A FEW GRAVENHURST OBSERVATIONS - MAIN STREET IN THE HEADLINES FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS - BEQUEATH REACTION NOT A BACKLASH - COMMUNICATION POLICY BUSY-WORK
THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY, AND THE RE-BIRTH OF A POET
HERE IT IS, THE LONG-AWAITED SUMMER SEASON, IN GRAVENHURST, AND BUSINESSES APPEAR READY TO HANDLE THE INFLUX OF EXCITED VISITORS. IT'S WHAT WE'VE WAITED FOR SINCE THANKSGIVING. IT'S UPON US. IT'S TIME TO THRIVE. TIME TO PUT THE WHINE BACK WITH THE CHEESE. PUT OUR BEST EFFORT FORWARD. TREAT OUR GUESTS ROYALLY. THIS MAY BE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TOURIST SEASONS IN THE PAST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS, AS QUITE A FEW BUSINESSES HAVE HAD A TOUGH SHOULDER SEASON, BACK TO BACK, WITH SEVERAL OTHER SLOWER (CONSTRUCTION) YEARS. I'M SURE THERE ARE BUSINESS OWNERS COUNTING ON THE SALES THIS SUMMER, AS THE DECISION MAKER, AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THEY CONTINUE KEEPING SHOP AT ALL! FOR THESE BUSINESS PEOPLE, I REALLY DO HOPE THIS SEASON WILL PRESENT SOME OPPORTUNITIES TO PROSPER, AND SO FAR THIS SPRING, IT LOOKS LIKE MUSKOKA WILL BENEFIT FROM THE STAY-CATION ONTARIANS, WHO FIND OUR REGION A CONVENIENT, REASONABLE HIKE FROM THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE PROVINCE. I THINK A LOT MORE MUSKOKANS ARE VACATIONING AT HOME, AND WHY NOT? LOOK AT THE LINE-UP OF TRAFFIC ON FRIDAY AFTERNOONS, TRYING TO GET TO OUR LAKELAND FOR A RESPITE. HISTORICALLY SPEAKING, I THINK THIS SUMMER WILL ATTRACT MORE NOSTALGIA TRIPS, IN THIS PERIOD OF RECESSIONARY WORRIES, EUROZONE CALAMITIES, AND WITH SO MUCH GLOBAL CONFLICT. IN THE ANTIQUE TRADE, SITUATIONS LIKE THIS, PUT A NEW EMPHASIS ON NOSTALGIA, AND WE'RE STOCKING UP. I CAN'T REALLY EXPLAIN, WHY RECESSIONARY INFLUENCES CAUSE FOLKS TO LOOK BACK TO THEIR YOUTH, BUT I'VE BEEN PROFITING FROM THIS FOR DECADES. RIGHT NOW, VINTAGE VINYL IS VERY MUCH IN DEMAND, WHEN ONLY A FEW YEARS AGO, PEOPLE WERE DUMPING BOX LOADS INTO THE PITS OF LANDFILL SITES. NOT SO MUCH ANY MORE. IF YOU WATCH FOR THE PREVAILING TRENDS, YOU'LL SEE THE NOSTALGIA SCENE IS GAINING PROMINENCE IN MANY AREAS, FROM CLOTHING, ART TO HOME DECOR. I SAW IT ALL BEFORE DURING THE RECESSION OF THE LATE 1980'S AND EARLY 90'S, WHEN PEOPLE TURNED-ONTO WHAT THEY BELIEVED WAS A MORE SOCIALLY APPEALING TIME……CHILDHOOD, AND THE STUFF WE SAW IN SHOPS, IN THE HOMES OF OUR FRIENDS, THE POPULAR MUSIC OF THESE SIMPLER TIMES, AND WHAT OUR GRANDPARENTS HAD IN THEIR HOMES…..THAT WE SAW ON OUR VISITS. OUR BOYS ARE GETTING PRETTY EXCITED ABOUT THE COMING SEASON, BECAUSE THEY HAVE MANY SUMMER-RESIDENT CUSTOMERS, WHO THEY'VE BEEN SELLING TO FOR THE PAST SIX YEARS. THEY'RE GLAD TO SEE THE STORE AGAIN, AND WE'RE HAPPY TO HAVE THEM IN FOR A VISIT.
