We have a Chamber of Commerce that acts as a focal point for the various events of the year. Tourists are amazed we accomplish so much here, and vow they will return for other attractions. When we hear their accolades, we are so proud of what we do, especially with a hard core of veteran volunteers.

I spent a fair amount of time this summer attending council meetings. Oh, I know, you’re likely thinking our TV was broken or something, but honestly, it was an enlightening experience. We had attended a large public meeting in early August at the Old Town Hall, but when the same issue arose again, only a handful of people came to the council meeting to hear the outcome. I gained a whole new respect for our councillors as they sat in meetings night after night, masses of paper before them, seriously deliberating the future of the Town, and only one or two people in the public gallery to see their hard work. Where was everyone? The council chamber was air-conditioned, the debate was pertinent, and yet, the council operated in a vacuum of public interest. No one deserves to complain if they have not been part of the process!

The saying is if you’re not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. If you are not an informed citizen, you are part of the problem. If you are not a participating citizen, you are part of the problem. Apathy is unhealthy!! We chose to live in this vibrant community because we have opportunities here that simply do not exist in big cities: opportunities for personal growth, opportunities to connect with our community that will enhance not only our town but also our own self-esteem. What can be finer than to walk down Mill Street and know a lot of people because you are working with them on a common project? That’s how you get to be part of a community, not by merely paying at the door to be entertained by others.

(Oh and on that note, take Nellie down the side road by the “crik” there! Why is it that everyone waits till organizers are having apoplexy over low ticket sales to buy their tickets for events here? I know of a concert cancelled three days before the event because only a handful of tickets were sold. The scheduled day, people were castigating the committee for pulling out! Get yourself into the Miller’s Tale and BUY YOUR TICKETS for The Valley Players play in November TODAY! It’s going to be a hoot; don’t miss out because you procrastinated!!)

Back on the trail where we left off. Have I loaded the saddlebags with enough guilt yet? I’m not done. Every event taking place in our area needs volunteers. Every one of you has a special talent to share. Are you artistic, can you write? Can you answer a phone, can you do simple math? Will you meet with really enthusiastic people, and at least give us your brilliant ideas? All of us are “too busy,” especially retired people who are supposed to have “free time.” We’re not retired, we’re retreaded!! We’re on to another segment of life that allows us to dabble in things we love: theatre, the arts, whatever.

Please, please, stop saying you’re too busy. We need you so badly before we all burn out and leave our community with no activities at all. If you read this through to the end, it means you care. If you really want to show your commitment, call me. I will put you in touch with a group who needs you. For instance, the organizing committee for RiverEdge is in need of a treasurer. We don’t need an accountant, simply a conscientious person who knows the difference between money in and money out. Every one of us sitting around that first meeting table I mentioned will welcome you with open arms. Don’t make us come begging. Do this for yourself, do it for your community. You will be glad you did.

Whoa, Nellie, we need to get you back in the barn. That was the toughest ride we’ve taken for a while. Off my high horse now. Got to get in and answer that phone! That would be 256–6479. Or email me! Can’t wait to talk to you!

To the Editor,

I was interested in my emotional response to Glenda Jones’ article on volunteering (Are You Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution?, Nov. 2005), beckoning us all out. It rang familiar bells in me — Good Girls Volunteer and other self-diminishing “Shoulds” that seem to float around in my head, and other kinds of hardwiring that are specific to me, but not exactly unusual…

As I read Glenda’s article the faces of many a tired mum came before me. These are (usually) women with young children, whose daily repertoire of activities barely includes sitting down… unless it is to nurse a baby. I am often stunned when chatting on the street with women at what they take on: lists of committees, fundraiser baking, (endless) nursery school commitments. After chatting with them I often want to weep for them. They don’t have the physical space or the psychological space to weep for themselves, as they chase a ceaselessly rolling ball — always just out of reach. Don’t these people need to sit down for an hour or an afternoon or (really radical) a day, and sip tea, so that they can be restored and calm and most importantly: emotionally available parents?? Is anyone doing a statistical analysis of the community benefits of that?

We are all different, I tell myself. Maybe they don’t have the same needs for quiet or rest that I do. Some folks thrive on being busy. You’d think, if you looked at most North Americans, that being busy is just where we are comfortable. Still is scary for many people.

I agree with Glenda that in our community we are blessed with many wonderful festivals and events and services. When you are excited about the work you are doing, when the cause makes your heart pound, the results of volunteering are fabulous. Teaching literacy at the school, filling kids’ needs for focused adult attention really works for me. Assisting my kids in selling candy bars makes me a very grumpy wench.

I remember saying a reluctant “Okay” to requests for me to volunteer for jobs in which my lack of enthusiasm led to work that was cobbled together at the last minute, leaving me guilt-ridden and falling over myself apologizing: not helpful to anyone, least of all me.

