Gravenhurst is on the Upswing

OUT OF FRUSTRATION - COMES, WELL, A DETERMINATION TO MOVE ON WITH OTHER PROJECTS

In Support of Gravenhurst -

Out for a walk this morning, I found The Bog silvered-over with thick sparkling frost. The sun was dazzling off the ice crystals adhered in prisms, on the tall, willowy lowland grasses, and cattail remnants of a season in transition. It was such a magnificent and inspiring scene. Whenever one forgets how amazing it is here, in the heart of Muskoka, we all need to dwell a while in a place like this. It is the essence of enchantment. And at points when I start wondering if this is still the place to inspire the writer in residence, well, I return home feeling resolved that I could find no finer place on earth to work. I settle into my office, overlooking The Bog, in the embrace of this wonderful neighborhood, and feel quite compelled to write something, or other, to reflect on this hometown ambience, that has and will continue to find its way into my manuscripts in production. When I hear and read about the dire predictions facing our hometown, almost daily, it's admittedly hard at times, not to be swayed into thinking I must be looking through the wrong portal…..or seeing my environs, this place and our town, with rose-colored glasses…..as it has always been a case, I feel eternally optimistic about most things in this life. And I certainly have faith in the citizens of this town to prove its critics wrong.

When we moved our family to Gravenhurst in 1989, while it was only a shift of 10 miles south from Bracebridge, it was enough of a change for a Muskoka clan, to make us feel as if we'd moved across the continent. As we were't changing jobs, just the place of residence, we pretty much had to stay close to our respective work places. Suzanne a secondary school teacher, and me a battle-weary editor with the local press, there were advantages in being somewhat removed from close proximity. Suzanne found it better to be away from the student body on our down time, and I enjoyed some brief anonymity from news sources. I could walk through a grocery store without being accosted about a story I wrote, or about one I should write. In Bracebridge we wore our work like clothing, and even in our social circles, it was hard to catch a break from our professions. I remember once being terribly hurt by a close friend, who invited us to a party, but asked politely (but ignorantly) if I could please leave my reporter's notepad at home. Thus indicating that I was so untrustworthy that I would be making copious notes about party banter, and assorted bum pinches and scurrilous other innuendoes. Well, we didn't attend.

I'd received a number of death threats over the years, and many, many warnings that I might receive a damn good thrashing, for writing various news stories that named-names. With a young family, I was getting worried that when my lads hit school age, and they had to attend a school in the same town I was reporting and editorializing, they might well have been put at risk of reprisal. Not from the adults but possibly from their offspring. Even at school, Suzanne was tired of the comments about my newspaper's political stand, or opinion on union activities, which always caused a problem with relations….even family, some who were union haters.

To say we escaped to Gravenhurst to distance ourselves from adversarial forces, is really quite ridiculous, when you think about the ten minute ride between towns. It was more of a convenient, comfortable distancing, to a town we liked because of what it didn't have. It wasn't being stretched with urban sprawl. It held the values of a small town, with strong neighborhoods, and a history displayed proudly. And while its detractors accused town council of holding back progress, we didn't feel there was any shortage of progressive interest here, or fear and loathing of accepting new development. The town leaders seemed genuinely interested in protecting the historic character of the town, as if it was important to maintain for posterity. We liked that, and still do. It was the hometown we wanted for our young lads. We weren't wrong, and the fact they've spent most of their young lives in Gravenhurst, and have become part of the local business community, attests to the fact they liked the hometown feeling. They found opportunity here, and the network to employ, to make their business successful. They are now in their sixth year of business on the main street. They are graduates of the Gravenhurst High School, and they stayed here, invested here, and devoted themselves to charitable causes….right here in South Muskoka.

