CHRISTMAS IN GRAVENHURST -

MERRY CHRISTMAS - BEST WISHES FOR A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY - AND ALL THE TRIMMINGS

I WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND A SINCERE "MERRY CHRISTMAS" MESSAGE TO THE READERS, OF THIS BLOG, WHO ACTUALLY STRETCH AROUND THE GLOBE, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, FOR JOINING ME FOR THIS SERIES OF EDITORIALS, INSPIRED BY HOMETOWN LIFE AND TIMES.

WHEN I LAUNCHED THE PRESENT SERIES, MY INTENT WAS TO PRESENT A MIXED OVERVIEW OF WHAT GRAVENHURST REPRESENTS TO OUR FAMILY, (AS A PLACE TO BEGIN), AND LOOK AT SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TOWN WE IGNORE, OR BYPASS, TAKE FOR GRANTED, OR SELDOM THINK ABOUT UNLESS IT IS FEATURED AS FRONT PAGE NEWS…..OR SOMETHING THAT SHOCKS US, BECAUSE IT IS A PRINTED NOTICE, FRO EXAMPLE, THAT A FRIEND OR NEIGHBOR HAS PASSED AWAY. THERE IS NO HONEST APPRAISAL OF ANY HOME TOWN, ANYWHERE ON EARTH, THAT CAN SIDE-STEP REALITY. NO POSSIBILITY OF HAVING AN EXISTENCE, WITHOUT BEING FORCED TO DEAL WITH ALL THE PERTINENT ASPECTS OF LIFE IN GENERAL. WITH THIS COMES BIRTH, AND DEATH. THERE ARE MISADVENTURES, TRAGIC CIRCUMSTANCES, EXAMPLES OF SUCCESS, AND HEROISM, BENEVOLENCE AND, EVEN VIOLENCE. THERE ARE GOD FEARING PEOPLE AMONGST US, AND THOSE WHO DON'T BELIEVE LIFE HAS ANY EXTENSION TO THE ALLEGED "OTHER SIDE." THERE ARE THOSE WITH STAUNCH POLITICAL BELIEFS, AND THERE ARE OTHERS WHO WISH NOT TO BE BOTHERED BY GOVERNMENT ON ANY LEVEL. THERE ARE KIND NEIGHBORS AND BAD NEIGHBORS ACCORDING TO INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENTS. THERE ARE HAPPY MARRIAGES, AND THOSE THAT FAIL. THERE IS ILLNESS AND RECOVERY, AND THERE ARE STORIES WE HEAR, ABOUT ABUSE, AND UNSPEAKABLE CRIME, SOME PRINTED ON THE SAME PAGE THAT WE MIGHT ALSO READ ABOUT BENEVOLENCE AND CHARITABLE ASSISTANCE TO FIRE VICTIMS, AND FINANCIAL AID BEING RAISED TO HELP PARENTS OF A SICK CHILD. THERE ARE STORIES ABOUT GOVERNMENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS, AND GOVERNMENT FAILINGS. THERE ARE THINGS WE DON'T WANT TO FACE, BUT WE KNOW WE MUST.

