Community spirit!

"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." This is a quote by Harry S. Truman, once a Captain in the US army who served in World War 1 and who ultimately went on to become President of the United States. He knew a thing or two about building communities, having come from a farming background and a small hometown.

Today, as I watched the community members come out to enjoy the annual Parade of Lights - a winter event that serves as a source of pride for those who participate in the frigid temperatures and biting north winds (and a source of amusement to those who watch from heated vehicles!) - it occurred to me how strong our community is because of both the active and the passive residents. As active residents who lead projects and events, we often wish for more helping hands. But we continue to dream our dreams and undertake daunting tasks to realize those dreams regardless. We are led through the journey of a project - sometimes year after year - because we want to give an experience or a facility or a certain standard of living to our neighbors and to our children. Perhaps we also work on achieving dreams we believe would make our ancestors proud, many who remain here only in our hearts - certainly we will not receive credit, but within us is borne a feeling of having honoured their teaching and we possess the knowledge that they would approve.

During the hard-work phase or the most challenging segment of our various undertakings, we feel isolated and we wonder if our efforts will be appreciated. When we look up and see the happy crowd turning out in numbers to enjoy the finale, calling to us with words of encouragement and support and well-wishes...we wave them off with a cheery smile and say "aw, it was fun - we had lots of help!" And we draw more spirit from our community.