The latest news from the main street business community, made headlines in the Gravenhurst Banner. Having just recently resigned from a position I very much enjoyed, due to a serious difference of opinion with management, I can appreciate the difficulties faced by those in precariously difficult positions, trying to balance the relationship between the Town and the BIA, including all the merchants and sundry other players in the Uptown revitalization project. There comes a point, when the balance tips, and there isn't much point trying to correct it, considering the immensity of bringing everyone together for the common good. It's a personnel matter, and none of my business. I do think however, it would have been sensible, and business-savvy, to have negotiated out of this unfortunate situation, at this critical time for the main street. As a main street business community it would have been much more desirable, to have this issue resolved by folks appreciating what negative press can do, on top of the weight, of economic issues we're still trying to resolve. I would have expected Town Council to have gone as far as possible, on this one, to mediate an agreement…….even a temporary reprieve, to avoid having the front-pager on the cusp of our all-important summer season. I don't want this to seem as if I approve of suppressing a news story. If I was editor, it would have got the same treatment, and I applaud The Banner for this week's paper. Even though they didn't print my letter to the editor, again! What our councillors should have done, is solve the problem. Now we have town staff, telling us it's no big deal, that we have to hire someone else for the mainstreet revitalization project. I don't like situations where the tail wags the dog. A disgruntled employee, in this case, deserves some public scrutiny. It is big news for us main streeters, of which our family is a stake holder. How long is the next co-ordinator going to last? Is Council concerned about this, and if there is another related administrative problem that needs to be addressed? Our main street did not need this to happen now. The optics are clear. We're between a rock and a hard place, with nary a soft place to rest our weary heads.
COMMUNICATION POLICY. HOW MUCH ARE WE SPENDING ON THIS BOONDOGGLE?
For a town trying to pinch pennies, to the point they even wanted to use the Terrence Haight bequeath to offset the debt, why the hell do we need to spend staff time on the development of a communication policy? Lots of reports are ignored. Many suggested initiatives for improvement of government, are tossed out, as either too cumbersome and restrictive, or just unnecessary on top of what is already common policy.
Who is running town hall these days? I have a suspicion, and I do hope I'm wrong, that our town councillors are not as much in control, as we have thought. If the newspaper report was accurate, the town treasurer had some suggestions about the best use of the Haight bequeath. How did that work out? Not so well? The fancy new town directory of services, was a big deal, that we couldn't live with out. How much did this cost, and will it cost to re-produce in the future? How much staff time was devoted to this? You can claim it is the greatest thing since sliced cheese, but where is the proof the residents of this community are benefitting, in the number of users, to justify the expense? A communication policy. Right on! How many years have we operated in this municipality, without the "how to," and "how not to" communications' protocol? Is there funding for this adventure in policy-burdening? Doesn't common sense and council protocol itself, offer pretty fair guidelines already. So how much staff time is being devoted to something we don't actually need, to function as a town? Are we going to drown in our own communication quagmire, if we don't have a policy governing what man has been doing since the first grunt on earth.
It's what is so maddening here, when valuable time is being spent working on unnecessary projects like this, and yet we couldn't find a few bucks to pay for a proper cleaning of Gull Lake Park, in time for the May 24th holiday. This is what councillors can fix up before this term of office is over. The staff at town hall is just that! The bosses are the ones we elected. Not the ones we hired. So I'd strongly suggest, a little coup over there, by our elected representatives, to take back our democracy they shouldn't have surrendered. There is no way that we can justify spending money on a communication protocol, whether it is the first of its kind, or the 70th, versus looking after our tourist industry which comes first. Sorry I have to break this to you. Gull Lake Park is a tourist attraction. It is our community park, but it is also a highly visible, well attended town attraction, that deserves a lot more attention than it gets. As I've asked before, please feel free to tell me the tourist economy isn't our number one industry? Prove it to me. If you can't, and you know I'm right, then explain to me, how we have enough money for town service booklets, and a communication protocol, but we couldn't get our park spruced-up for the Victoria Day weekend? This is a basic Muskoka reality. It's not something new or strange. It's our history as a tourist region. How much money are we going to make off the investment being made in the communication project? How much will we make by investing in the upkeep of a major tourist attraction? Spin-off of goodwill counts. Boxing-in communication, with conformity, doesn't even rank, as being important. Council needs to look at the priorities of the town they represent. They found this out by sheer misadventure, and letting staff have a little too much play, with the future of the Haight bequeath. You can call the response from the public "backlash," but that's not what it is. It's the reaction of constituents to a stupid plan. That's it. Backlash suggests something unexpected occurred. There were councillors who knew what was going to happen, so backlash doesn't enter in to it whatsoever. As with the money being spent on the communication policy, they should well expect constituents to really start wondering about the good judgement we expect our council to possess……and exercise on the town's behalf.
