We had a book signing last evening at the Greensboro Historical Society Museum. The Society has published a book we titled Bygone Images of Greensboro and as the name implies it is a collection of photographs dating back to the early 1800's. We had a surprisingly good turnout. There was much talk of the old days and the way things used to be. Stories were told and memories shared. All in all, a very pleasant evening.
Toward the end of the evening a lady asked the question how could we revitalize the downtown area. She was speaking of attracting business and commerce. She ,along with a lot of others, think of the day when new life can be breathed back into the town. Naturally a discussion of funding followed. It was at this point I felt compelled to speak. It is my belief unless you first establish community, any venture to revitalize downtown will be met with failure. That is, unless a tremendous windfall was to befall the town to attract a major business to employ hundreds. Barring that, we are on our own. I also believe community is people. It is the citizens of the town that make the community. Buildings,clubs and functions are secondary to that. Religious affiliation, race and national origin should also be second to that. Community must come first.
With the anniversary of the assassination of Kennedy on my mind I was reminded of his famous words, " ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." That same statement applies to a community. We can begin by just saying hello. The simple act of acknowledging your fellow citizens can go a long way to establishing a community. Let's get to know one another. It doesn't take festivals,parades, bazaars and large mass gatherings to accomplish this. It takes saying, hello.
Community involvement does not have to include vast sums of money. Many things cost little or nothing at all. By all working together for the common good, much can be done. In this modern world of mass transit,mass communication and the ability to retrieve information so readily, why have we become so isolated from one another ? It would seem we longer have the trust in our fellow man that we once enjoyed. Why do we find it so hard to accept others for who they are ? We have become a paranoid society. We have closed the door on community !
What will be my contribution to the community ? I have an interest in history and the recording of the past. The preservation of the old cemeteries is important to me. Those souls there are a part of the community as well. Saving the past is not just saving old buildings and artifacts. Saving the past includes recording the thoughts and feelings of the community over the ages. The explanation of why and the logic employed to arrive at certain decisions can be fascinating. What I like to call the justification of man. We can come up with some pretty strange ideas at times.
I can get pretty wound up about the subject of community. I become annoyed when I am told community is money and business. It is not. Those things are the by-products of a healthy community. A healthy community begins with its' citizens. You get the people together and the rest comes along naturally.
Toward the end of the evening a lady asked the question how could we revitalize the downtown area. She was speaking of attracting business and commerce. She ,along with a lot of others, think of the day when new life can be breathed back into the town. Naturally a discussion of funding followed. It was at this point I felt compelled to speak. It is my belief unless you first establish community, any venture to revitalize downtown will be met with failure. That is, unless a tremendous windfall was to befall the town to attract a major business to employ hundreds. Barring that, we are on our own. I also believe community is people. It is the citizens of the town that make the community. Buildings,clubs and functions are secondary to that. Religious affiliation, race and national origin should also be second to that. Community must come first.
With the anniversary of the assassination of Kennedy on my mind I was reminded of his famous words, " ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." That same statement applies to a community. We can begin by just saying hello. The simple act of acknowledging your fellow citizens can go a long way to establishing a community. Let's get to know one another. It doesn't take festivals,parades, bazaars and large mass gatherings to accomplish this. It takes saying, hello.
Community involvement does not have to include vast sums of money. Many things cost little or nothing at all. By all working together for the common good, much can be done. In this modern world of mass transit,mass communication and the ability to retrieve information so readily, why have we become so isolated from one another ? It would seem we longer have the trust in our fellow man that we once enjoyed. Why do we find it so hard to accept others for who they are ? We have become a paranoid society. We have closed the door on community !
What will be my contribution to the community ? I have an interest in history and the recording of the past. The preservation of the old cemeteries is important to me. Those souls there are a part of the community as well. Saving the past is not just saving old buildings and artifacts. Saving the past includes recording the thoughts and feelings of the community over the ages. The explanation of why and the logic employed to arrive at certain decisions can be fascinating. What I like to call the justification of man. We can come up with some pretty strange ideas at times.
I can get pretty wound up about the subject of community. I become annoyed when I am told community is money and business. It is not. Those things are the by-products of a healthy community. A healthy community begins with its' citizens. You get the people together and the rest comes along naturally.
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