DAY, WHEN I ARRIVE ON THIS THIN RIDGE, AMONGST THE LUSH FERNS AND EVERGREENS, LOOKING OVER THE BOG, THAT I DON'T THINK ABOUT WHAT NEARLY OCCURRED SEVERAL YEARS AGO. THE FORAY BY THE TOWN TO SELL OFF THE PROPERTY, INSPIRED A LOT OF CONCERNED CITIZENS, AND ASSOCIATIONS, TO PULL TOGETHER TO COUNTER THE TOWN'S PROPOSAL. I CAN'T THINK OF A BETTER LOCAL EXAMPLE THAN THIS, OF CITIZENS BECOMING ACTIVE TO PRESERVE WHAT NEEDED TO BE PRESERVED. THERE ARE TIMES IN EVERY GOVERNMENT TERM OF OFFICE, WHEN OFFICIALDOM DECIDES TO RE-DEFINE DEMOCRACY AND DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS, TO PURSUE A DIFFERENT COURSE, A DIFFERENT AGENDA, AS THEY SEE FIT.
OF COURSE, WE'VE SEEN IT MANY TIMES BEFORE, WHEN THE PUBLIC HAS HAD ENOUGH. WHEN PROTOCOLS APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN BREACHED, BECAUSE IT WAS ASSUMED WE WEREN'T WATCHING, OR THAT WE DIDN'T CARE. IN MY LENGTHY EXPERIENCE AS A REGIONAL HISTORIAN, THERE ARE MANY EXAMPLES OF THE PUBLIC REARING-UP, AND SUCCESSFULLY CONFRONTING A MUNICIPAL COUNCIL, MORALLY AND LEGALLY. ELECTED OFFICIALS REDUCING THE RIGHTS OF THE PUBLIC TO PARTICIPATE, IN THE PROCESS OF GOVERNANCE…..AND GENERALLY, IT NEVER ENDS WELL.
I DON'T KNOW WHY THERE IS SUCH RELUCTANCE, OF LOCALLY ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES, TO ASK THEIR CONSTITUENTS FOR ADVICE, ON CERTAIN CONTENTIOUS MATTERS. THERE IS NO RULE, THAT PROHIBITS A COUNCILLOR FROM SEEKING AND ACQUIRING FEEDBACK, CONSENSUS, ADVICE, DIRECTION, PROVIDED THE COUNCIL BUSINESS ISN'T CONFIDENTIAL, OR DEEMED A SENSITIVE MUNICIPAL MATTER. IN THE CASE OF THE TERRENCE HAIGHT BEQUEATH OF A MILLION DOLLARS, IF COUNCILLORS HAD BEEN TRULY INTERESTED GETTING A CONSENSUS, REGARDING INVESTMENT OF THE CAPITAL, THEY WOULDN'T HAVE HAD ANY PROBLEM GETTING RESPONSES. HOW MANY CITIZENS HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO A COUNCILLOR ABOUT THIS MATTER? TELL YOU WHAT! IF THE TOWN HAD SET UP A COUPLE OF TABLES AT THE OPERA HOUSE, OVER ONE OR TWO WEEKENDS, SPLIT BY COUNCILLORS DOING SHIFTS, AND INVITED RESIDENTS TO COME IN FOR A CHAT (NOT JUST RATEPAYERS), I'M WILLING TO BET, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN MANY MORE OPTIONS, AND MANY MORE ENLIGHTENED COUNCILLORS…….AS TO HOW ENTHUSIASTIC OUR CITIZENS CAN BE, WHEN GIVEN HALF A CHANCE.
