CHRISTMAS IN GRAVENHURST -

THE TALENT WITHIN - THAT WE DIDN'T KNOW WE HAD - AND THE WORK TO EXPOSE IT FOR THE GREATER GOOD

JUST AS THERE ALWAYS HAS BEEN, FROM THE FIRST CABIN CARPENTER, FARM, BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY BUILDERS, GRAVENHURST HAS, AND DOES POSSESS TODAY, A LOT OF TALENT WITHIN OUR POPULATION. A MAJORITY OF IT GOES UNRECOGNIZED. SO MUCH IS WASTED BECAUSE A LOT OF FOLKS DON'T FEEL THEIR CAPABILITIES ARE WHAT THE TOWN WANTS OR NEEDS. IT'S NOT JUST THE CASE WE HAVE TALENTED AMATEUR ARTISTS, CRAFTSPEOPLE, WOOD CARVERS, WOOD WORKERS, WRITERS, POETS OR CANDLE-STICK MAKERS. WE HAVE EXCEPTIONAL BUILDERS, ROOFERS, PLUMBERS, MECHANICS, BOAT BUILDERS AND RESTORERS, ENGINEERS, ARCHITECTS, LAWYERS, DOCTORS, TEACHERS, FIRST RESPONDERS, NURSES, PAINTERS, GARDENERS, SALES PERSONNEL, STORE CLERKS, WAITRESSES, GROCERY STORE STAFF….. WHO ARE AMONGST THE BEST OF THE BEST. WE KNOW IT….WELL, A LITTLE BIT. WELL, OKAY, TRUTH IS WE DON'T THINK ABOUT IT TOO OFTEN, OR MAKE IT A PRIORITY TO HEARTILY THANK THE GROCERY CLERK FOR A JOB WELL DONE. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU GAVE YOUR MECHANIC A HUG, OR SHOOK THE PLUMBER'S HAND, AFTER GETTING THE WORKS UNCLOGGED AND OPERATIONAL AGAIN. AND WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME, YOU ASKED THE DONUT SHOP COUNTER STAFF…..IF THEY WERE HAVING A GOOD DAY THUS FAR?

HOMETOWN PRIDE. I WRITE ABOUT IT….BUT WHAT DO I REALLY MEAN?

There is a complacency today that has been growing steadily, over the past thirty or forty years, that for a number of reasons, seems almost anti-hometown. It's not just in one area but rather a kind of flooding, eroding reality, few of us think about……. but will recognize the changes if we recall the way it was back in the 1940's and 50's, as compared to the new century way of doing things…..social / cultural things. The distinction is even greater when you go back to the beginning, and work forward, to find out the precise time when our reliance on one another became of somewhat lesser importance.

Consider what began on this wilderness frontier in the late 1850's and 1860's. It was a precarious balance for survival. Think about those modest shanties in the midst of a Muskoka winter. What did those hale and hardy settlers do to survive? What did those pioneer business-folk do, in order to cement their enterprises onto this wild Ontario

landscape, and carry their enterprises over the brutally lean decades? From the beginning, pioneers helped pioneers. Neighbors offered helping hands to those who had just arrived…..scared half to death about the coming realities of homesteading in a rough and tumble environment. The businesses counted on the good neighborliness of these same homesteaders, and did as much as possible, under the circumstances, to meet the needs of the frontier population. There were a lot of needs, and a genuine shortage of money to pay for anything more than basic provisions. So automatically, there needed to be a "trust of circumstance," as neighbors had to rely, in so may ways, on one another, and businesses had to keep a tab, for those customers who were short of funds. It was the belief in honesty and integrity, and a wee bit of mutual charity, at a time when it was absolutely necessary to build a settlement worthy of being called a "hometown." The security net……a caring hometown!

As towns like ours grew larger, outward from the original footings, and respective populations increased, it was a milestone event, when the encampment earned the status of having a mailing address…..the name attached to the first post office. How exciting it would have been to finally be afforded, initially, hamlet status, then village recognition, and then the kind of population statistic that warranted "town" entitlement. It's pretty difficult today, to feel that kind of pride experienced then, when they were so eager to embrace future advancements. A few of those hamlet settlers, may have even thought about city status one day……looking out over the lakeland here in South Muskoka. What is clear, is that they wanted more for their community, and they weren't shy at all, about asking citizens to do their part, in making the province and country proud of this shoreline community…..named Gravenhurst.

