So much happens on our East Shore, sometimes my head spins with appointments, community events, meetings, live entertainment, extra-curricular sports/theatre/fun nights… the list goes on and on. Every time I hear someone say, “There’s nothing to do around here,” I nearly fall over backward.
In some cases, that sentence is heard coming from the mouths of area youth who are, understandably, floundering at times without a strong social network of people their age. Sometimes I’ve heard the sentiment come from people who keep themselves somewhat more secluded out of choice or necessity, so they may not have their ears as much to the ground. Sometimes, though, it comes from the most surprising places – young, energetic, socially-conscious parents and adults who just seem to not be making themselves as open to the myriad opportunities that surround us every day.
The list of things to do and be involved in is endless, so I won’t bother to start it, but I do want to make it very clear that this is exactly how I hope this website can serve the community. It is hoped and requested that you put your events on the calendar – that you use the free classifieds and ride share – that you comment and post your own ideas. Let me know how this can be better facilitated, and we will do our best to accommodate.
In the meantime, what was going on this past weekend, on May 12? Well, after a pretty well-attended Crawford Bay Park cleanup for the first half of the day, I attended the Community Connections AGM and the What’s Going On business workshop/forum at the Crawford Bay School.
Community Connections held it’s AGM and re-elected Janet Wallace as Chair, Muriel Crowe as Treasurer and welcomed new board members. Palma Wedman was officially introduced as the new administrator for Community Connections and led the meeting as well as the fun and fast-paced business forum that followed.
Approximately 25 or 30 businesses were present and well over fifty people were in attendance to listen to the one-minute show and tell segments presented by any business that wanted to participate. We heard about what different restaurants, bars and campgrounds were doing to prepare for our 2012 tourist season, what the artisans had in the makings and where other businesses stand at this point in time. It was a unique opportunity for East Shore businesses to introduce themselves in a “speed-dating-fam-tour” kinda way.
There were speakers at the forum as well. Tom Lymbery spoke about the history of business on the East Shore. He owns probably the longest-running successful business on the “Best Shore” in the Gray Creek Store http://graycreekstore.com, and announced that they are excited to be preparing for their 100th year in business in 2013. What an accomplishment! Tom and his family have been serving the East Shore for so long that he was referred to several times (as he always is) on some fact-checking on historical points throughout the forum.
After Tom, Dale Hodgson (majority owner of Kokanee Springs http://www.kokaneesprings.com/) spoke for a while about who he is and his history in business. He also spoke about the existing and future developments of the golf resort and took questions. His speech was interesting and informative and he seems a thoroughly approachable individual. He promised to be inclusive and transparent regarding future developments and invited locals to drop by the information booth at the golf course to see the plans, short and long-term.
Finally, Jamie Cox, manager of the now Crawford Bay Store and soon-to-be Crawford Bay Market gave an inspiring and entertaining speech about his time as a ski resort manager/developer and spoke about his experiences watching development and how it can be done well, with a community’s support, input and involvement, and poorly, with no consideration for the region and the people living in it. He kept the crowd engaged and laughing (which was a good thing given the fact that the meeting ran well over its advertised duration).
I would like to thank the speakers, the organizers and supporter and, most especially, those who took time out of their beautiful sunny Saturday to attend this event. It was well worth the time and truly gave a healthy dose of what is really going on.