If You Ask Me / By Martha Knight

Can’t we all just get along?

There are times we think the answer is “No! And we’re darned if we will even try!”

But sometimes there are indications of community spirit, common interests, neighborliness and good will that tell us, this is a community with the ability to pull together.

Thursday night was a case in point. I am sure more than one thing happened Thursday night, but the one I refer to happened at the elementary school, in the “Blue Room,” and was meant to find out whether there is enough local interest to pursue development of a water trail, and some river-related activities and businesses here.

The handful of people hoping others would be interested had worked hard to promote the meeting. They had sent out announcements and flyers and emails used the media and buttonholed folks. But it’s really hard to get people to come out to meetings!

When we got there a few cars were in the lot, a handful of people in the meeting room. One officer of the sponsoring organization greeted people as they came in, and murmured to some that he hoped people were not too busy with other events or preparations; it would be nice to have a good turn-out.

The speakers had brought plenty of material and prepared an interesting program, packed with facts and statistics and encouraging indicators and reasons to pursue water trails or river-related activities and enterprises.

More people came in, and populated the seating area. There were a few youngsters who had come with their parents. They tried their best to put up with all the grownup stuff, but soon found opportunities to get out into the hall or other more interesting places nearby, still under observation by adults. Inside, the audience was attentive.

All age groups were represented, except newborn: retired, older adults, young marrieds. There were professionals, entrepreneurs, working stiffs. Some like to kayak, some would rather fish, some would not get into a boar but they love to hike and bike, some would rather relax on a campground near the river, some would rather run the campground, some want to put people up at night and some want to feed them and sell them all sorts of gear and supplies.

The interest level was such that discussion kept on going, with questions and comments popping like Redenbachers.

Thinking of some meetings in that room, when a crowd had showed up for a meeting, I tried to recall when there had been such a display of hopeful good will, so much positive energy.

As one of the organizers observed when people were leaving, it was really quite remarkable. “There were no nay-sayers! I thought there would be at least a few who would say it is a really dumb idea, who needs a water trail?”

No rain fell on the parade, though. Seldom, make that never, was heard a discouraging word.

It’s early days yet. But there are favorable indicators, and enough positive interest at this point to show the committee that it will be possible to reach critical mass if the people who showed interest Thursday night follow through in the coming weeks and months.

Earlier in the week I had been in a meeting where one of the officials remarked that he didn’t know quite how to view the Port Allegany Area Economic Development Corporation. He had seen it be active, and inactive, and sometimes it seemed as if other municipalities or groups outside the borough were not that welcome.

A PAAEDC member at that meeting hastened to assure him that the reawakened organization is different now, more energetic and definitely open to more people, more ideas, and the whole area.

One thing about a water trail is that it would not be practical to confine it to the borough. The river originates to the east and keeps going to the north and west, somewhat restrained but never quite confined by its banks and flood control.

Regionality is a doctrine being preached by government, by planners, by industry, by tourism promoters. As each planning commission and blight battling combine and services seeker or provider realizes, there is no way to go it alone. We can’t be isolationists, observing and defending our own borders.

We can’t pretend what we allow to flow into the creek here won’t keep going downstream. The Allegheny River and our Alleghenies, the Seneca Highlands and the foothills are eternal. Old Baldy becomes shaggy, but trails still take us to The Rocks, and those echoes shout back from Steele Hollow as they have done for millennia.

The elements of our topography serve as natural connections, more than barriers. The boundaries may seem permanent, but fly over our portion of Google Earth and see how our puny marks on the planet fade, even faster than the satellite images can be updated.

We’re in this together, after all. Sometimes we have a refreshing, renewed awareness of that. The meeting Thursday night was one of those times.

We all knew Congress was still locked in combat from which no winner would emerge. In one room, for nearly two hours, there was positive energy. There was constructive discussion, and commonality was acknowledged freely.

We refer to this area as Greater Port Allegany. The sum is greater than any of its parts, or anything less than all, isn’t it? We named the school district after the central part, the borough, and that is the name of the post office that serves much of Liberty Township. But Greater Port Allegany owes its “greatness” to the fact that it is neighbored by other municipalities.

A river runs through it, similar in name. A handy reference point, a map boundary, and a unifier.

Peace.