For many years Suzanne and I refrained from getting involved, other than normal day-to-day living, shopping, socializing etc., and even though I had a short stint as editor of The Banner (local weekly newspaper), it was all calm on the southern-front. Although I lived and thrived through one of the most volatile periods of newspaper competition, in Muskoka history, at the helm of the former Herald-Gazette, our new life in Gravenhurst was meant to be much more passive and comfortable. I was pretty good at staying out of controversy, until we found the town quite willing to sell-off The Bog, our neighborhood wetland, and then the going got heated. It took a new century to start this battle. Then we made the mistake of suggesting our son run for office, with the local business association, and well, that ended quickly and badly. Defending our son and the president of the association, drew us into a constitutional quagmire we will never forget. So much for staying out of the kitchen.

Our family has great respect for Gravenhurst, and we know we made the right decision to move here to raise our family. How could we not be grateful. We live in a wonderful neighborhood, in the midst of a most beautiful wreathing of nature, and we're only a few minutes from the business community where the boys have set up shop. We have however, pondered many times recently, whether or not we have slipped back into our old ways, and precarious involvements, that helped us decide to leave our former hometown. We do agree that there is something wrong in Gravenhurst, and it comes down to that veil of negativity that seems so prevalent these days, despite there being many positive but untold stories of financial successes. I think the leadership from municipal council, is weak at best, and the inability of the mainstream business association to restore relations with all stakeholders, is creating a drag on future potential. It's unfortunate but our boys are weighing their options about re-location, as a result of this growing disunity with the association. They don't like the broad-sweeping statements of economic calamity, being used for headlines every time there is a twinkle of a problem on the stretch of old main street. They happen to be doing quite well, but you won't read that in the press. I've suggested this to the media, and their willingness to talk about their five year milestone on this same troubled main street, but it hasn't been requested yet. Why? Maybe they offer a contradictory glimpse that doesn't jive with the street-speak presently. We sometimes feel we should conceal the fact we're doing well, as it doesn't fit with what everyone seems to be talking about……apparently with more interest in bellowing about imminent disadvantages, than the many positives sprouting up, despite, on what, in some ways, seems like salted ground.

We Curries are an opinionated lot. But we put our critiques in the right place, at the right time, and get involved where and when we have to, in order to prove we stand by our convictions…..by our home town. While some shout from the sidelines, we aren't afraid of getting into a scrum, if it is an issue we need to correct. Lately, we've been getting a little overwhelmed by the stuff we feel is wrong, being operated improperly, and needs to be corrected by citizen involvement. Then there are the moments of clarity, when alas, and by experience, we realize there is no way to change what is occurring, or the prevalent attitude toward change. It is a town that needs to be inspired again, to regain its rightful place as Gateway to Muskoka. I fear there is much in the way of reaching this historic level of pride, due to the fog of so many disagreements, and so little leadership to march us through the chagrin. While we won't walk away from a challenge, or to address something we perceive to be ill-conceived, and poorly executed, we simply don't have the capability of changing or even influencing attitudes, of those who think they are, by the paperwork of elected office, representing our general interests simply by the chain of office.

I have been rigorous in my critiques of local council and the business association. I haven't pulled too many punches. I have received a fair amount of criticism myself, and I've lived on to fight another day. I like dialogue, and adore public consultation. What we see now, in so many levels of governance, is a willingness to talk about transparency and community involvement in decision making, and government re-structuring, but an unwillingness to allow change to truly penetrate where it needs restoration. The negativity spreading in Gravenhurst can only be removed by an enlightened town council, genuinely concerned that all business, all attractiveness to this Muskoka town, is being threatened by this pre-occupation….as if we are the only community in Canada suffering from business de-centralization and economic slowdown.

I will continue to write about my hometown, and it will never be at the expense of censoring opinion, or declining to tackle political dead-lock. It will highlight the beautiful, and comforting hometown, we found when we moved here more than twenty years ago, and still find in abundance amongst the citizenry who know when to turn-off political rhetoric and business whining. We Curries have enjoyed our years in Gravenhurst, and look forward to many more. I won't apologize for withdrawing, to some degree, from trying to change what appears cast in stone. One day, a new and exciting leadership will arrive again in this town, and capitalize on the strong foundation that still supports a genuinely good and strong hometown…..if only everyone could see it…..wouldn't that be a step in the right direction?