New Sensation

Nice going JD!
*high five*

At the risk of sounding like an old timer, I remember when this town was a few tumbleweeds shy of a ghost town. Right around the time I was in junior high in the later 70's every second business seemed boarded up and deserted. I recall hearing my parents talking about moving because my father's job was at risk. He ended up losing that position but they moved him around a bit so his job with the company stayed safe until he retired many years later. The town was depressed, the people were depressed, to my young eyes this town had one foot in the grave. Every one could hardly wait to graduate high school so we could get the hell out of here and go to university and start a new exciting life. When people asked where we were from, the answer was often mumbled and accompanied with an embarassed eye roll.

I'm not sure what turned around. I was too young to understand. We're a heavily industrial place with our factories and pulp mill, so I think it was one of the factories got a very lucrative contract the held well into the future that picked us up out of the mire and breathed some life back into the old gal. We've grown in leaps and bounds in just the last few years with the arrivals of more businesses and call centres. Economically we're actually getting somewhere, finally. It's still small town enough to be comfortable and easy going but big enough that we've got more resources here without having to go to The City for it. Still not enough for ME cause I'm a city girl at heart but I can see how much this place has grown. It's still the kind of place though when meeting someone for the first time, inevitably you get asked your father's name and what he did for a living. " Who's your father now?... Oh yes yes yes, now was he the railway guy or the auto parts guy?" Hahhaha I love it. If they knew your daddy and liked him, you're in.

When I had my daughter I moved home from the West Coast because I wanted her to have what I had growing up and I didn't want to have to worry about her every time she went out the door. This is a great place to raise kids... if you make sure they know there's a whole great big world out there to be explored and savoured.

One bad thing about small towns is small town thinking and small town attitudes. But thankfully this is another thing I can definitely see that has changed about us. The defeatist attitude that seemed so prevelant here for many many years seems to FINALLY be gone. In my opinion I think that's what almost killed us; this smothering sense of not being worthy. The Scottish hard working humility our ancestors brought over almost killed us. You don't flaunt your success. You don't flaunt your wealth. You keep your nose to the grindstone, have a pint after work and head home to supper and family. Frivolous pursuits were not looked upon favourably.

It's like our collective heads have lifted. We finally realize that we CAN be frivolous every now and again. We're certainly worthy enough and we have the talent, we have the drive. We're not just humble little hard workin' factory workers and church goers from Pictou County, Nova Scotia... we can be rock stars; we can be country stars. We have just as much right to stand on that stage with every one else and give it our best bloody shot.

When I think of the odds that George Canyon AND JD Fortune have BOTH captured worldwide attention within a year of each other... and they're both from little ole Pictou Co., Nova Scotia... and the two hockey players Colin White and John Sim both made it to the NHL... my heart swells with pride and alot of that pride is for Pictou Co for finally pulling it's collective head out of it's ass and taking a look around at the rest of the world and deciding we want a piece of the action. Granted it seems like we've gone for it with mucho gusto but BRAVO boys, BRAVO. We're making up for lost time world so WATCH OUT.

I joked to my dad this morning that we could become the next Seattle and my daughter in all her 12 year old wry wisdom said "But where would we put everyone? We've only got 3 motels."