NEW HOPE FOR BLYTH

BLYTH FACING UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITIES

The closing of our only school by Avon Maitland District School Board was a serious blow to our community. My pessimism is fading as I begin to see glimmers of new ways of mitigating that tragic loss. Sometimes it takes a shattering blow to enable us to discover potential we did not know we possessed.

BLYTH: FREE OF ITS SHACKLES

I have had a lot to say about our community of Blyth being abandoned by the school board which, we assumed, should represent us: our community and our children.

We now know, and everyone knows, the kind of people who run the Avon Maitland District School Board. The questions which now come to mind are these:

“Would we really want to be represented by this group?” and

“Why are we not celebrating the fact that we are no longer shackled by that dysfunctional and misguided board which has sacrificed our school (and others) in order to erect a monument to themselves?”

I really believe that Blyth will survive and thrive in spite of, and perhaps because of, our being abandoned by the Avon Maitland District School Board.

There are signs that encourage this optimistic viewpoint.

Blyth is unique. Despite the fact that we share the struggles of small rural communities across Canada, we are special.

Ø  We have the Blyth Festival of the Arts, approaching its 39^th year of achievement.

Ø  We have the Huron Pioneer Threshers’ and Hobby Association with over 50 years of annual Threshers’ Reunions.

Ø  We have a new and exciting Emergency Services Training Centre, attracting the attention of emergency services organizations across Ontario and beyond.

Ø  We have one of the largest serviced campgrounds in Canada which is just beginning to realize its true potential as a destination for camping groups.

None of these are “branch plant” entities. They benefited from outside support and ideas, but they emerged from local initiative and vision.

As impressive as these achievements are, they reflect only a thumbnail view of their potential for the future. Whether we take advantage of that potential or not is moot.

The potential lies in our response to changing circumstances that are already in motion. Many of our past disadvantages are becoming advantages. Societal changes are rolling over us willy-nilly, but we have the choice of riding the tides or drowning.

BROADBAND INITIATIVE

History keeps repeating itself. Technologies are initially adopted in large centres and only slowly rolled out to the hinterlands.

• The first telephone systems were confined to cities and towns. It was considered too costly to extend telephone lines into the sparsely populated rural concessions.
• Many rural areas failed to get hydro services until the late 40s. The barrier was the perceived prohibitive cost of distribution through those areas.
• Recently, in this area we participated in a project to get internet access out to the rural parts of Huron and Perth counties. Like the others involved, I firmly believed that wireless technology was the only way to reach these areas. It never occurred to us that fibre would be a feasible delivery vehicle to the farm gate.  This opinion, unless over-ridden, would confine rural areas to sub-optimal broadband and bandwidth access.
• The Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus has launched a project to change all that. They are holding conversations across SW Ontario to try to develop a business case for extending super high speed internet service to every household and business in this entire area. 

If successful, this initiative will open up for us the opportunity of a lifetime – literally.

We have been shackled by the concept of being too far away from the big cities and Highway 401 to be successful. Well, 401 has become Toronto’s disadvantage (for many people). With commuting times growing annually, life in or near the big city is becoming intolerable and unsustainable for many people. We can offer freedom from those commuting hours, less expensive housing, cleaner air, calmer life-style, so long as we can also offer unlimited, extremely high speed, reliable connectivity. Hundreds of thousands of people are able to do most of their work from any location on earth (or even from a space station) so long as they have the ultimate in connectivity.

Face to face meetings are often necessary for people who work remotely, but even these are accommodated by advanced technologies and excellence of connectivity.

CULTURE AS AN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PILLAR

We enjoyed a presentation last week by Gordon Hume, a respected commentator of matters cultural and municipal.

Many of our local communities continue to view cultural matters as effete, frilly, and frivolous matters for people who have more money than they know what to do with. Mr. Hume convincingly demonstrates that culture is as important as the physical infrastructure of our communities, and stands as an equal element within our economic development portfolio.

We have known for some time that a community like Blyth cannot function effectively by relying exclusively on local commerce. We need customers, clients, tourists, culture seekers from outside of our area to keep our community buoyant.

We have also been selected as a key community within Tourist Region 4 enabling Blyth to benefit from regional promotion of what we have to offer visitors from far and wide.

Our Blyth Festival of the Arts has demonstrated the ability to draw that kind of traffic to our community. I believe it has the potential to do even more, based on the concepts of the former Artistic Director, Eric Coates, with his concept of the artist community in “Banff East”. We have been further stimulated by the vision provided to us by a community-based presentation headed by Interim Artistic Director, Peter Smith. They talk of refurbishing the quintessential Blyth Memorial Community Hall, but also blending that in with the initiative to create a new streetscape of the village. The presentation also proposes further development down the road to broaden the footprint of the theatre and other arts. It is important to note the powerful endorsements that came from many community leaders and groups for this initiative.

BROADBAND AND OUR SPECIAL ASSETS

How can we link our technology capabilities, cultural assets, and unique community assets to assist Blyth to achieve its full potential?

That is the topic we need to consider as a community.

SUPPORT REQUIRED

It is important to note that all of these initiatives have come about by community leadership as opposed to local government initiative. All levels of government, including the local municipality, have contributed financially and in other ways, but the spark and the drive have all come from the community.

As we move forward, support will continue to be needed from the Municipality of North Huron as owners of the Memorial Hall, and other facilities in Blyth. But I predict that there will be other matters that will arise which will require a more venturesome and proactive role for the municipality. Whether the council of the day will rise to those occasions or not will depend to a great extent on the vision and the open-mindedness of the members. The municipality will never be expected to lead in these activities, but hopefully, will be prepared to take on a significant and fundamental supportive role to ensure that positive innovations are sustainable.

CONCLUSION

I see this article as a very preliminary view that will become richer and more predictive as time unfolds, but in the meantime, I would welcome comments from people who read this. You can comment within the blog structure or email me directly at hbvodden@ezlink.on.ca

If you contact me through the blog, you can request that I not publish your comments.

Looking forward to hearing from you:

Brock Vodden