Interesting to learn about the situation on Texada. Over here we have the C. of Commerce, which is an invaluable networking and community-building tool for the business side of the town. And I suppose plenty of people get their tribal affiliation from a church or other social grouping (sports/recreation being maybe the biggest one here). It’ll be interesting to see how those who don’t easily fit into these tribes will create their own. Maybe it’s too heterogeneous a crowd to find anything like a centre of gravity, and will disperse back into individual atoms. I hope not.

Also, just a quick note on the “Chamber of Commerce” vs. “Chamber of Commoners” nomenclature: On Texada we have a Chamber of Commerce that for many years has functioned exactly like the Chamber of Commoners that is starting in Powell River. Sometimes I think affectionately of our Texada Chamber as a “Chamber of Non-Commerce,” because it’s much more about sharing community than promoting business, despite its name.

As long as we’ve got our feet on the ground, does it matter what we call the gathering place?

Cheers!