Submitted by Lewis Lavandier

The first thing I did after coming out of the Conference was to order each of our municipal Council Members a copy of Doug Griffiths and Kelly Clemmer’s book,  “13 Ways to Kill Your Community”, to help prevent some of those same mistakes being made in our Town.  I came away optimistic and re-energized and feeling inspired.(ii) my personal commitment to undertake an action to improve my community, based on the inspiration of the Georgetown Conference that will ensure that we continue to build momentum, and it will encourage and inspire others:

I have already started to take what I have learned from the Georgetown Conference inspirational speakers and presenters to my municipal Council.  Last Saturday our Council attended a facilitated forum to brainstorm ideas of shared interest along with 18 other municipal and county councils.  We felt this brainstorming session was a huge success and will help us to continue the conversations that began at the Georgetown Conference.  It was decided at this session to form a committee with representatives from each community to try to promote our area, pool resources and build on joint calendars, joint marketing, asset mapping and to engage and  market our whole area to residents, new business, youth, seniors and especially newcomers.  I see a lot of potential in communities working together for the greater good of our rural area; therefore, we are appointing a member of Council to work with this committee and we will be working closely with them going forward.  It must not stop at the end of the Georgetown Conference.

I would again like to thank Wade & Paul and the other organizers of the Conference without whom none of this would have happened.

Lewis Lavandier, Mayor Town of Georgetown