I am proud to be a Revelstokian and feel blessed to live here. There are so many things I am grateful for: the lack of box stores, parkades or high-rises; the miles of unpaved trails; the beautiful, ever changing landscape created by fluctuations of the Columbia River, which assure us there will never be development along its shores.
Everything I need is here. I am grateful for the opportunities afforded me in this caring, evolving community; to join with groups striving to make a difference; to ski on a world class mountain whose name, lest we forget, is Mt. Mackenzie; to be able to cross-country ski, swim in lakes, rivers and pools, or to heli ski, sled, hike, mountain bike or run in the back country, minutes from my door.
Here, crimes are petty, traffic lights minimal, a long commute is five minutes. Bear, deer and moose wander through backyards. Our skies are graced by eagles, osprey and herons. Huckleberries, wild strawberries and Saskatoons await our pails.
I am also grateful for the variety of services and practices available, from acupuncture to massage, from yoga to zumba, from reiki to intuitive healing. I love the bourgeoning restaurant scene that now offers East Indian, English and Japanese food as well as alternative healthy meals.
But most of all I am grateful someone took a chance on me, encouraged me to do what I love and supported me through that first year of living dangerously. My micro business is entering the benchmark year and thriving.
We’re fortunate to live in lotus land – a little town that could. Scores of entrepreneurs like me got their start at Community Futures, whose mandate is to foster small business and encourage creativity and independence.
I am eternally grateful to Carol Palladino and Kevin Dorrius of Community Futures who in 2005 not only didn’t turn me away, but gave me the confidence to believe in what I knew. I never would have survived without their backing.
Barbara J. Little
Revelstoke, BC
