First blog post!

We had our first get together last night, November 21, 2017.  For our first meeting, we had a great turnout- about 22 people! Thank you everyone who was able to attend, we look forward to our next meeting, which will be JANUARY 9, 2018. Social cocktail and appetizer time will be from 5:30 – 6:15 and the meeting portion will follow.  Some highlights from our first meeting:

• Three top priorities were discussed:
  • 1. Start a Village Market. The goal is to host this at Brookside on Monday nights in the spring, summer and fall. We will have vendors, food, music, drinks and we anticipate a flourishing, family-friendly scene!
  • 2. Re-vamp the Whitewater Festival triathlon event to move the focus from whitewater weekend to the actual triathlon event. Great way to get more people involved in an active outdoor event!
  • 3. Re-introduce Mak Attack fishing days. This will be a 36 hour event, catch and release only – with the goal of catching the largest Mak in the lake! What a great idea that will include so many people, families, and take advantage of one of our greatest assets- the lake!
• We also all discussed the importance of a “green space” that we can utilize for a plethora of events. This will more than likely be a key focus for the group moving forward –
• Other items discussed (which will absolutely be discussed in more detail at following meetings):
  • Film Festivals
  • Craft Beer Relay
  • Winter events (maybe a winter craft beer relay on skis? or an event at the Ferndale airport?)
  • Nordic Skiing events
  • Whitewater Wednesdays
  • 501c3 status
  • How to attract Uber or other car services to our community
  • How can we become more involved as a greater community with the freedom run, the spartan race, brewfest and other events?
  • Creating a five year plan for our group and our community
  • Other events that incorporate active lifestyles into our local community
  • Farm to table events

I left our meeting energized with a  new found faith in individuals ability to come together, with strong & respectful voices, determination & creativity, and an overall genuine desire to make our community a better place for us, our families, visitors and future generations…. now all we need to do is take action on our ideas!