COUNCIL HAS TO LIVE WITH THE REALITY, THAT MANY CITIZENS HAVE JUST GIVEN UP TRYING TO FIGHT OR INFLUENCE TOWN HALL. POSSIBLY THIS IS AN ADVANTAGE TO THEM. FEWER ANNOYING PEOPLE TO GET IN THE WAY OF THEIR PLANS. THESE DISENCHANTED MEMBERS OF THE ELECTORATE HAVE LITTLE APPETITE FOR VOTING, BECAUSE THEY KNOW ONE COUNCIL IS GOING TO BE ROUGHLY THE SAME AS ANOTHER. YOU SEE THE SAME MALAISE IN FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL POLITICS. WHEN YOU VOTED FOR THE CONSERVATIVES IN THE LAST FEDERAL ELECTION, DID YOU KNOW ABOUT AN OMNIBUS BILL THAT WOULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE AND FUTURE RETIREMENT PLANS? THE NEW UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE RULES? BET NOT! SO IS IT ANY WONDER A LOT OF CANADIANS HAVE JUST RESIGNED THEMSELVES TO THE VASTNESS OF "WHATEVER," AND ALLOWED DEMOCRATIC PRIVILEGE TO FADE INTO OBSCURITY. ON A MUNICIPAL LEVEL, IT'S THE SAME IF NOT WORSE. COUNCILLORS WILL COMPLAIN THAT CITIZENS DON'T CARE ABOUT WHAT THEY DO, BECAUSE THEY WON'T ATTEND PUBLIC MEETINGS……JUST THE FEW REGULARS WHO SHOW UP FOR EVERY MEETING. THIS IS, OF COURSE, A HUGE ERROR IN JUDGEMENT, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T TAKE INTO ACCOUNT, THOSE WHO ARE FUMING AND GNASHING THEIR TEETH, AWAITING THE RIGHT OPPORTUNITY TO SPRING FORTH WITH AN OBJECTION. SOME TIMES, LIKE WHEN THERE'S A MEETING WITH AN "OPEN MIC!" ON RARE OCCASIONS, THE RIGHT CONDITIONS PREVAIL, YOU SEE, AND THE PERFECT AMOUNT OF FRUSTRATION BUILDS, AND THE PUBLIC "WILL" POURS FORTH IN VIGOROUS PROTEST. I HAVE NEVER UNDERSTOOD, WHY THIS ANGER AND FRUSTRATION ISN'T DEALT WITH, BEFORE IT GAINS STRENGTH, AS IT IS SO MUCH MORE SENSIBLE, THAN BUILDING A HEAD OF STEAM, WITH NO EXIT VENT.
WE NEED PERCEPTIVE LEADERSHIP FOR THIS TOWN. LEADERS WHO ARE WILLING TO FACE THE PUBLIC, HAT IN HAND, READY TO PROVIDE EXPLANATIONS TO QUESTIONS THAT NEED TO BE ANSWERED. WHO ARE ALLOWED, UNOBSTRUCTED, AND UNCENSORED, TO QUESTION THEIR DECISIONS, AND PLANS OF ACTION. WE'RE ALL TIRED OF THE DIET OF UNSUBSTANTIATED CLAIMS, THAT OUR OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN MAKING MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT BETTER, AND MORE TRANSPARENT…..BECAUSE THE CONTRADICTIONS PROVE THE OPPOSITE. "WE DON'T HAVE TO," SEEMS TO BE THE ONE-ANSWER-FITS-ALL SOLUTION, WHEN THE PUBLIC IS CONCERNED. BUT HONESTLY, IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY. PUBLIC CONSULTATION IS A DAILY SITUATION. IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT HAVING PUBLIC MEETINGS. IT'S ABOUT CONNECTING WITH THE PEOPLE. WE'VE HAVEN'T GONE ANYWHERE. WE'RE STILL ROUGHLY, GIVE OR TAKE A FEW MILES, WHERE WE WERE AT THE LAST MUNICIPAL ELECTION. MY INPUT ISN'T DESIRED. I'M PESKY AND TROUBLESOME. BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF OTHER CITIZENS WHO WOULD LOVE TO CHAT CASUALLY, ABOUT THE TOWN THEY LOVE……AND POTENTIALLY, THE ONE THEIR FAMILIES HELPED TO BUILD.
YUP, IT IS A BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR A WALK OUT INTO THE BOG. THE ONE WE ALL HAD A HAND IN CONSERVING. WHEN IT COMES RIGHT DOWN TO IT, GRAVENHURST CITIZENS KNOW HOW TO FIGHT BACK, AND RUN THEIR OWN TOWN.
