A good place

You can’t make communities. You can put homes together, arrayed neatly around a park, add in a few a few stores, libraries and churches, but it isn’t yet a community. It may be a place and it may have a name but it remains merely a collection of buildings—as isolated from each other as the Nunavut countryside. A community takes time to develop, to grow, to understand who and what it is. A community is strengthened by its traditions, its history and its sense of responsibility.

Communities endure hardship, struggle and triumph. Together. They see the best and the worst—yet they persevere. Along the way they build—bit by bit—the services, facilities and traditions they believe will enrich the lives of their children and those who will follow.

Communities form over decades by people who are driven in equal parts by duty, ambition and the churning desire to leave the place a bit better than they found it.

This weekend Wellington celebrates 150 years since the elders of the day decided the village was ready to stand on its own two feet. The odds were against them. The doubters expected the tax base would be too small to maintain even basic services. But the community builders pushed on. And this weekend we celebrate their vision, their wisdom and their tenacity.

It was never easy. Economic cycles delivered new industries and prosperity while at the same time they washed others away. But the pay- off for those who endured has been in living in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Waking up every morning to experience the natural beauty that surrounds this place, in all its sensory richness.

As we gather to celebrate this weekend I will slide open two small windows to illustrate the strength and quiet perseverance that helps form the sturdy foundation upon which this community has been formed.

Adorning most hydro poles along Main Street are fresh new Canada and Wellington flags. Each year real estate broker Sharon Armitage makes it her personal mission to see that bright flags are waving by Canada Day. It seems a simple thing, but you’d be surprised. When amalgamation came along, the village became part of the County and there wasn’t money for flags any anymore. So Sharon dug into her own pockets to pay for them. She has been doing so ever since. Then the municipality sold the County’s light and power company, and with it, the village’s poles. Suddenly permission was needed to use the poles the community had installed. Sharon and the hydro folks worked it out—but another layer of bureaucracy had been added to what had been the municipal responsibility. Then came questions about who would hang the flags on the poles and who would pay.

Sharon managed to bull her way through all the red tape again this year—that’s her special skill. Up and down Main Street the village looks ready to celebrate Wellington’s sesquicentennial and Canada’s 146th birthday. Sharon’s tenacity is part of the village’s strength and vitality. It is evident in the colours that honour the village’s history and traditions.

Patty Bailey made it her job to make it known to every elected and appointed official with even a minor connection to Wellington that this village is celebrating an important birthday this year. Each and every one of them responded with kind and gracious greetings, and hopes for a prosperous future. Each of the many letters is on display now in the window at SideSstreet Gallery on Main Street. Patty Bailey has lived in Wellington most of her life and it matters to her that the story of this community is heard, recognized and remembered.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has written to offer his best wishes on the occasion Wellington’s 150th. So too has the governor Governor general General David Johnston. Queen Elizabeth has offered her congratulations from Buckingham Palace. (It seems the Royals are still pretty pleased about the Iron Duke’s success at Waterloo.)

The risk, of course, in pointing the spotlight on individual achievements is that equally significant accomplishments may appear to be diminished or overlooked. But that is what community is—a long series of selfless acts, given freely, cheerfully, and often anonymously. Not done for notice or gratitude but rather because it makes you feel better about the place you live. It is your community.

Come to Wellington this weekend and help us celebrate a truly great community.

rick@wellingtontimes.ca