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Big “C” community

In a chat with Soren Hammerberg, chair of the Bowen Island Community Foundation, I learned that there is actually a dollar figure to measure community spirit: last year, through our Community Foundation, Bowen Islanders raised $80,000.

In a chat with Soren Hammerberg, chair of the Bowen Island Community Foundation, I learned that there is actually a dollar figure to measure  community spirit: last year, through our Community Foundation, Bowen Islanders raised $80,000. That’s double the amount raised by the West Vancouver Community Foundation in 2013, and West Vancouver is one of the wealthiest communities in Canada.
To my mind, this shows that Bowen Islanders don’t just say they value community --they’re willing to open their wallets to support it.
That said, I think anyone who’s ever been to a public meeting knows how easily all of our small-town, “let’s get along” idealism breaks down when it comes to making decisions that will bring change of any kind. Our broken conversations have brought us to a place where avoiding conversations can seem like a good way to get things done.
In contemplating community as I see it on a weekly basis, with all its wonders and warts, I’ve come to realize we actually don’t know each other as well as we think we do. In our population of 3500, there are sub-communities of all sorts. Every week I get a taste for some of these, but am all too aware of how easy it is to fall into connecting with the same people over and over.
With all of this in mind I thought it would be nice to dig a little deeper into the idea of community, how we live in it and what it looks like. Pauline Le Bel told me she’s been thinking of these things so, enlisting her to write a column seemed like a good idea. You can look forward to her explorations on the subject throughout the summer. I hope that she can bring a fresh perspective on the less tangible demonstrations of community spirit on Bowen, and also, new thoughts about strengthening those.
On that note, I’d like to thank all the people who’ve submitted articles, letters and photos to the paper. Not everything makes it into the paper, and that happens for a variety of reasons, but I really think this conversation can only be strengthened by the expressions of as many perspectives as possible.