HAPPY ANNIVERSARY FOLKS!!!
For thousands of years, from this river and its tributaries, the forefathers of our tiny villages and settlements have been delivered the fundamentals of life. Early in our history, she allowed us access to this land-of-plenty and kindly offered us sustenance from her unending supply of Atlantic salmon and trout. Her waters gave us what we so desperately needed for the very essence of life! And what did we do to thank her – to show our gratitude and appreciation for her kindness? We dammed her flow from bank-to-bank, cut and burned thousands upon thousands of acres of her perfectly protected watershed, sent millions of tons of eroded topsoil into her waves and choked her clear waters with our sewage and industrial waste!
We have been cruel to our river; this we cannot deny! She has been in this place, receiving constant strength from her tributaries for thousands of years as her waters quietly flow to the sea. And, she “will” be here, until the end of time! The question is . . . Will We?
Two years have elapsed since we last saw her wrath – and still we sit; complaining, waiting for “someone” – to save us – hoping she will not raise her waves again against us as the spring ice flows!
We embarrassingly, have become a “people of blame!” We would like to think that everyone but ourselves is responsible for the devastation showed on our community! We constantly look to our uncaring Governments for hand-outs and solutions. It’s time to pull our heads out of the “wet sand” along the River Saint John and create a vision of community resurgence and survival! It’s time for “us” to stand- up!
In just 24 months, we have done plenty! We have ripped dozens of historic homes and businesses from the foundations of our ancestors – many have been savagely crushed and delivered to landfills, others have been dragged away and dumped on a hill – out of sight – out of mind! We have allowed the “very essence” of our community to be fragmented! Now, we are being tempted with foolish plans for golf courses and skate-board parks to replace our community. Without population and visitors, convenient tee-times should be easy to book!
If we like, we can just sit back, and allow “others”, who care less about the future of our way of rural life in this place, to quickly destroy all that we all hold so dear in life. We can watch as our children abandon dreams of returning to continue our forefather’s legacy . . . Or, we can get organised and stand united! We can evict and ignore these short-sighted “band aid” solutions and we can stay and fight! The decision is “only ours” to make!
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men,
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!
(The best laid schemes of Mice and Men
oft go awry,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!)
Robert Burns, To a Mouse (Poem, November, 1785)
Food for thought from the heart of “Rowdy Roddy Piper”
