COMMUNITY THAT CARES

In one of my previous missives I talked about having crazy neighbours and ended the piece mentioning that we were lucky to have neighbours like Ross and Debbie that aren’t afraid to help out. That means a lot. One of the big things about Port Perry has always been the fact that the town is populated by a great number of people that genuinely care. For the welfare of the community, the buildings, the environment and the people that inhabit the area. Take a look around at what people are willing to do. A year and a half ago I joined the group The 100 Men of Scugog. Wish I had done it sooner. The group, led by Tyler Renaud and Nick Semeniuk, meets once every three months and hears presentations from local charities in need of funding. And lord knows we have a lot of groups in need of funding these days. Start with food banks and work out from there. There was a time many many years ago that smaller communities rallied around causes and made things happen as a collective. Whether it involved building something or raising funds. Whatever was needed got done. In many areas that giving seemed to dry up. Except not around Scugog. I have lived in a number of busy areas in the GTA for one reason or another. Many years ago I had the luxury of travelling around the province and seeing many of these small towns up close for a week at a time. That was an eye-opener. Every one I visited I would compare to Port Perry. For a myriad of reasons. One of the main things I kept coming back to was the exceptional people of this area. Check any of the recent publications and you will see local businesses getting involved with community donations. The hospital has been on the receiving end of many a very handsome donation. Many of the local merchants carve out some of their well-earned dollars to hand over to very worthy causes. Dana’s Goldsmithing, Mark Willes, McMurtry Law to name just a few. Apologies to any that I left out here. Please get in touch and I would be happy to do a follow up. There are also the Lions Club and the local Rotary chapter that stage fund raisers to benefit local causes. Thing is this isn’t something that has just been going on lately. I remember attending fund raisers 30 to 40 years ago for one cause or another. The Town Hall rebirth was a good example of that. And the old Post Office. I have yet to see or hear of someone saying “No thanks” when there is a good chance to lend a helping hand. That is one of the things that makes this community a notch or two above many I have visited. They also help out in times of need if a family has suffered a tragic setback. Offering time and whatever money they can raise to help out. There are many reasons why this little town has become somewhat of a lightning rod for people wanting to move here. One of the very good reasons is the appetite by the local folks to help out.

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