Recreating in the sand: Abe Waterman's sculptures at Rossignol Winery in Little Sands

By Melanie Jackson
msjacksonpei@gmail.com

Abe Waterman isn't afraid to get his hands dirty. Or his feet. Or his knees.

Some visitors to the Rossignol Winery in Little Sands learn this about Abe firsthand. 

That's where his sculpture of a woman made entirely of sand welcomes wine connoisseurs and art appreciators alike. And it's where Abe can be found, on occasions like today, reshaping and retouching his Island clay creation.

"Congratulations," says a lady walking by on her way into the winery, "another beautiful one."

Abe, as cool and quiet as the medium he works with, flashes a bright smile and offers a gentle, "Well, thank you," in response.

"It's a performance art as much as it is a contemporary art," Abe tells me after I ask him if he gets bothered by the people interrupting his work. "People stop and watch because they can actually see it taking shape."

For the last five  years, Abe has been creating - and recreating - the long-haired beauty for winery owner John Rossignol, who has a collection of Abe's work all around his property, such as the two large wooden sculptures of a man and woman inside the winery's retail store and the five scenic sandstone carvings along the laneway - each as tall as Abe himself.

Every summer, Abe has to recreate his earthen enchantress, after PEI's winter and harsh winds from the neighbouring Northumberland Strait wreak their havoc on her.

But Abe says the mortality of his sculptures is part of their appeal.

"I kind of like the idea of it returning to its natural state," he says, his blue eyes shining under the summer day's sun. "It's not permanently taking up space and I don't have to live with my mistakes."

Each year he uses the original pile of sand that was delivered to the vineyard the first year he sculpted his sandy siren, and each year he gives her a new look.

"She's different every year," he says.

Abe says he learned his craft by doing some snow sculpting around the yard at home. Those frosty forgings led to fellow Island sculptor Ahmon Katz asking Abe to partner with him at Winterlude, an annual event in Ottawa that showcases sand and ice sculptures.

From there, he was asked to sculpt creations for Charlottetown's Jack Frost Festival and, after that, for Sandland - a collection of scenic sand sculptures formerly on display near the city's waterfront.

Less than a decade later, Abe has sculpted sand in lands as far as British Columbia, Texas and Portugal. 

"It's a great job. Sometimes I have to pinch myself," he says.

While he never particularly aspired to be an artist, it would seem that's where Abe's path of opportunities has led him. And he hopes his journey will continue, taking him even further into mastering his craft.

"If I can keep making a living doing this, I will," Abe says. "But even if I wasn't doing this professionally, I'd still be in my yard doing it for fun."


Photo: Abe Waterman and his sand lady. Melanie Jackson photo

First appeared in The Buzz - August 2013

A loom with a view: Rilla Marshall's 3-D textile creations inspired by the Island

By Melanie Jackson
msjacksonpei@gmail.com

Rilla Marshall has an unusual way of expressing her appreciation for Prince Edward Island’s changing landscapes. She does it through textiles. Inspired by aerial photos of shifting coastlines, Rilla translates her interest in erosion and rising sea levels through loom-woven tapestries and miniature three-dimensional dioramas - crocheted by hand - which depict familiar Island scenes, such as sand dunes and marshlands. She calls the handmade 3-D exhibits her “islands”.  "It’s taking something that’s scientific and factual and cold and translating it through all the connotations that come with textiles, like warmth and comfort and security,” Rilla says. Last spring, Rilla and her partner, Damien Worth, also an artist, purchased the old schoolhouse in Eldon. The couple are in the process of renovating the historic building and hope to be moved in this month. There, the pair will be able to live and practise their art—all inside one expansive space that’s steeped in nostalgia. “For a lot of artists, that’s the dream: having your ideal studio space and living space all in one,” Rilla says. The peaceful lot and historic architecture of the building are enough to inspire any creative mind. A row of six-foot-high windows runs along the full length of the eastern wall of the schoolhouse, and provide a view to a yard lined with white birch and spruce trees. The windows illuminate the classroom where children once gathered for their school lessons and where Rilla plans to set up her loom that’s “as big as a grand piano.” Rilla said her new property has inspired her to depict her community in pieces of work similar to her previous coastline tapestries. She’s hoping to recreate the entire Belfast area in textiles. Thanks to a friend who works at the MacPhail Woodlot Project, Rilla got her hands on some topographical maps that show what the community’s sea level will look like in 20, 50, and even 100 years’ time. She envisions weaving or crocheting the concentric circles of those maps in different colours of wool - to illustrate the varying levels.  “I’d use the colours as a language to translate the data,” she said. Rilla hand spins the locally-produced wool, then dyes it using traditional methods and natural ingredients, such as plants and onion skins. “For my islands, I decided to keep it as natural as possible and to source the materials as locally as possible.” Photo: An Islands dune handcrafted by Rilla Marshall.  Submitted photo First appeared in The Buzz - June 2013

