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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
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