IN THE BACK OF MY MIND, FROM THE TIME, IN EARLY NOVEMBER, WHEN I BEGAN THIS SERIES OF CHRISTMAS SEASON TOMES, WAS THE NAME WILLIAM HENRY SMITH, THE POET-PHILOSOPHER WHO WROTE THE BOOK FROM WHICH WE ARE NAMED….."GRAVENHURST…..OR THOUGHTS ON GOOD AND EVIL." WHEN WILLIAM DAWSON LESUEUR, THE POSTAL AUTHORITY (AND CANADIAN MAN OF LETTERS, AND LITERARY CRITIC), WHO NAMED OUR COMMUNITY, SELECTED THE NAME FROM THE TITLE OF A BOOK, HE HAD READ, HE WAS BESTOWING AN HONOR UPON AN UNSUSPECTING HAMLET IN SOUTH MUSKOKA. WHAT MANY FOLKS DON'T REALIZE, IS THAT DR. LESUEUR WAS SOMEONE WHO WOULD HAVE SPENT CONSIDERABLE TIME, APPRECIATING THE NAME HE WAS SELECTING…..AND THE PROVENANCE OF SUCH A TITLE. IF HE HADN'T APPROVED OF MR. SMITH'S WORK, HE WOULD NOT HAVE BORROWED THE NAME. IT WAS THE SAME WHEN HE NAMED THE TOWN OF BRACEBRIDGE, AFTER THE BOOK BY WASHINGTON IRVING, ENTITLED "BRACEBRIDGE HALL." IT WAS INTENDED TO BE AN HONOR THERE AS WELL, BECAUSE AT THIS TIME, WASHINGTON IRVING WAS INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FOR HIS WORK, SUCH AS "THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW." IT WAS NO DIFFERENT IN GRAVENHURST, WHICH WAS NAMED TWO YEARS BEFORE BRACEBRIDGE. LESUEUR WAS IMPRESSED BY SMITH'S PHILOSOPHY, AND AS HE WAS ALSO A WELL KNOWN LITERARY CRITIC, AS WELL AS A CAREER CIVIL SERVANT, HE HAD GIVEN THE BOOK HIS STAMP OF APPROVAL…..WHICH, ACCORDING TO HIS BIOGRAPHY, WOULD HAVE MADE THIS AN HONOR, TO RECEIVE THIS LITERARY GIFT. GRAVENHURST WAS A NEW NAME TO US, BUT AN IMPORTANT NAME TO LESUEUR.

THE BOOK WILLIAM HENRY SMITH WROTE, WAS ABOUT THE RELEVANT AND NECESSARY COMMONPLACE OF COMMUNITIES. THAT ONE CAN NOT EQUATE HAPPINESS AND CONTENT, WITHOUT APPRECIATING SADNESS AND DISCONTENT. HOW WOULD WE TRULY BE ABLE TO CELEBRATE GOOD FEELINGS, IF THERE WAS NO EXPERIENCE DEALING WITH MISFORTUNE, UNHAPPINESS, DEPRESSION, A SENSE OF LOSS? SMITH CREATED A COMMUNITY HE NAMED "GRAVENHURST," AS A MODEL FOR THIS DISCUSSION, ON THE INTERCONNECTION OF GOOD AND EVIL, AND HOW IT PLAYS AGAINST, AND FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMMONPLACE BALANCE, OVER TIME, AND AS HISTORY WE ARE FOND TO RECALL. IT WAS A STUDY OF HUMAN NATURE IN A COMMUNITY BACKDROP, DONE IN THE MID 1800'S. THE WORK SO IMPRESSED A CANADIAN SCHOLAR, THAT WHEN OPPORTUNITY PRESENTED, HE TOOK THE NAME SMITH HAD CREATED, AND AWARDED IT TO A REAL CANADIAN COMMUNITY.

As I've written about before, the problem with accepting this, from an historian so far removed from the event, is that LeSueur, in all his kindness, and diligence, did not think to document the reasons he was bestowing this honor…..and the same can be said for Bracebridge. Both literary tributes that somehow got lost, and grown over by time and neglect.

The point of this Christmas Eve editorial, is that we are very much a community…..as life's dynamic would have it; and as poet William Henry Smith estimated, and Dr. LeSueur concurred,…… and that we, its citizenry, would face challenges and success in no particular order, or sequence, and that our existences, would depend on our capabilities and resolve, to deal with difficulties and manage success….restore from disadvantage, and build on strong foundations, despite whatever came along that knocked it all to the ground again. So that when you look out at the main street, for example, and see the economic fall-out that has swept over this area, and notice the empty lots where commercial / residential buildings once stood, you may also appreciate that this has happened before in history, and been built-upon again and again, showing the resolve of the citizens…..the stake holders of this same hometown…..who have very much learned about the forces of good and evil…..and succeeded in so many ways, of maintaining faith that while bad things can happen to good people…….there is a commonplace of effort that rebuilds all confidence…..and sets us on our next ambitious project to get on with the future.

I am happy to call Gravenhurst my home. Our home as a family. We hope you feel the same. Merry Christmas to one and all.