Old schoolhouse makes the grade for artist couple

By Melanie Jackson
msjacksonpei@gmail.com

Just up the hill from the gas station in Eldon, a building sits atop the highest point of land in the community. The windows in front face the highway and look out over fields that lead to the old Halliday wharf, where a ferry used to carry passengers to Charlottetown. The two storey structure is nestled amid a lot lined with white birch and spruce trees, and the grey and white paint on its shingles, barely chipped or faded, mask the true age of the structure.

Inside the old Eldon schoolhouse, a row of six foot high, block pane windows welcomes the morning sun and illuminates the room where children from the area once gathered for lessons in reading, writing and ‘rithmetic.

Today, those same windows provide light the new owners need to carry out the restoration and revitalization of the historic building they will soon call home. There’s no electricity yet, and a wood stove at the front of what was once the classroom is the only source of heat, providing throwback to bygone days.

Rilla Marshall and her partner, Damien Worth, bought the schoolhouse last spring, fulfilling their dream of owning a quiet, country retreat they can call home and practice their art.

Ms Marshall is a weaver from Charlottetown with an online store where she sells her hand-woven works. She designs and creates both artistic and functional textiles, such as scarves and pouches. 
Mr Worth is an artist and painter, whose family grew up in the area. 
“His grandfather and his great uncles grew up in this area,” Ms Marshall said. “And his dad plays in the Belfast Pipe & Drum Band.” 
In the future, Ms Marshall hopes to open a small gallery or shop inside the schoolhouse, where they can sell their wares.

“I don’t know how many years down the road that will be, though,” she said, referring to all the work that has yet to be done to the property.

Ms Marshall said area residents often see her working outside and sometimes stop in to ask where’s she from and if she bought the place.

“We’re not from away, although a lot of people assume we are,” she said, noting that everyone has been kind and helpful in making them feel welcome.

While Ms Marshall admits she doesn’t know a lot about the history of the schoolhouse, some neighbours have been providing her with stories from its past.

“Glenda (Cooper) and the people at Cooper’s (Red & White) have been amazing,” she said. “Glenda’s father was the school teacher here until it closed in 1967 or ’68.”

Ms Marshall also said she got a few stories from some of the local contractors who they’ve called in to help with the projects they can’t handle themselves.

“The guy who did our septic - Don MacRae (of Orwell) - he remembers coming here as a kid to sit on Santa’s lap,” Ms Marshall said. “All the kids would come to the Eldon schoolhouse to meet Santa.”

Apparently they had the best Christmas pageants here, she added.
The schoolhouse closed its doors when Belfast Consolidated was built and all the children from Eldon and surrounding communities were sent there for their education.

However, there are still a few reminders of the learning that took place inside the one room school.

“The most interesting thing we found is a kid’s exercise book from the 1940s or 50s inside one of the walls,” Ms Marshall said. “We’re trying to make sure it doesn’t get anymore ruined because we’re probably going to take some pieces and frame them.”

They also found some kids’ names carved into one of the walls, along with some drawings of stick figures.

To add to the school’s nostalgic feel, Ms Marshall said she and her partner are trying to recreate some of the original architecture, such as the wainscoting they found hiding under the fake wood paneling that lined the walls. (They had to remove the original woodwork because it was covered with lead paint.)

They also relocated and rebuilt the staircase leading to the second floor, using the wood they salvaged from the previous staircase.

