We live in such a beautiful valley, with many things to be thankful for in our rural settings. Each amenity, every well cared for park, building, tree, walkway, sign, flag, recreational area such as a skate park, public washroom, beach, splash park and bandshell is painstakingly maintained by staff and often even volunteers or thoughtful public making use of facilities. The majority of residents take pride in our towns, taking a moment to pick up that piece of garbage dropped beside the trash bin instead of in the secured bear proof container or to make sure whatever they bring with them they take out of the bush after a hike. It’s just common decency, common sense and being respectful. Right?
We as adults are often who the next generations look to for guidance, to set an example whether that is through a random act of kindness by holding a door for someone, offering to help them when their arms are full, taking the time to simply show good manners or offering to give up our seat for someone. So many examples of considerate acts viewed in our towns over the years come to my mind. Amazing volunteers that step up continuously to serve in a multitude of ways.
I remember our grandma Lillie saying, “If you don’t show children positive attention, they will seek attention in other ways by acting out.” Food for thought.
In both towns in recent months, we’ve seen an obvious increase in vandalism in our public parks, washrooms, bandshells, beach or other public spaces and it’s becoming pretty frustrating for those whose job it is to constantly maintain those areas for public use, especially with tourism season upon us, the end of another school year and visiting families as well as locals ready to enjoy summertime in the valley. Not to mention the added expense to taxpayers when having to pay for the overtime hours it takes to repair, repaint, and clean often quite disgusting, intentionally destructive damages and inappropriate graffiti that we want to protect innocent eyes from.
Where does the responsibility lie? The requests and sharing what’s been occurring have been circulating for months yet these thoughtless acts are still happening and lately more than ever. Is it time for a community family meeting? Not joking.
Our local RCMP are already covering a huge area as they protect and serve, first responders go above and beyond consistently and volunteer group sare asking for more help ongoing. Municipal staff is being called upon to work longer hours and even though they are being paid, having just repainted a bathroom only to go in the next day to find it destroyed will only result in more overtime, higher taxes and the potential of having those services shut down.
As town staff calls upon the public to report abuse, vandalism and other thoughtless acts in our public places meant to bring joy, fun, relaxation and provide a free service, let’s remember the best ways to address these things. Report what you see, don’t take matters into your own hands, and allow the authorities to do their job. As parents, grandparents and adult friends of youth let’s have honest dialogue with kids about valuing where we live, work, play and go to school.
It never hurts to remind folks, adults and kids alike, that because we do love where we live. We want to welcome others who visit that will leave our valley spreading the word about what a memorable time they had in the North Thompson and how impressed they were with the hospitality here. Here’s hoping there will be some good dinner table dialogue happening and less destructive behaviour to our public places meant for all to enjoy in the days ahead. Let's have a great, positive, respectful summer spent making memories instead of covering up yukky words, picking up dangerous broken glass that could harm little feet or cleaning up disgusting waste. The negative stuff is such a waste of valuable time in a place promoting such spectacular beauty.