MAKING MILLIONS DOESN'T DEFINE QUALITY OF LIFE - SATISFACTION AND PEACE-OF-MIND DOES -
OUR TOWN ISN'T SCULPTED TO DRAGON'S DEN STANDARDS -
IT'S QUITE LIKELY, AND OF NO REAL SURPRISE, THAT A FEW SMALL BUSINESSES, AND INDUSTRIES, OPERATING IN GRAVENHURST TODAY, WOULD BE TOSSED OUT OF THE CBC'S "DRAGON'S DEN," BECAUSE THEIR PROFIT STRATEGY FALLS SHORT OF BIG-TIME EXPECTATION. A PROFIT THAT IS DEEMED NOT HIGH ENOUGH, OR SUSTAINABLE, TO CRACK THAT ELUSIVE FIRST MILLION DOLLAR PAYDAY. I'M JUST GUESSING HERE, BUT HAVING FRESHLY-BAKED COOKIES, TO GIVE OUR CUSTOMERS ON SATURDAYS, AND OUR SONS' MODEST PROFIT PROFILE, AS SELLERS OF VINTAGE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, ISN'T GOING TO WOW THEIR PANEL OF MULTI-MILLIONAIRE INVESTORS. WHY WOULD IT? THE "SHOW ME THE MONEY" DEMAND, ISN'T ALWAYS AS CUT AND DRIED AS IT SEEMS ON THE SHOW. THE PANEL DOESN'T USUALLY BUY INTO THE MOTHERHOOD IDEA, THAT "A BUSINESS CAN ALSO BE SYNONYMOUS WITH QUALITY OF LIFE." I HAVEN'T HEARD A PANELIST BLURT OUT, "THERE'S MORE TO LIFE THAN MONEY." HOW DO YOU PITCH THE HAPPILY-RUN, PERSONALLY CONTENTING FAMILY ENTERPRISE? CONTENTING TO THEM, MEANS MONEY IN HAND. LOTS OF MONEY. EVEN THE TV. WALTONS COULDN'T HAVE GOT A FEW EXTRA BUCKS FOR THE WALTON'S MOUNTAIN SAWMILL. SMALL BUSINESSES LIKE OUR JUST WOULDN'T CUT IT, WHEN IT COMES TO SECURING THEIR INVESTMENT. IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT THE MONEY. IT'S JUST A SHOW. REMEMBER THAT! THERE ARE CRITICS IN THIS TOWN WHO PROBABLY FEEL, THAT ANNOYING LITTLE BUSINESSES LIKE OURS, BORDER THE IRRELEVANT…..AND ARE GENERALLY A WASTED INVESTMENT. IT'S WHY WE'VE GOT PRETTY GOOD AT IGNORING THEM.
AS MUCH AS THIS SEEMS A RIDICULOUS STATEMENT, BY TODAY'S BUSINESS STANDARD, BECOMING A MILLIONAIRE ISN'T AS IMPORTANT AS ENJOYING ONE'S LIFE AND OCCUPATION. THERE IS THAT EFFERVESCENCE OF A GOOD AND KIND LIFE, THAT SHOULD REMIND US OF CHARLES DICKENS CHARACTER, "FEZZIWIG" FROM HIS BOOK "A CHRISTMAS CAROL." HE REFUSED TO SELL-OUT HIS BUSINESS TO "THE NEW VESTED INTEREST," BECAUSE HIS INDUSTRY WAS "A WAY OF LIFE," THAT ONE COMES TO KNOW AND LOVE. "MONEY ISN'T EVERYTHING," HE RESPONDED, WHEN ASKED IF HE'D RECONSIDER SELLING, TO "THE NEW VESTED INTEREST." WHICH WERE THE DRAGONS OF ONCE UPON A TIME. WHEN TOLD HIS NEW COMPETITION WOULD CRUSH HIM, OLD FEZZIWIG SUGGESTED IN RESPONSE, THAT HE WOULD GLADLY DIE-OUT WITH THE OLD WAYS, IF NECESSARY.
THE AUTHOR'S CHARACTER IS FORCIBLY RETIRED. HIS BUSINESS OVER-TAKEN. IT IS A CASE OF SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. EBENEEZER SCROOGE AND JACOB MARLEY HAVE A HAND IN FEZZIWIG'S RETIREMENT AND REMOVAL FROM THE PREMISES HE SO CHERISHED; AND THE BUSINESS AND STAFF HE LIVED FOR, IN HIS MORAL ROLE IN THIS CHRISTMAS TALE. BOTH SCROOGE AND MARLEY WOULD COME TO SEE THE ERROR OF THEIR WAYS, AND THE LENGTH OF PONDEROUS CHAIN THEY FORGED IN LIFE, LINK BY LINK. MORTALITY AND IMMORTALITY, DO NOT HAVE ANY STAKE IN WHETHER ONE IS A MILLIONAIRE OR A PAUPER.