“We’re trying to reuse as much wood as we can,” Ms Marshall said, even though she’s unsure of the wood’s history.

There was a lumber mill in Belle River built in the late 1800s, she said, “but I can’t say for certain if the wood in the schoolhouse was milled there. The original beams, joists and studs are pretty big and rough-hewn, so I’m guessing they were produced locally.”

The demolition process has uncovered some other surprises, too.
Layers of old flooring were torn in preparation for the building’s first flush toilet. Two holes were found under the carpet, evidence of where the boys and girls outhouses used to be.

“They must have had the outhouse bathroom right inside the schoolhouse,”Ms Marshall said. “You can still see them when you go down to the basement.”

The windows have been replaced with newer, more energy efficient ones but Ms Marshall said she will keep the original ones. She hopes to make a greenhouse out of them or insert them into the interior walls that are yet to be built on the second floor, “to let the light pass through.”

The new windows still welcome the sun into the classroom where

Ms Marshall plans to store her loom that’s “as big as a grand piano.”

Ms Marshall hopes she and Mr Worth will be moved into the schoolhouse by the summer. They’re thinking about hosting a small party to meet neighbours and invite members from the community in to see the finished schoolhouse.

“We’d get a lot of stories that way, I’m sure, and hear about people’s experiences here.”

In the meantime, Ms Marshall encourages anyone who knows the history of the schoolhouse or has stories to share to get in touch with her by visiting her website at rillamarshall.wix.com/rillamarshall

Photo: Rilla Marshall stands on the front step of the old  schoolhouse in Eldon.  She and her partner are renovating the historic structure, where they plan to live and practise their art.  Melanie Jackson photo

First appeared in The Eastern Graphic April 10, 2013

Controversial dog breeds - Bad to the bone? Or a case of bad ownership?

By Melanie Jackson
msjacksonpei@gmail.com

When Jody Mokler volunteered to administer injections at a rabies vaccination clinic not far from the Ontario veterinary office where she practised, she expected it to be like every other canine inoculation clinic – standard procedure, uneventful.

But the day was far from uneventful.

“There was a guy I could see a little ways back in the lineup, and he had two pit bulls – these were big, solid dogs,” said Mokler, a 15-year veterinarian who was in her first year of practice at the time.

“You could see their ears were torn and ripped. They had scars all over their face and you could tell these were fighting dogs.”

As the line of waiting dogs moved closer, Mokler noticed a sheepdog and its owner ahead of the two pit bulls. What happened next caught Mokler, and the dogs’ owners, completely off-guard.

“The sheepdog was getting antsy and whipped around to sniff one of the pits and that pit bull grabbed ahold of the sheepdog right over top of the eye and the head.”

The pitbull locked onto the sheepdog’s head, Mokler said, popping its eye out of the socket as it violently shook the sheepdog while its owner screamed and watched in horror.

The owner of the pit bull, however, had a different reaction to the scene.

“The guy took the other pit bull and ran away, leaving the one attacking the sheepdog attached to the poor dog’s head,” Mokler said.

Mokler’s husband at the time, who was a cop and at the clinic with her, had to use his billy club to pry the pit bull’s mouth off the sheepdog.

“It took everything he had to get that pit off.”

While many would be quick to blame the dog’s breed on the vicious attack, Mokler’s criticism was directed elsewhere – at the owner.

“The dog innately was not a bad dog, it’s just that its whole role in life was to fight.”

That reputation as a fighting machine has come back to bite the breed.

Near the turn of the millennium, pit bulls were making headlines in Ontario.

In 2003, an Ontario court judge ordered the euthanization of a pitbull that attacked a young boy who tried to kiss the dog. The toddler suffered serious injuries and required over 250 stiches.


In 2004, Toronto police fired more than a dozen bullets into two pi tbulls after they turned violent on a friend of the owner who was taking them for a walk.

Following those incidents and a few others, the Ontario Legislature amended its Dog Owners’ Liability Act to ban the breeding, sale and ownership of pit bulls.

Mokler said the media’s excessive coverage of the attacks was likely a contributing factor to the 2005 ban.

