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What's in a Name? (11.04.04)
Today is World Leader election day. By the time you read this the winner will hopefully be chosen and the riots should be well on their way. Since I was born I was always made aware that if the Red Sox win then the end cant be far behind. Now with Iran backing Bush, that sounds like the end to me.
So while ignorant doom hangs over I'll rest easy focusing my pen at least one more time on my favorite corner of the globe. The corner that sheepishly calls itself the Outdoor Recreation Capital of Canada (ORCC). Is anyone else sick of that title yet? When it was first unleashed I was plum excited. Finally I thought, finally someone gets it and Squamish is willing to grab the gumption needed to fulfill that title. After all, it's a ballsy title. Especially when developers come snooping for the next small town to make into the soulless Surrey strip mall special. Developers don't always like a town that might actually tell them no. It would be much easier to be pushed around if we dropped that moniker. But wait, it just might turn into more pretty words that don't have much pull. After all what does it mean anyway, and to who? I know what it means to me but it's obvious that there are other interpretations. To some outdoor recreation is a restaurant with a patio, to others it's an eleven hour self propelled trip to the peak of heaven and back. And in the middle lie the masses.
The title's birth came at a different time in our transition period. The recreationists were considered a vocal minority. These would be those born or found here who have actually chosen to change their lives so that they can play in the great outdoors. Not the so-so outdoors, not the mediocre outdoors, but the great outdoors. Hikers, bikers, climbers, windsurfers, kayakers, bolderers, kite boarders, the list as you know goes on and only stops short of surfing. Slowly but surely the numbers appear to have shifted. At least the major voter turnaround would hint at a change in attitude by the electing of a council fiercely waving the ORCC banner. Now in true political style of not being able to please everyone all the time it appears to some that banner is just to be waved at times of convenience.
We're close to having a vision with teeth when the OCP and countless other reviews are finished. Unfortunately, it appears that may be long after the damage is done. Until then I voted for picking paths by thinking "what would the Outdoor Recreation Capital of Canada do?" After all, decisions are easier to make when you know who you are. So, who are we? Are we truly the ORCC? Or is it just another CROC.
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