Getting Involved

I have gotten back into the meeting loop lately because of writing for the newspaper.  This is a good thing.  There is so much going on in a community that it is hard to keep up.  The one thing I see is that most meetings are not very well attended.

I know how hard it is to get out after a long day and attend a "boring" meeting.  Most of the time, the meetings I attend only have board members, some staff and maybe one or two other audience members.  There are a lot of standard, routine items on the agendas, but there are also items that can be of interest to many.

In a small community, like where I live, many people serve on several boards and take the brunt of the load.  They are to be commended.  It is a lot of work.

Then  you have the people in the community that are quick to complain but don't want to get involved.  The other group would be those that only come out when there is a controversial item to be discussed or an item that  they are personally passionate about.  This is all fine, but we need to remember that it takes a whole community to have a strong community. 

I would offer this suggestion...pick an area of your community in which you have interest...school, fire, youth, etc. and try to attend one of their meetings every other month or so.  Don't just show up when there is a problem...help be proactive in preventing problems.

Remember it is your community...be a part of it!