Where do we go from here?

Some if history’s finest moments have come from a deep split between two factions, then a measured mellowing-out of opposite views into a workable compromise — which often is better than either of the original proposals. So let it be in this, our little town, which sits silently by, waiting for its future destiny to open up and become reality. This is a town which has seen many profound changes in the last century: It has all the elements of an antebellum period in history, where wars have been won and lost. But the nucleus of the town, the spirit and the opportunities, are still here. Still, it will take some dedicated and mature thinking and planning to bring about the real potential of this town and its surrounding countryside.This is poor advice, coming from an ex-newspaper publisher, building-industries executive, and piano player. (Egads, how did he get into the picture?)Still, we have “been there” and “done that,” and our best counsel to our beloved town is “Be patient”; our best course lies ahead, and by “opening-up” to other viewpoints and taking the best elements of each into account we can carve out a master plan that works.This, coming from a guy who can’t even play his day, let alone a whole community’s future, should be regarded as advice easily cast aside; consider the source and instead rely on the expert land-planners who understand what the land can tolerate and what it cannot. (That is the question: What are we doing to the land and what must we activate now to keep from just burying this beautiful valley under asphalt and concrete?)On one hand, we open Pandora’s box of “horribles” by letting rampant growth consume us; on the other hand, we let our town slip into oblivion by doing nothing to chart its future course.In fact, this is no rudderless ship we are riding onto the rocks; it is still a quaint little village with its own brand of charm. From the nucleus of what others planned and built before us, we can continue to set the tone for future growth which will give our children and heirs the message to keep up the good fight. (And fight it will be; you can depend on that. Our biggest enemy is, and always has been, the profit motive: “What’s in it for me?”) To that we must say “Back off!” This land is a sacred trust and it is not up for grabs to the highest bidder! Most of us moved here for the quaint flavor of our village, and we’d be fools to let that particular quality escape us under the lure of quick profits today (and headaches tomorrow).