DELAY ON THE HAIGHT BEQUEATH IS AN IMPORTANT HIATUS TO GET THIS RIGHT THE SECOND TIME
Gravenhurst Councillors have a chance to right a wrong. An opportunity to judge their committee decision on its merits, and the public perception it has generated so far, and decide what constitutes a proper memorial tribute to our benefactor. I hope they will view this public input, as proof, constituents didn't just vote for a new council, and then bundle away their concerns……trusting their choice for office would handle all the prevailing issues. It's naive to think, or act, as if the public is the proverbial sleeping giant. In my experience, what is often mistaken as complacency by the public, turns out to be quite the opposite, and many elected officials have paid the price for this misunderstanding. It may be viewed by some at council, that the constituents are acting as bullies themselves, trying to push them into their respective proposals for the memorial bequeath. Council of course must be able to adjudicate in this situation. But bullying is not what I see here, or would gather from any submissions I have read thus far. I think committee members forgot what a bequeath deserves as protocol treatment. Paying down the deficit is about a far from "memorial" as you can get. So no matter what the treasurer may have suggested, it is not in keeping with what should be an endowment situation, based on the nature of the gift. Councillors may well hate the messenger, but it doesn't make me wrong. There's a great opportunity, for council to review how the committee handled this business, and to allow the public into the debate……contrary to the original indifference shown by the committee decision. This decision will either burden council in the future, or earn them a new sense of trust in the community,…….. that they can be the capable stewards we expect them to be!
MY OWN SWAN SONG
I AM NOT A POLITICAL JUNKIE. I HATE WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S OMNIBUS BUDGET BILL. IT SCARES THE HELL OUT OF ME, TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FAILING EUROPEAN ECONOMY, BECAUSE WE'RE NOT OUT OF HARM'S WAY IN THIS COUNTRY. TO FIND OUT THAT THE RUSSIANS MAY BE ARMING THE SYRIAN GOVERNMENT WITH WEAPONS, TO USE ON THEIR OWN PEOPLE, REMINDS ME OF ANOTHER TIME IN HISTORY. WHEN I SEE EVEN A SMALL GROUP OF PROTESTING STUDENTS IN QUEBEC, RAISING THEIR ARMS IN A NAZI SALUTE, I START WONDERING WHAT OUR COUNTRY IS COMING TO. IN SYRIA, CHILDREN BEING USED AS HUMAN SHIELDS. SUICIDE BOMBERS. RELIGION THAT JUSTIFIES KILLING. ETHNIC CLEANSING. WOW OH WOW! I'M SURE THE NEW SOCIAL MEDIA, IN-YOUR-FACE COMMUNICATION ENVIRONS, IS MAKING THE WORLD SEEM SO MUCH SMALLER THESE DAYS. WE HAVE SO MANY PRESSING MATTERS, AND SEEM PRECARIOUSLY BALANCED ON THE MOODINESS OF ALL OUR GLOBAL NEIGHBORS……WHERE, FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, WE MIGHT AS WELL BE SITUATED ON THE BORDER OF SYRIA…..OR GREECE WITH THEIR ECONOMIC TURMOIL. WITH THE KIND OF MILITARY ARMAMENTS AT THE BECK AND CALL OF THE SUPER POWERS, I DON'T THINK THAT A LOCAL COUNCIL'S PRE-OCCUPATION WITH THEIR NEW COMMUNICATION INITIATIVE, WEIGHS MORE THAN THE VERY REAL POSSIBILITY, OUR COUNTRY WILL BE DRAWN INTO A WORLD CONFLICT…….OR A WORLD-WIDE DEPRESSION. IT IS QUITE OVERWHELMING FOR A NEWSHOUND LIKE ME, AND WITH MY BACKGROUND IN CANADIAN AND REGIONAL HISTORY, I HAVE ONLY ONE FINAL QUESTION TO ASK………OF EVERYONE IN OUR COMMUNITY. IT IS THIS……..
If we were, of the global misfortune, to experience the type of catastrophe of war, or the disastrous effect, of a wide-spread depression, or any other parallel or reactionary situation, are you happy about the company you're keeping here in Gravenhurst? As with the unpredictable nature of these kinds of things, do we possess the ability to come together, as neighbors and allies, despite our politics and personal economy, to help each other, and our province and country? As this town had to do during two world wars and the Great Depression, we did have to come together for the common good. We are so far distant from those times in history, I worry about our abilities to put differences aside, and pull together our strengths to battle adversity. This is not a doomsaying blog. I'm not clairvoyant. I have no way of knowing, what the future holds. I do know what the present is offering, and if history is a worthy reference, one would appreciate just how dangerous a civil war in Syria is……to world peace. For about 40 years, Israel and Syria have had a relatively safe border area. This is about to change. With ongoing news that Russia is involved, even a smidgeon, and unwilling to intervene toward a peaceful solution to the crisis, sends out a tremor we should all be paying attention to……..but I fear most are missing because it is on the other side of the world. So were two world wars…..and the other conflicts we found ourselves imbedded in recent history. No one wants to think of this, because it gets in the way of our peaceful lives here in God's Country. There are many new Canadians, who have escaped the world's hot-spots, who know how conflict rampages when given the right conditions. I believe we are seriously complacent. How fast can we react, if we were forced into a different way of living, as our parents and grandparents were forced. I don't want to say we're "soft," because that's not fair. I just don't think we fully understand what we're teetering on here, every day, as the crisis in Syria deepens.