“As soon as the media takes ahold of it, they sensationalize everything, then everyone assumes pits are horrendous animals that kill.”

Pit bulls weren’t the only controversial breed around that time.

Troy Sproule is a 38-year-old tattoo artist from western P.E.I. For most of his adult life, Sproule has owned not only pit bulls, but another dog many people might find intimidating – a Rottweiler.


Sproule lived in Ontario around the same time the pitbull ban came into effect. He experienced, firsthand, the preconceptions many people have about dogs that appear dangerous.

“I was walking the dog down the road, heading towards the beach,” said Sproule, who owned a purebred American Rottweiller named Jaxxon at the time.

“There was a family – a mother and her kids – and as soon as they got close, I wrapped Jaxxon’s leash right up tight so he stayed close by my side. It wasn’t to make them think he was going to lunge, I was just being polite and keeping to my side so they could go around us.”

As soon as he did that, however, Sproule said the mother started yelling at him and at Jaxxon.

“She was screaming, saying ‘That dog is vicious! Stay away!’ and she was pushing her kids off the sidewalk.”

It’s not the only prejudice he encountered with Jaxxon.

Over the years, Sproule ran into problems with landlords when trying to rent apartments.

“As soon as I mentioned that I had a Rottweiller, I was told I couldn’t have that kind of dog around. But I’d tell them, just get to know him first before you judge him.”

Jaxxon, who lived to be almost 13 years old, wouldn’t hurt a flea on his own back, Sproule said. And it wouldn’t take long for the lovable pooch to make friends with even the biggest skeptics.

“Some people would be just terrified as soon as they came into my place and saw Jaxxon. But by the end of the night, they’d be down on the floor playing with him.”

Mokler said a dog’s temperament has nothing to do with its breed. But it can be dictated by its breeding. An example is a puppy mill – a commercial dog-breeding operation that places emphasis on profits above animal welfare.

Defective genetics can cause problems, Mokler said.

“The gene pool is getting narrower and narrower, so breeders can get the desired look they want in a dog. But by narrowing a gene pool, what you’re doing is you’re keeping things in an incestuous sort of group – where mothers are bred with sons, fathers to daughters.”

Inbreeding – in any type of dog – can lead to mental instabilities, which can surface in the form of aggression, Mokler said.

It’s no different than mentally ill humans who act out violently, Mokler said.

Singling out or restricting the ownership of one breed doesn’t address aggressive dog behaviour, she said. There are many other breeds with aggressive tendencies, such as German shepherds, Dobermans and bullmastifs.

“Even Golden Retrievers,” said Mokler. “We all think of them as so sweet and loving, but over 15 years of doing this job, I’ve had to put down at least a dozen golden retrievers for severe aggression.”


Although Prince Edward Island has no breed-specific dog legislation in place, the provincial government did look at introducing new regulations around the time the Ontario ban was enacted.

“It was taken into consideration at the time it was a hot topic in Ontario,” said Brian Matheson, manager of agriculture regulatory programs with the Department of Agriculture and Forestry.


However, department staff at the time concluded it would be difficult to determine specific breeds that could be considered dangerous, he said.

“They felt it would be more effective to deal with issues on a case-by-case basis. They felt it was more of an ownership issue as opposed to a specific breed of dog issue.”

Mokler agrees.

The root cause of aggressive behaviour isn’t so much the dog as it is its owner, its upbringing and its environment, she said.

“People don’t research the breed before they get the dog,” said Mokler. “Because of that, people have a tendency to get a dog for the wrong reasons.”

Anyone considering dog ownership should research the breed’s territorial and behaviour needs before deciding if that dog is right for their family. For instance, no one should get a herding dog, like a border collie, without a field or a flock of sheep for that dog to run among, she said.

Often, picking the wrong dog is why negative behavioural tendencies – such as chewing and hyper-activity – surface as well, Mokler said.

“If they’re in an inappropriate environment and don’t have the proper stimulation, those negative behavioural tendencies emerge and can escalate to aggressive tendencies.”

Sproule is one owner who did his research before getting his dogs.

Sproule is now the proud owner of a five-month old pit bull named Ares, after the god of war.