I’m a testy gal, and here’s a heretical question: What if some festivals didn’t happen? What if folks chose to hang out with their families, exercise, chat with their neighbour? I benefit from these festivals, but sometimes knowing how much (often reluctant) energy has gone into it with depleted people predictably ending up in conflict… it diminishes my enjoyment of it.

While volunteering I have inadvertently made business contacts, had fascinating conversations, been loaned a life-changing book by meeting the right person, had the repeated pleasure of knowing that the donation of one of my paintings raised money for a worthy cause. Some artists are loathe to give away their work. They feel the poverty wages and zero benefits are contribution enough. Fair enough! Glenda Jones thrives on volunteering. Excellent. I cannot bicker with the choices individuals make.

But in a culture in which many of us are trained to be pleasers at any expense, in which we value visibility but not the subtler contributions people make (like genuinely cheerful magnetic personalities… or grounded parents!), I felt compelled to point out that everyone contributes in very different ways. And sometimes resisting the need to be a good girl, and instead looking after ourselves — spirit and body — can bring a tangible, sparkling energy to our families, and ultimately, community. And sometimes that means NOT volunteering.
— Rosemary Leach, Almonte

To the Editor:

I thought Rosemary Leach’s letter in the January Humm with her thoughts on volunteering was a great one. I’ve done my share of volunteering over the decades, and I do think it’s important that everyone pitch in, at least a little bit. But in order to stay sane, I desperately need regular hunks of time when I am alone, quiet, and doing pretty well nothing and with nowhere to go. I admit to feeling pangs of guilt about this because I’m not whirring like a fan belt night and day. But then, I have a dear friend who needs way more ‘uninvolved’ time than I do, and sees me as one of the fan belt brigade, which goes to show that everyone has their own pace and rhythm and way of maintaining their sanity — and consequently contributing to a stable, peaceful community.

And as to Rosemary’s question “What if some festivals didn’t happen?” What indeed? I can’t believe the number of events going on in just Almonte and Carleton Place every single weekend all year long… not to mention concerts, lectures, plays, workshops and clubs every night of the week. I don’t know how many times I’ve bought tickets to an event I was looking forward to, and when the time came, I decided not to go. The prospect of an evening at home puttering around in baggy clothes with the cats and sorting my sock drawer, was suddenly way more attractive than yet another night of entertainment, socializing and general razz-a-ma-tazz.

So here’s to doing nothing on a regular basis. Here’s to staring at the ceiling or the sky and emptying our brains as often as we can. And here’s to saying NO, at least occasionally, when we’re asked to join another committee or attend another event.
— Susan Fisher, Carleton Place

To the Editor:

In her response to Glenda Jones’s column on volunteering (Are You Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution?), Rosemary Leach raises a good point but leans towards another more worrisome one. She quite rightly questions how we are affected by the presence or absence of any so-called community event. Anyone who organizes any community event (and I speak from some experience) needs to understand that they do so primarily out of private conviction. Just because I believe the world would be a happier place through presenting of the First Ever Valley Widget Fest (an event I am neither proposing nor supporting), is no responsibility of anyone else in my community. These are, for all of their good intentions, private ventures. Just because they succeed on free and equally well-intentioned neighbourhood labour, doesn’t differentiate them from Senators hockey or craft tours and bridal shows. They may indeed enrich and celebrate our community, however, like Rosemary, I feel no investment in something someone else has proposed to be “good” for the community. Further it really falls to the organizers to ensure, not assume, a supporting constituency before proceeding. “If you schedule it they will come” is not a reliable assumption.

On the other hand, there are many other community activities which make up the fibre of our community. When we participate in a religious congregation, send our kids to a school, use a library or skate at the arena, we do in fact bear a real responsibility. I respect Rosemary’s record of support for her community but I find her line of argument about choice misdirected. We are not isolated consumer units free to make whatever choices we believe serves our personal interests. As members of a community, one which we deliberately choose to benefit from, we inherit certain responsibilities. The old fashioned words are “civic duty.” We may feel guilt over the pressure of our many duties, and possibly our failure to carry them all out, but this doesn’t turn them into lifestyle choices.

Whether we attend Widget Fest is most certainly a personal choice. However, if we neglect supporting the many integral components upon which our much celebrated quality of rural life rest, we do so at the risk of watching that disappear. There is much gnashing of teeth at the growing phenomenon of people residing in rural communities and taking their business to the large urban bargain malls, rushing to the city for entertainment or ignoring any involvement in local activities. We need to distinguish such non-negotiable components of that quality of life — voting, supporting community-based services (e.g. libraries, seniors and youth facilities, environmental groups, blood clinics, religious congregations) — as our necessary civic duty. If we judge these solely based on self-interest, we misunderstand the reciprocal nature of our relationships to our neighbours.
— Ray Parchelo, Almonte