At my mid-life crazy, I'm reverting back to poet / hippy / wanderer, that I celebrated in my youth. It's all that's left on my bucket list. I'm not sure about Suzanne. She may have wanted to ride a horse once, or learned how to ice skate. Possibly ride a bike cross-country. We've really only discussed our mutual interest in seeing the country, and following a few minor passions…..having a few adventures accept sky-diving. I have an opportunity to write fiction, for online publication, and at this elder time of my life, well, I'm going to give it a shot. I have had a major change of heart. I have always been a non-fiction writer, except my poetic phase, influenced very heavily by wine, my lady friends, and song from my musical friends. I realize that this blog won't change much at town hall, or with the provincial or federal governments, and I really doubt whether any of the world leaders will give a damn about what an old fart, in Gravenhurst, thinks about anything. I suppose it has been more a case, that I have felt that resurgence of capability, to remind and defend the philosophy of democracy, I grew up with in this country. If I seem over-zealous, at times, ragging on local councillors, it comes from the seed planted in public school, discussing what being a Canadian was all about. It comes from knowing what my father and father-in-law experienced during the Second World War, and how they found it hard to talk about……and deal with, decades after they came home safely. But they weren't of sound mind, really, because of the burdens of seeing so much death. I have a very strong belief in democratic preservation, and it is why I could never support what is happening with the federal government in our country, and particularly, the way in which a party affiliation, has become so much more than I ever remember of any government in the past. Once an election was over, it was the Government of Canada. Not the Liberal Government, or the Conservative Government. Just the Government. I was a naive kid, I suppose, but this is how I grew up, having been taught civics at a young age. This is not how I remember my lessons. In my opinion, it is a sad time for democracy in this country, and even conservative members are showing concern, some changes can go too far for our own good.
Suzanne and I have embarked on a pre-retirement plan, we began when we were newlyweds…….to one day, after a lot of practice makes perfect, settle into our golden years, pursuing what we adore……and that involves a gentle immersion in the antique and collectible trade. As I've written about previously, we have no inclination to be shopkeeps, as our sons, Andrew and Robert have this under control, in their main street shop here in Gravenhurst. We want to let the old hair down, travel, pick antiques where we find them, and visit the charming communities in this beautiful province. I have a regular antique hunting column in "Curious; The Tourist Guide," and a ghost feature article, monthly, in "The Great North Arrow," and both require hunting and gathering. With the success of these columns, and my interest in writing an online book, kicking at the shins of local politicians just isn't a future interest. I think someone should, and the Ratepayers Association has been doing a good job, monitoring council's agenda and decisions for the past half decade. They don't need me to get the job done. They are serving the interests of democracy, and of this, I'm so appreciative, for the work on our behalf as residents of this fair community.
I will not be abandoning this blog, as I'm steadily approaching the 20,000 hits mark, largely attained since I began writing regularly, from the first of November. I love Gravenhurst, and it has been an inspirational place from which to work. The big change, I suppose, is that I'm going to pursue writing projects I've had on the back-burner for ages; such as more research and writing about the mysterious death of Canadian artist, Tom Thomson, and a series of articles on British Poet William Henry Smith, and his relationship to the 150th anniversary of the naming of the Town of Gravenhurst, in August 1862. I will be presenting this, on my dime, with a short music video of Gravenhurst, by son Robert, to commemorate the postal history made 150 years ago. It will be published online, by August Ist. I also am pleased to announce that the Richard Karon blog is up and running, as an art resource for those who own his paintings. This is what I find entertaining. Not covering town politics, believe it or not. I'd rather be in a canoe, listening to the loons, and watching a Muskoka sunrise on a sparkling lake. Yup, I'm going hippy. Does the free love thing still apply when you're as old as I am? Don't you dare tell me, 57 is the new 27. I feel like a 90 year old Swede. I hobble like the old goaltender I am. I'm still a social misfit, off the hooch, watch Coronation Street as religion, and look up to those of accomplishment, with unyielding respect. I shall live the life of the writer in residence, and I expect one day, I will write that last, defining paragraph, of the fun I've had in this mortal coil. Controversies included. I don't know how many miles God intended me to travel, but by sensible proportion, I'm just moving forward with a few less burdens. I suspect they will continue to follow me, with proverbial sad eyes, but I won't look back……unless I see a stray kitten. One last word about local elected officials. I give them a lot of credit for withstanding public scrutiny, like mine, and carrying on with the job we gave them. There's a lot more courage needed, than most council hopefuls think about, when they enter the election race. We all need to be courageous at times in our lives. Thanks for your commitment to office…..and to us!
I'm leaving politics. But not my blog.
Please visit again soon. Thanks so much for your ongoing support.
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