“I check on the background of the parents of the dog, to see what kind of aggression they might have had, if they were mix-bred, or if their bloodline involved any incest.”

You can usually tell if there’s something wrong with the dog within the first few months of trying to break its temperament,

Sproule said.

“If you still notice an aggression after three or four months old, and they’re still biting and growling and snarling, there’s definitely something wrong. And if you have children, or for the safety of anyone who comes into your home, you have to decide if you should keep the dog. It’s a hard choice, but it’s one you have to make.”

Mokler agrees responsible ownership includes the possibility of having to make difficult decisions.

The best thing owners can do in situations where a dog is not fitting into a family, is to find it a new home. Euthanization should be a last resort, she said.

“To me, that is the bottom line.”

As for banning specific breeds, however, Mokler stands firm.


“I 100 per cent disagree with breed bans,” she said. “To me, there’s no justification in blaming the breed. And I don’t think there’s a veterinarian on the planet who wouldn’t agree with that.”


Photo: Troy Sproule poses with his five-month-old pitbull, Ares. Sproule did research on the dog before deciding to make her part of his family and says any responsible dog owner should do the  same.  Melanie Jackson photo


First appeared on The Surveyor Online - November 7, 2013

Gamer girls v. gamer guys: a virtual battle of the sexes?

By Melanie Jackson
msjacksonpei@gmail.com

When Kate Publicover noticed her grades in school taking a dive, she knew it was official: she was a video game fanatic.
“I was one of those crazy World of Warcraft addicts,” said Publicover of the multi-player, online role-playing video game. “And I didn’t just play because it was fun – I was extremely good at it.”
Publicover was just four years old when her brother introduced her to video games. Some of them gave her nightmares.
That’s what happens when the concept of virtual reality is foreign to you, she said.
As she got older, Publicover became more serious about gaming, dabbling with games ranging from racing, to first-person shooter, to her role-playing favourites – like World of Warcraft.
“I like RPGs because I can mould and shape a character to my liking. I can be a big muscly blade, or a swift archer, or a cunning magician.”
While Publicover proudly calls herself a nerd, she said the stereotype of a video game-loving girl comes with its share of hang-ups.
There is a certain stigma associated with it, she said.
“There are jokes that, as a woman who dwells in the realm of ‘Nerdom’, that you are as scarce as a unicorn. And you have to deal with maybe being treated like less of a girl than a girl who may not be a nerd.”
Publicover doesn’t dwell in Nerdom alone, however.
Alyssa Gallant has been playing video games since she was six. She started with the familiar games, like Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, but then, like Publicover, graduated to role-playing games.
The Final Fantasy franchise is her favourite.
“There is a certain triumph you get when you beat an RPG,” said Gallant. “They are usually really long games and some of them take a lot of strategic thinking.”
The games combine all the things that make a good story, said Gallant – magic, action, love, adventure.
Designing video games with women gamers in mind is something developers are taking more seriously as an increasing number of women turn to the gaming industry.
Chris Sharpley has been an instructor of the Video Game Art and Animation program at Holland College since 2008 and worked as a game artist for 15 years prior to teaching his craft.
As a former game designer, Sharpley has witnessed firsthand the evolution of games designed not only for women, but by women, too.
In both 2008 and 2009, there was only one female student enrolled in the Video Game Art and Animation program, Sharpley said. For every year since, however, he said the female to male enrolment ratio has been about 50/50.
Sharpley credits the evolution of video games themselves for the growing number of women in the business.
“The (first) games tended to involve combat and beating an opponent, so they perhaps appealed to the testosterone market,” he said.
But since 2005, and the introduction of games for smartphones and the release of the Nintendo Wii, video games are reaching a wider demographic, he said.
In his experience, however, Sharpley has never witnessed the divide between male and female games or male and female gamers.
“I think women are just as competitive as males,” he said, adding many men might be threatened by a woman’s skill level.
Publicover agrees some men don’t consider women gamers as formidable opponents.
“I especially enjoy the ‘yeah, right – she’s going to beat me’ – and then destroying them at their own game,” she said. “Some guys think you’re only in it for the attention. They don’t understand that your entire life has been dedicated to this.”
Winning against a man in a video game is definitely something Gallant takes pleasure in.
“I can tell you from experience, there is hardly a better feeling than beating a guy at his own game.”
Gallant said video gaming can be empowering for women.
“I think it’s been in our makeup for years to yield to men, and I think now we are coming out of that way of thinking and realizing it’s OK for us to be one of the guys sometimes."


