Only one group of people can elevate a community beyond the ordinary to make it a truly great place to live.
It’s not its government. Under our democratic system, we pool our money by paying taxes to a body that handles the financial transactions on behalf of all citizens to build and repair roads, hire library staff and pay for police service, among other responsibilities.
Every community has a government and a staff tasked to carry out these duties. They’re paid for handling these important matters for us, but only rarely do we expect or receive true passion from those we hire.
If a community is a wonderful place to live, it’s always due to one group: its volunteers.
That’s certainly the case in Squamish, which is an exceptional community because of the people who donate their time and energy to make it so. You see the volunteers at sporting events like Test of Metal, waving flags and cheering on participants even when it’s muddy. You see volunteers on community boards, helping lead decision-making when they’d rather be at home with their families. And when there is a fire, volunteer firefighters rush to the scene for us.
You see volunteers on the sports fields, coaching young soccer, softball and hockey players and trying to teach them about competition, teamwork and life. There’s no glory in coaching eight-year-olds and dealing with often-overzealous parents, but the reward is seeing the children laugh and grow. Volunteers also donate their time in classrooms and for school trips.
The Squamish Valley Music Festival attracts many volunteers, and while some will say it’s for the free tickets, we know they’re the ones standing out in the rain doing unglamorous tasks while others are partying.
And some of our favourite volunteers are those who build and maintain hiking and biking trails. They make Squamish a magical place in the mountains where everyone can escape into nature on alluring paths cut through the woods.
From all of us, thank you to the community’s thousands of volunteers. You are the ones who make Squamish an exceptional place to live.
– Christine Endicott
