FOUR FAMILIES NOW HAVE THEIR FUNDS - AND IT FEELS GOOD TO HELP OUT

There shouldn’t be any one in this community, who helped out in any way, assisting the four families that were displaced by the mainstreet fire (Gravenhurst), last week, not feeling enormously inspired by what a collective of concerned citizens can do in the midst of crisis. From funds to food, clothes, and furniture, a really swell group of caring folks helped out some pretty scared and confused residents. Being unceremoniously dumped onto the street can do that to a person. While it wasn’t as many as the Huntsville fire last year, that destroyed the old Empire Hotel, it was still a test of endurance and willpower for all involved. What we found were four resilient families who are determined to get back on their feet.....and a citizenry that gives a damn about the welfare of neighbors.

On Thursday afternoon, we presented funds, from last Sunday’s benefit concert, to the last of the four families, and it was a really nice feeling for son Robert, one of the organizing musicians, to pass on this assistance. The four allotments came from you. We experienced so many acts of generosity over the past week, that it has imprinted very deeply indeed that we are a caring and stalwart hometown. When we get frustrated by bad news, and feel the weight of economic disadvantage, we sometimes forget how many disasters and economic downturns we’ve endured here since the 1860's. We’re not rookies at dealing with dilemmas. This is the reason historians having been hanging around for all these years......to remind you of the precedents of the past. If you’d ask them, they’d tell you about economic downturns that pounded the village, and about the terror of the war years, about fires big and small that altered the way we lived and did business. It’s all there. We’ve suffered before and we’ll suffer again. And the same goes for recovery and re-building.

I hope all the businesses, musicians, volunteers, and those who came out to enjoy the afternoon concert, will share this wonderful feeling, that we have, in a small way, helped out neighbors in need. While we were handing out the money, we did so on behalf of all those who joined us, up to and including Sunday’s event, and our handshake was from all of you. We provided the event, but you provided everything else. It’s something to be very proud of!

I think there is a need in this town, to recognize the perpetual good graces of co-operation and neighborliness throughout the year. Without question, there are times, when we have let ourselves down, because we have been less than rigorous with a response......finding a solution, or networking to make amends. Arguably, there are occasions when disputes have generated from misunderstanding, creating bruises that have never healed.....and continue to obstruct progress. It’s one thing to be critical, another to be constructive, and willing to work toward the restoration of purpose and fulfillment, despite differences of opinion. This town has a tremendous amount of potential that at times weighs too heavily on Gravenhurst Council to sort and resolve. On many occasions, over the past decade, we have stubbornly resisted coming together, on many issues, such as the main street’s economic woes, because it was only a business / government matter. From an historian’s perspective, I can tell you honestly, the burden is on us, as hometowners generally, to help where we can, and take an active interest, to advance mainstreet healing. Don’t believe for a moment that it’s just a matter of economics, and some municipal handiwork to leave to local government. It is a Gravenhurst matter, and that includes us!

When we could have pooled resources and knowledge, ideas and initiatives, bickering and political high-handedness instead, created a patina of blanketing negativity.

The well being of our community, evidence of our opinion of the future, in so many ways, is mirrored by activities on the main street. It is the heart of our hometown, not simply the interplay of economics...... but rather the show of respect for where our community was first rooted. An ignored and economically challenged main street is a detriment to the entire town; it remains a primary landmark we travel through so many times a day, a week, a month, a year. What is our opinion of it now? What would we like it to be instead? Are we inspired by what we see, or disillusioned and upset by visible failures? Instead of a location of inspiration, and a grounding place for all hometowners to be proud, we have, in many cases, turned our backs and cared not to look......and I dare say, went shopping some place else. A few will make justifications, and suggest that in a democracy, you can shop where you wish. You can argue that the merchants have brought it on themselves, and deserve the chagrin they’ve cultivated. There will be others who remember the heyday of this thriving town, and wish its vibrancy would return.

Maybe this month’s fire has brought, within its tragic circumstances, some attention to a number of important issues in this town, revolving around renewal and rejuvenation. Possibly it has helped create a focus on history.....as I have seen a number of local historians staring at the ruins.....I’m sure, wondering about the history to be made when these buildings are one day replaced, and this commercial corridor re-animated with new investment. And I’m sure that with the concert being held at the Opera House, on Sunday, only a block from the fire scene, that it inspired more than just a few of us, that we haven’t lost our hometown values......ones generated from the mainstreet outward since the days when Gravenhurst was a hamlet in a vast pine forest.

There is a need in this community for more hometown events, seasonal “fetes,” as they celebrate in England, just to promote neighborliness.....and social, cultural connectedness. And the Opera House and its main street square, seem such a perfect place to host regular get-togethers, to celebrate nothing in particular.....but celebrate none the less.

This is the last blog about the benefit concert. We are a happy and contented bunch. I hope you feel the same.