First appeared on The Surveyor Online - November 29, 2013 

Mayor of Georgetown: "People told us 'you can't come back'...but look at us now"

By Melanie Jackson
msjacksonpei@gmail.com

Walking out of Kings Playhouse in Georgetown, P.E.I., Lewis Lavandier couldn’t hide his smile.

The mayor of the town of 700, Lavandier and his fellow residents welcomed over 250 visitors to their waterside community Oct. 3 for the first ever Georgetown Conference.

The gathering focused on reviving and recreating rural communities.

It’s something Lavandier knows all about.

The once struggling community is bouncing back from the brink of economic collapse following the closure of its lumberyard in 2010 and its shipyard in 2011.

“When they closed, people told us, you can’t comeback after that. But look at us now,” Lavandier said of his town that’s home to new retail shops, restaurants and even an inn.

So when Lavandier started hearing positive comments after the conference, he was thrilled to see people leaving with his same sense of optimism.

One presenter at the gathering was Alberta MLA Doug Griffths, from the riding of Battle River-Wainright.

Griffiths is the author of 13 Ways to Kill Your Community, a book that shines a satirical light on ways community members and leaders effectively work against their hometowns.

Griffiths challenges his readers to examine the standard practices that have hindered or halted social and economic prosperity in their towns and rural areas. He describes customs like preventing youth from exploring opportunities outside their communities, and the epidemic of residents becoming complacent and accepting their fate when local employers go out of business.

During his presentation at the conference, Griffiths encouraged the audience to redefine traditions that could not only ensure their communities’ survival, but their revival as well.

“Positive thinking people find an opportunity in crisis,” he said. “It’s all about attitude.”

Those who say it cannot be done shouldn’t interrupt those who are doing it, he said.

He encouraged communities to allow their youth to venture out into the world, discover their passion, then bring that enthusiasm back home.

“You don’t want to keep youth in your community, you want to give them reason to come home.”

Wallace Rose heard Griffiths’ message loud and clear.

Rose is the executive director of the Northeast Community Alliance, a non-profit organization representing the interests of four communities in northeastern Kings County in P.E.I. – St. Peter’s Bay, Souris West, Souris, and Eastern Kings.

Its mandate is to pursue economic sustainability and a higher quality of life for the residents it serves.

“It gave us lots of food for thought for this area,” said Rose, following Griffiths’ speech. “Whether rural communities are struggling in Alberta or Saskatchewan or Ontario, the models of success – the things that work for them – can be transferred to rural communities on Prince Edward Island.”

This approach is the very reason the alliance was formed, he said.


“I really liked his quote: a rising tide raises all ships. That, to me, is a mantra that needs to be repeated.”

Residents need to think about how they can bring our communities together and think as a larger community, he said. Rose wants to see a collective meeting for communities all across Kings County.

“We have community meetings in Souris, St. Peters, but I’d like to have a larger community meeting for the whole area – to bring everybody together for a brainstorming session.”

Rose isn’t the only one who’d like to see a meeting of minds.

Brendan Curran, a youth panelist who took part in the conference’s discussions said he will take much of what he heard back to his community, as well as his neighbouring areas.

“A key message I brought back was what can I do now? What can you do now? What can we do as a collective?”

Working cooperatively, instead of independently, is a strategy that could lead to economic sustainability, not just in P.E.I., but in all rural areas.

“It’s something I think has to be done all across the Maritimes,” he said, adding more communities need to join forces for the betterment of all, he said.

That’s the reason Lavandier and his fellow town mayors in nearby Souris and Montague have decided to meet at the end of October, while the energy from the conference is still fresh in their minds.

“We’re going to band together and brainstorm about what’s good for Kings County and what we can do as a group,” Lavandier said.