MY GRANDFATHER, STANLEY JACKSON, OF TORONTO, WAS A WELL ESTABLISHED HOME BUILDER. WHILE HE WORKED OCCASIONALLY FOR OTHER BUSINESS INTERESTS, DURING HIS LIFE, HE WAS CONTENTED WITH THE WORK HE HAD, ON A REGULAR BASIS. CUSTOMERS KNOWING AND SEEING THE QUALITY OF HIS WORKMANSHIP, HE DIDN'T NEED TO ADVERTISE. WHEN HE DIED, HE WASN'T A MILLIONAIRE. THERE WASN'T ONE PERSON IN OUR LARGE FAMILY, WHO WOULD HAVE SAID, HE WAS AN UNSUCCESSFUL MAN BECAUSE HE WASN'T WEALTHY. THEY WOULD HAVE REMARKED, WHAT A FASCINATING LIFE HE HAD ENJOYED, AND HOW MANY FRIENDS HE HAD MADE IN HIS TRADE, HIS NEIGHBORHOOD, AND IN THE MUSIC COMMUNITY AS A VIOLINIST. SUZANNE'S GRANDFATHER, SAM STRIPP, AND HER FATHER NORM STRIPP, WERE LARGELY SELF EMPLOYED FOR MOST OF THEIR RESPECTIVE LIVES, AND AS WITH MY GRANDFATHER, BOTH MEN DIED WITHOUT HAVING MADE HUGE BUSINESS PROFITS. YET BOTH LEFT THIS MORTAL COIL, HAVING SPENT A GOOD LIFE PURSUING WHAT INTERESTED THEM, IN THE PROFESSION THEY WERE MOST COMFORTABLE. RIGHT UP TO THE END OF HIS LIFE, SUZANNE'S FATHER, NORMAN, REFINISHED OLD WOODEN LAUNCHES, INCLUDING MUSKOKA-BUILT DITCHBURNS, FOR VERY APPRECIATIVE CUSTOMERS. HE DIDN'T WANT A MILLION DOLLARS. HE WANTED TO PRESERVE, FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE, A WAY OF LIFE HE HAD ALWAYS KNOWN. WHAT HE FELT COMFORTABLE AND INTERESTING ABOUT LIFE. OF GREAT IMPORTANCE IN HIS LIFE, WAS HIS MEMBERSHIP IN THE WINDERMERE AND DISTRICT LIONS CLUB. FRIENDSHIP WAS WORTH MORE THAN A MILLION DOLLARS TO NORMAN, AND YOU'D FIND THIS OUT IF YOU DID A LITTLE RESEARCH. HE WAS PROUD OF HIS WINDERMERE ROOTS, AND THE VILLAGE WAS PROUD OF HIM. WHAT MORE CAN YOU ASK FOR? OH YEA, A MILLION DOLLARS IN THE BANK.
In the so called old-days of business, in the true period of those "mom and pop" and "family" enterprises, there was always a struggle to survive. It became a way of life. Like the Walton's, on Walton Mountain, in the 1970's television show, running a sawmill as a family, from the period of post Depression, to the Second World War. Hardship was widespread. Some had it better, some worse. It mirrored in many ways, the life of a small rural community, and viewership of this show was probably pretty substantial in towns like Gravenhurst and Bracebridge. I never missed an episode as a teenager. Suzanne, growing up in Windermere, watched it faithfully with the rest of her family. While it was fiction, and a nostalgic, fanciful Hollywood creation, for entertainment not education, it still reflected pretty close to home, the way many of us had been, and were still living and working in small family enterprises. Business and investment critics today, wouldn't have too much use for stories, or scenarios like this, on screen, or in real life, because of the million "plus" dollars they wouldn't earn. It's sad actually, that our prevalent business strategy, and motivation today, discourages small business if the projected earnings aren't huge and growing by leaps and bounds each year. They would laugh at Old Fezziwig, for trying to keep his small industry operational, because of its lesser profits……as compared to the behemoth profit-making of competitors.