Today we have a huge disconnect with those days because of our general lack of respect for what history can provide the present, as an abundant resource. Our shift away from that neighborliness some of us old-timers recall, has deflated the hometown spirit for a lot of citizens…….many who live in neighborhoods today, who have little idea who lives on their street……and no real interest in finding out. As for borrowing a cup of sugar or jug of milk, if it does happen somewhere out there, it is a vastly diminished neighbor to neighbor affection…..not widespread or commonplace as it once was, when hometown values even trumped local politics. The problem is societal and not something we spend too much time trying to resolve. We don't really understand it, when our long time residents talk about changes in our town, with some disdain, and we might even chirp-up, that they should simply "join the modern era, and forget all that nostalgia." Is it because we've become city-like in attitude? Is it because we have a population now unfamiliar with our past……having moved here from other regions, other hometowns? Is it because we don't know the relevance of the past, as it effects the present? Do we care about hometown values at all? What can it do for us today? Can it pull us from the doldrums, and make us excited about the future again? Can it spill-forth optimism, in the volume we need it?

In the past, our community was indebted to itself. There was more reliance on each other here. Shopping locally, using area trades people, and professionals, was not only prevalent, but the essence of the local economy. It was necessary because of transportation limitations, to make use of the opportunities close at hand. It's not to suggest settlers didn't stray away from time to time, and allow city influences to assist in one of a million ways, but it was the inclusion period of our history, where we turned to our talented citizenry for most of our needs. For decades now, there has been a great watering down of this dependence. We have so many other options. We can travel to the city, the box stores, outlet malls within a couple of hours. We can shop for price advantages in a wider area, and now so much is even accomplished by on-line shopping. The importance of self-supporting our own community, has become far more a concern for individualism, and "I'll shop where I want," or where the best variety, the best environs, and the best prices are available. It's our social / cultural / economic advantages to do so. But the reality is, we're destroying the final vestiges of hometown the way it has been since those founding settlers, hacked out those first few acres to build upon. Is this overly dramatic? Absolutely not. And you can find evidence of this everywhere you look, in the small regional communities, being so heavily influenced by close-commute cityscapes. Add to this, the decentralizing of historic business communities in town, and you have a force of change that is disorderly, and chaotic……and as we can see in many North American communities, so devastating, that hometown pride isn't even on the map.

It is a pivotal consideration in Gravenhurst today. All these influences have had a huge impact on the town's traditional business core, and the watering down of old values. The distancing from history as a companion resource, has left many wondering things as ridiculous as, well, changing the name of the town. I can't tell you how insulting this would be, especially the provenance of the name we have. Look back a few blogs to the story on William Dawson LeSueur and poet William Henry Smith….to appreciate my chagrin at a suggesting such a ridiculous change. Sometimes here, it feels as if we've been dumped out into the middle of the lake, to tread water indefinitely, looking desperately for something firm to grasp onto……and then pull ourselves back to firm ground.

Yet if you were to do a little hobby research, and go back to crisis periods in our town, in our country, you would find one profound reality that is worth the effort of preserving for posterity, you might say. During the most difficult years and circumstances, economic, war-time, we have pulled together as a home-town, where every talent is revered for what it can offer…..to a total effort of support and sustainability. Those store clerks, and doctors, nurses, home-makers, grandfathers and grandmothers, paper boys and girls, mechanics, writers, newsies, pharmacy staff, and farmers, came to each other's defense, and we had a community effort to meet the requirements of the day. Fraternal and support groups formed to handle difficult tasks, and to assist the community where need was most seriously needed. When I talk or write about hometown values, this is what I am referring. In the coming economic downturn…..and it is coming, many will fear our town could well be knocked off the map. That we will lose many important, landmark businesses. We will be left as a ruins, when it is all said and done. The historian however, who doesn't get consulted all that often, is instead, looking forward to a renewal of community pride……a recognition that we can help ourselves, by being good and compassionate neighbors, willing to help each other out with small but significants steps…..like shopping locally a little more than usual. Every cent invested here, is a welcomed, and positive reinforcement that we think of our neighbors as family………and you know, pioneer times weren't as "dark age" as we sometimes think. We can draw a lot out of those hard days, that can make our lives at present, more dynamic and profitable…..and not just in terms of economics.

Please give some thought to home town values this Christmas season.

You can start by coming out to our Christmas Concert, at the Opera House, on Saturday, December 10th, in support of the Salvation Army Food Bank. There is no admission fee. Food and cash donations are accepted at the door. If you haven't got anything to donate, please come anyway…..because we want to show what hometown support looks like…..up close and personal. What would be nicer than a full house…..to show the Salvation Army our gratitude, for helping our less fortunate neighbors have a festive holiday season.

Merry Christmas.