Working together is the best option for everyone, he said.

“There’s strength in numbers.”


Photo: Holland College journalism student Zach Rayner interviews Brendan Curran, one of the youth panelists who took part in the discussions about rural revitalization at The Georgetown Conference on Oct. 5.   Melanie Jackson photo


First appeared on The Surveyor Online - October 13, 2013

Georgetown Conference aims to kickstart rural revitalization

By Melanie Jackson
msjacksonpei@gmail.com

The landscape of Prince Edward Island is changing, and not just in the geographical sense of the word.
As more and more young Islanders migrate to western Canada in search of jobs, the scenery inside our rural communities is transforming as well.
Industries that built our province, like farming and fishing, are disappearing with the aging population that forged them as their way of life.
It’s a trend that hasn’t gone unnoticed by a group of community leaders and businesspeople, like Paul MacNeill, publisher of Island Press Limited in Montague.
On Oct. 3, MacNeill welcomed a group of like-minded individuals to the Georgetown Conference, a gathering playing host to 250 community activists, businesspeople, artists and residents – young and old – from across Atlantic Canada.
The three-day conference is MacNeill’s brainchild. He envisaged it as a gathering place for ideas, discussions and solutions to address the disintegrating rural communities in many parts of eastern Canada.
Although the Georgetown Conference is the first of its kind, MacNeill’s vision of revitalizing rural P.E.I. isn’t a new idea.
Georgetown resident and business owner Peter Llewellyn shares in MacNeill’s notion that Islanders must take responsibility for their own future. They must be the ones to ensure rural communities across P.E.I. not only survive, but thrive.
“Everybody is always pointing at the other guy,” Llewellyn said. “It’s either you’re responsible or you’re at fault.”
Like MacNeill, Llewellyn feels it’s not government’s responsibility to sustain rural communities and, instead, residents need to take action.
“We spend far too much time on sitting down, wondering who’s at fault,” said Llewellyn.
We need to have a vision and we need to know how to implement it, he said.
“It’s problem solving,” said Llewellyn, a former mayor for the Kings County Capital where he grew up. “We can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again.”
Llewellyn said the key to revitalizing rural communities is seeing beyond traditional industries and creating new ideas and new businesses.
“We’re falling into the trap of trying to manipulate what we know, instead of something new and innovative. I just want people to come to our communities,” he said.
“They buy houses. They drive cars. They buy groceries. They’re the people we’re trying to attract.”
It was the beauty of rural P.E.I. that attracted Stacy Toms to the Island 12 years ago during a vacation with her husband.
The couple from Ontario purchased a home in Georgetown after just a few weeks on the Island, and four years ago they made that home their permanent residence.
About a year and half after that, Toms, who comes from a family of restaurateurs, and her husband Richard, an artist, took a leap of faith and opened up an art gallery and bakery on their property.
“When we first bought the house, and before we had a business here, we’d watch tourists come in and leave,” said Toms. “At the time, there wasn’t too much in Georgetown for tourists.”
However, Toms said with the opening of Llewellyn’s gift shop, as well as a local inn and restaurant, more and more people began making Georgetown a destination, and not just a stop along their travels.
Tom’s shop, Maroon Pig, is open year-round, catering to not only tourists but locals alike.
Her Georgetown neighbours have been supportive and have played a key role in their three years of successful operation, she said.
“It was definitely our best summer yet,” said Toms. “But probably half of our business this year were Islanders.”
Combined with local support, Toms said government could be doing more to support rural communities, too, by investing in small businesses like hers and helping turn ideas into profitable ventures.
“The first couple of years are iffy. You don’t know how things are going to do, and I think that’s where the investment needs to go,” she said. “No business makes money in the first year, so it’s nice to have that backup.”
It’s that kind of investment and faith in Island entrepreneurs, particularly on the part of government, Llewellyn thinks will breathe life back into rural P.E.I.
“As leaders we need to say to people, ‘What’s your idea? How can we support it?’,” Llewellyn said.
“Business is about people. We have to start looking at the people who have the drive to make the impossible happen.”


First appeared on The Surveyor Online - October 3, 2013