This town of ours, like millions of other communities, world wide, was created by entrepreneurial spirit. Small industry. Small business. We had our big investors, such as A.P. Cockburn, and we had our mom and pop general stores proprietorship, that kept the growing number of citizens supplied with the needs of the day. Gravenhurst, as with all fledgling settlements, on a wild frontier, was initiated by courage and resolve, to work hard and prosper. Profit came in many forms, back then, when just surviving was a sign of an improving personal economy. It was a gamble. The homesteaders were gambling. The early industrialists and investors, were gambling. Small business founders, gambled. Governments of the day gambled on all components to merge together, to form thriving hamlets, becoming villages, evolving into towns…….and possibly one day, a modern city. It's still a gamble today, as it has been through history, and there are no sure bets. The stock market crash of 1929 made life abundantly difficult for everyone……and yes, even the wealthy. War, Depression, Recession, and natural disaster can knock a way of life down for the count. It has before and it will again. There will be a regeneration, despite those who honestly believe, that entrepreneurial spirit is controlled and travels on a pre-set track. Those who continue to preach about the imminent failure of our business community, like all those who predict the end of the world as we know it, are as necessary to the community, as those who rise each morning, step out into the prevailing weather, and exclaim, "What a great day it is." Raining, snowing, overcast or sunny, their outlook on the day, is that it is "the time of our lives," with all the potential that entails. If we didn't have the wind-bags of dissent, what would we have to bounce off of, to remind ourselves, that predicting the end, is always easier, than manifesting the courage to do something about it. Easier than putting forth the kind of progressive enterprise, that doesn't require even a single word of explanation; just the courage to face adversity…..again and again. Thankfully, we have less blow-hards, and more citizenry, who soldier-on regardless of those who predict……. we will all soon fall off the edge of the earth. Civilization has always had its detractors. Those who had a plan to make it better. Folks that felt Utopia was attainable. Now they're called cults.
I've known and interviewed hundreds of business and industrial investors, as a journalist. The most successful ones, have always, in my opinion (as the reporter), been those of much less bluster, and pronounced ego, who offered little if any propaganda about how proficient they were, to make the subject industry, business or development a lasting, profitable investment. These investors didn't present themselves, as our saviors……those who would lead us from our own pauper lifestyles, by investing in our community. They wanted the support of the community, and realized, rather astutely, that bravado and self-promotion can actually become a detriment, to what might actually be a good business plan. Many times, I was sent out to businesses that were failing, and the only reason I was there, in fact, had everything to do with what that company owed-us in overdue advertising accounts. The plan was, I suppose, that if I could write a really compelling story, that would inspire more business, these folks could pay their past-due accounts, and carry on to do even more advertising in the future. A majority of these businesses and several manufacturing companies, required a lot more than a compelling story to save them. There were hateful people at the helm. They blamed everybody else for their misfortunes. Nothing they did, or didn't do, caused their chagrin. It was the government's fault, the supplier's errors, high taxation, the crappy-work ethic of employees, you name it. The buck never seemed to stop where it was warranted. Many of these proprietors closed their operations, as I often predicted, because of their own errors in judgement. Their high-handedness. Their failure to look at their own faults, before blaming anyone or anything else. I also watched as a lot of fine folks lost their shops, and it often was because of circumstances beyond their control. Instead of closing-up, and vocalizing their anger about the business failings, they shook their neighbors' hands, thanked their staff and suppliers, and most important, their customers. Funny thing about this. I know that a small but significant number of these investors, have shown-up in new business adventures, and just as many, have become damn fine employees, helping someone else's enterprise prosper. Experience is an important resource. If you always succeed, how will you deal with failure, should it arise? Having someone, as an advisor, who has failed, in business, is a resource of information that can prove quite valuable.
