It Takes a Village ...

On the global scale of things, with human population measured in billions and cities claiming head counts of multiple millions, our little prairie community with it's population of approximately 1,000 people just barely tips us into the designation of town status.  Any smaller and we would be a village.  Smaller yet is called a hamlet, and believe it or not the Saskatchewan government has come up with 'Designated Service Area' to describe what is all too common in our landscape - places so low in population that in order to continue managing basic services like water treatment and road maintenance are being absorbed into the Rural Municipality in which they are situated. 

There are most certainly some larger family farms with a higher people count than what appears on a map as a bona fide town.  I doubt that anyone from New York or Hong Kong or Rio de Janeiro could even comprehend the space and isolation we enjoy, but that's okay - I have no desire to experience their lifestyle either.

The thing about humans, though, is that the concept of community is not measured in numbers.  It does not matter how many bodies you have to do the work as long as everyone is focussed on the same goal. Whether we live in a huge metropolis or a little town, we all strive to strengthen what we have and build towards an ever more prosperous future.  We see a need like a hospital and recognise that we have a role to play in its success.  A city has to plan for maybe 800 beds, a town only 12, but neither will come to fruition unless these communities step up to the plate.

Large cities have Philharmonic Orchestras - towns have school bands.  Cities build huge stadiums for their big franchise teams - we support our hometown teams in our little arenas.  They have their large theatre companies - we have the local drama club.  The desire to have things like play parks for our kids, safe streets, and healthy Chambers of Commerce is the same throughout human populations, and we all work toward these goals.  I can't help feeling though, that the per capita involvement in little towns is way higher.  We don't have the luxury of many many hands.  Instead we tend to wear many many hats.

Autumn (once the growing season in our farming community is behind us) is our busiest social season.  Between now and Christmas there will be three big fund raising events: one in support of our Health Foundation, one sponsored by the local branch of the Wildlife Federation - a major contributor to local endeavors, and one put on by the local Arts Board.  Each event will offer food, entertainment and prizes donated by local businesses either raffled or auctioned off throughout the evening; all proceeds going back into community projects to improve life for all of us.

Although it's not within my usual comfort zone I find myself helping out the local drama club for the Health Foundation evening.  Last night was dress rehearsal and as our group worked to pull together our black light theatre production the foundation group were wrapping up what had to have been a full day of setting tables, decorating, and placing and labeling prizes. 

The thing that struck me was how many of these people would also be at the core of the other two fundraisers - so many of us are interchangeable that way.  The hockey players are also in drama, the Lion's Club members running the bar also have kids in 4H, the executive of the Foundation donated one of the trailers that make up the stage.  The guy running the sound system is also in the theatre production and will be helping to serve supper.  If you drew a line connecting everyone contributing to the evening the resulting diagram would look like a spider's web.  Or a better description would be a safety net: we are all our own safety net.

It could just be my plain old civic pride but being a part of this makes me appreciate our just-barely-a-town status all the more, and I'm reminded of something I've been observing for years - the smaller the town, the bigger the heart.