When I had just graduated from high school, my family moved to Grand Island, New York. It was not a community that I would have chosen to live in. I wondered if any people lived here. I saw garage doors opening, cars drive in, and garage doors closing. I did not see people walking down the street or riding bicycles or doing much of anything. I had no friends and felt hopelessly alone.
Over the years, my feelings about my community changed as I made friends and became involved in local activities. I joined the historical society and the community chorus. I found a church to attend. I obtained my freelance job for the Island Dispatch. My feelings also changed because I saw human beings outside and active. I saw people walking dogs, jogging, riding their bicycles, and taking walks. I began to feel that I was actually part of a community, as opposed to living in a "bedroom community," where people simply worked elsewhere and lived without interacting with their neighbors.
Large quantities of trash were picked up in the two-hour cleanup. |
Neil Gallagher serves barbecued pork to the volunteers. |
After the litter pick-up, Neil Gallagher of Too Sauced to Pork served barbecue to all of the volunteers. Neil Gallagher is someone who is very focused on community service.
Visiting with friends |
Town Supervisor Nathan McMurray and Town Board member Beverly Kinney enjoy the day. |
Microgreens add flavor and texture to salads, omelets, and soups. |
Yummy microgreens |
Dynamite cupcake |
We stopped at a marina and then we went to the farmers market, being held at Tom Thompson's farm.
You may pet me. |
For your garden |
Sheila made this to help prevent tick attacks. |
radishes |
Mmm, cupcakes. One of the popular flavor was the french toast cupcake, complete with bacon. |
The Grand Island farmers market brings people out and creates a sense of community for all, farmers and customers alike.
5 comments:
What a wonderful read!! I live in the small town (but well-known!!) Lynchburg, Tennessee (home of Jack Daniel Whiskey). We are quite busy during particular times of the year but even with multiplying our population 4-5x during these events, we seem to keep the "community" idea well within reach. One of my favorite events is the World Championship Invitational Barbecue. Thousands of people come from all over the world to share in the love of good food, music, and a small community. I also love our local 4-H extension office. They get the kids involved, which in turn, gets the parents involved, in cleaning our community up and donating time to the very people who live in our area. I wouldn't want to raise my kids anywhere else!
It's great to see that you're becoming part of a community! I'll admit, I'm still in the process of trying to find mine near where I live, but I've found a great community through my job. It's a community of writers who write for therapeutic purposes, and they are the most welcoming and creative people I've ever met. It is definitely fantastic to be involved in an active, exciting community.
I love your comments, Alice! Community is what keeps us connected, healthy and strong, but we have to work on it. I spent the day going door to door with the designating petitions and was so pleased by the positive response - not a door closed on me. People said they appreciated what I was doing! All it takes is a knock on the door!! Keep on blogging... Celia Spacone
your posts always inspire me so much, Alice! you do so much more in a day than I think i do in longer :)
I am not as active in the community as I should be (perhaps, due to my introverted nature, I never really enjoyed any activities I tried out, years back). The garbage pickup is a wonderful event. But now, police are warning us not to even pick up anything from our front yards, as you never know who may have touched the material. The danger is from contaminated heroin, which has become a terrible problem (three overdose deaths in my small village in one night last week!) With this crisis, community involvement becomes more important than ever.
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