What is threatened most, in Gravenhurst these days, is the atmosphere of confidence. Too much emphasis is being placed on empty store-fronts and vacant commercial lots. The constant bombardment of negatives, as we once used to hear so much from the business community itself, is becoming quite destructive but from a different source. There are critics who want us to be everything to all comers. To be a haven to those who want to turn a million dollar profit, like flicking on a lightbulb. The new reliance, to condemn us to non-prosperity, is precariously hinged on editorial-supporting statistics, with cross referencing of interesting facts with anecdotes, just to prove a point. The obsession with self-mutilation, as carried-on by critics, is really quite extraordinary, to anything I have ever known, as a long-time local business reporter / writer, and regional historian. While I'm abundantly good at wading through nonsense and rhetoric, to get to the truth, reality is, the spewing of "sky is falling" critiques, is most definitely having an effect, presenting our community as a hard-luck case, with no future. The self-serving, grandstanding that is going on now, is getting the kind of attention, that will eventually serve to adversely influence new capital investment. Before large speculative ventures, are afforded communities, like ours, fact-finders are sent to scout the place out. One of the first sources of information, seeking out the economic and social climate, is to consult the local media…..print and electronic. If they do a Gravenhurst search, they're going to find a guy like me, lipping-off about the qualities and quantities of our municipal council. If you're a regular reader, you will realize that I am as complimentary as I am critical over the long haul. Just archive my blogs and you'll see this. On the other hand, the kind of generalizing about how economically challenged we are, in a tourist economy, is becoming a worrying, ongoing condition. The media, it seems, prefers to present the down side of local business, instead of taking some time to discover the amazing success stories, and those entrepreneurs……some quite young, who have become part of our town's tradition……..of defying the odds, as presented by self professed experts. So unfortunately, until the business community itself, starts demanding accountability from the media, in this regard, the gloom and doom overview of a bright, sunny, cheerful little town, will dampen the enthusiasm of investors we need. As for the Town's Economic Development services……..it's a waste of time, under the present circumstances, because for every step they take forward, there is that wave of negativity that rises to the occasion. There's a right to free speech. There's also the right of fair play. The local BIA and Chamber of Commerce would be well advised, to come up with a strong media counterpoint, and program, to challenge the critics' assertions, that we wallow contently in sub-mediocrity. Of course we need a firm, proactive response, to those who seem hell bent, on knocking us down, again and again. I'm banking on the business community, regardless where their investment lies, to band together, to offer a different perspective on an old and tired theme. Statistics don't live and breathe. They never tell the complete story. Relying on them, as an absolute definition as to how we are doing as a community, is foolhardy, and void of even a smidgeon of insight, about what human-will can achieve…….and has, many times, in our hale and hardy little town.
What would we do without critics? Part of the feeling of success and victory, is joyfully, and poignantly, demonstrating, just how wrong they were (are)……and how much of life was wasted, pounding nails into an empty coffin. How foolish they must feel then, when they take that final farewell peek, and see that what they had believed was final, and very, very deceased, was in fact, just getting a second wind.
"I shall continue, therefore in the course I have hitherto pursued; looking at things poetically, rather than politically; describing them as they are, rather than pretending to point out how they should be; and endeavoring to see the world in as pleasant a light as circumstance will permit.
"I have always had an opinion that much good might be done by keeping mankind in good humor with one another. I may be wrong in my philosophy, but I shall continue to practice it until convinced of its fallacy. When I discover the world to be all that it has been represented, by sneering cynics and whining poets, I will turn and abuse it also; in the mean while, worthy reader, I hope you will not think lightly of me, because I can not believe this to be so very bad a world as it is represented." Geoffrey Crayon. (Taken from the book, "Bracebridge Hall," by Washington Irving)
Thank you so much for joining today's blog. Please join me again soon.
Watch for ongoing season updates, detailing the "Music on The Barge," concert series, at Gull Lake Park; including previews of the performers, and reviews of the events themselves. I hope we're not using up all the good weather now. We need those sparkling, clear, warm summer nights. This year, there are no rain re-locations, to the Opera House, or the new Terry Fox auditorium, because of size limitations. Concerts may be delayed by the rain, or interrupted temporarily, like ball games, but a full rain-out will mean "no concert." The suggestion is, that on nights that look like it might rain, you should bring along a raincoat and umbrella just in case. A portable shelter on the Barge will be employed to keep sound equipment and instruments dry, in the event of short-lived inclement weather. Watch this blog for concert updates and announcements I may be asked to make, by Fred Schulz, manager of The Barge. Hope you will come out to this amazing summer venue, in beautiful Gull Lake Park, commencing June 24th, with the Muskoka Concert Band, conducted by Neil Barlow.
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