This was going to be a message about beginnings. About fresh starts and exciting paths forward. It still will be, but I must admit that the month of February took its toll.
The tragedy in Tumbler Ridge – a community of comparable size and scope to the one I recently joined here – made it hard to embrace the coming spring.
Shortly after that, I experienced a rather inauspicious milestone that, I suppose, any new resident must experience some day. That is the loss of a community member with whom one shared a bond.
I sat down with Doreen Ball many months ago, for a little more than an hour, before she moved to Vancouver Island to spend the final chapter of her fascinating life closer to her children.
She had been preparing for the move, clearing out her home – once best known as Hummingbird Hollow B&B – and had a stack of Pender Post Society documents, and some old issues of The Pender Post remaining from her days as editor.
I’d just been named editor myself, and she reached out to ask if I’d like them. I went over immediately and stayed longer than I anticipated. We talked about me being new to Pender Island and the juxtaposition of her leaving the place she’d called home. We talked about The Post; about the place it had in the fabric of this community. We talked about my life and her experiences with the path onto which I’d wandered.
In hindsight, I left her home with more than a stack of outdated documents and a library of old issues she couldn’t bear to recycle. I left with a connection to a legacy I had barely understood, and an appreciation that I wasn’t alone, even if she was leaving.
We traded emails frequently after that. She would reach out to lend an ear or share a supportive word. She’d remark on articles I wrote, or changes I was making.
She helped me realize that the community newsletter that had lived for 50 years before I joined the fray wasn’t a static thing. It was always evolving. It was ok to change things if they were no longer working, to trust my experience and follow my passions.
In this issue, you’ll notice some changes. We’ve rejigged our events calendar and expanded the weekly listings into a reference guide. So far, the changes have both been lauded and described as a “dog’s breakfast”. Don’t be shy; tell us what you think.
It was Doreen’s idea to write about her time running the Hummingbird Hollow B&B. I wish I could say I improved them in some way, but every submission was sent to me ready to print. She recently sent me most of the remainder of the series, for publication in the future.
Including the conclusion to the series – a recap of her final year operating her B&B.
I haven’t read it yet. I think I’ll save it for the day it is to be published. I don’t expect it will need much editing, anyway.