Home is ALWAYS home!
Each year my family and I spend July at “home” with our family and friends who remain in the area or return as well for a visit. It is a true vacation we look forward to each and every year. I am proud to say, my children would love an "opportunity" to move there and raise their own families some day.
Some day ...
Lately, however, I read such desolate news stories for the CBC, the Globe and Mail, Chronicle Herald, amongst others, about the area, using the words like "dying" and "out of options". How can this be? Do we not all have a responsibility for our neighbours? Doesn't success of one, mean the success for all?
All around the community are success stories of small towns recovering, building, restoring, and benefiting from the multitude of tourists who come to Nova Scotia each year. Yet, despite the beauty of Marine Drive and the need for many of these tourists to “pass through” Mulgrave on the way to somewhere else, no one is stepping up to provide even options.
Still, each year I return home and as my children age, I get SO excited about the “potential” of the area.
I witness year over year key residents who continue to work tirelessly to promote and engage the residents and visitors alike. Because of this, I don’t feel the answers to the ultimate success of Mulgrave will come from the adjacent counties or the province, for that matter. I think the ultimate success of Mulgrave will come from the residents, and those former residents who continue to come home year over year. With a little help, Mulgrave could capitalize on the existing media attention and grow from within—attract developers with resources to spend on a revitalization to enable Mulgrave to re-establish a school, businesses, and eventually population.
There are so many examples of towns coming back from the brink and becoming so much stronger than they ever were previously, that I can see no other outcome from Mulgrave. Surrounded as they are by communities who have reached success, to remain stagnant will concede defeat. To try something—anything, will cost minimal money, maximum human effort, and provide dividends for a legacy which will be felt for the generations to come.
Each year my family and I spend July at “home” with our family and friends who remain in the area or return as well for a visit. It is a true vacation we look forward to each and every year. I am proud to say, my children would love an "opportunity" to move there and raise their own families some day.
Some day ...
Lately, however, I read such desolate news stories for the CBC, the Globe and Mail, Chronicle Herald, amongst others, about the area, using the words like "dying" and "out of options". How can this be? Do we not all have a responsibility for our neighbours? Doesn't success of one, mean the success for all?
All around the community are success stories of small towns recovering, building, restoring, and benefiting from the multitude of tourists who come to Nova Scotia each year. Yet, despite the beauty of Marine Drive and the need for many of these tourists to “pass through” Mulgrave on the way to somewhere else, no one is stepping up to provide even options.
Still, each year I return home and as my children age, I get SO excited about the “potential” of the area.
I witness year over year key residents who continue to work tirelessly to promote and engage the residents and visitors alike. Because of this, I don’t feel the answers to the ultimate success of Mulgrave will come from the adjacent counties or the province, for that matter. I think the ultimate success of Mulgrave will come from the residents, and those former residents who continue to come home year over year. With a little help, Mulgrave could capitalize on the existing media attention and grow from within—attract developers with resources to spend on a revitalization to enable Mulgrave to re-establish a school, businesses, and eventually population.
There are so many examples of towns coming back from the brink and becoming so much stronger than they ever were previously, that I can see no other outcome from Mulgrave. Surrounded as they are by communities who have reached success, to remain stagnant will concede defeat. To try something—anything, will cost minimal money, maximum human effort, and provide dividends for a legacy which will be felt for the generations to come.