Breakfast? At the Hoito?

Ever Had Breakfast at the Hoito?

That should be, have you ever READ “Breakfast at the Hoito”?

You might find the author of Breakfast at the Hoito, Charles Wilkins, hunkering down to a plateful of pancakes in one of Canada’s most historic restaurants in the Finnish quarter of Thunder Bay, the Hoito. The name is finnish for "care".

Wilkins is an observer of life in our City. His writing reflects the inner workings of a community with spirit, heart and its own share of misfortunes.

As we enter our first “Community Learning Day” on Thursday this week, I would like to quote the 2 final pages of Wilkin’s work, published in 1997. That’s almost a dozen years ago.

“I could discuss the city’s assets at length – good air, sweet summers, all the facilities and parks mentioned earlier on these pages – and could think of other things to say about its liabilities. However, the more I think and talk about the place, the more I am reminded that at the core of any community, there is a knot – a complex amalgam of geography and history and fate, plus any number of unresolved hopes, frustrations and biases, interwoven to the point that only the final shaman could ever begin to decipher them.

Thunder Bay’s knot is perhaps harder to untie than most right now, because we are a city in flux and seeking direction. About the only thing we are sure of, it seems, is that we are not about to find that direction where others have found it in the past, and that we must look somewhere else.

We are reminded by those in the know to remember, above all, that we are a community not of economic indicators, but of human beings…and that for the ultimate sustainability, we must look not to Toronto, Ottawa or beyond – but within.

The notion is attractive.

Others tell us our future lies in the diligent reading of precisely those economic indicators that we have been warned to avoid.

Meanwhile, the land and lake are what they ever were, lending grace and endurance and mystery – and their own, unique measure of direction – to our sense of who we are.”

What do YOU think? What are the signs of progress...which issues remain? Let's learn more about how leadership affects community...

WICK-ED!

Wicked! It’s almost Hallowe’en...and here's another version of community leadership, with a WICKED slant.

What we are learning about the nature of complex community problems, by Mark Cabaj. Go to:

http://tamarackcommunity.ca/downloads/index/MC_Wicked.pdf