It's all about building a community..

It's all about building a community

Ken Herar, The Times

Published: Tuesday, February 02, 2010

I received probably the nicest e-mail from a reader that I can recall in many years. It read as follows:"You don't know me but I have been reading your columns in the Abbotsford Times for a long time. I just wanted to say that I really enjoy reading your columns as they are quite informative and could be beneficial for the community at large in a variety of ways. I also wanted to say thank you for your involvement with community, especially young kids as you did a little while ago with an essay competition about diversity. I hope you keep doing this for a long time."

Thank you, for such inspiring words and just for your knowledge I have no intentions on leaving in the foreseeable future. One of the reasons I am committing myself for another year is I want to continue to build on our discussions of building an inclusive, diverse community. I still have many people to speak to and topics to explore here at home. Don't get me wrong, we have come a long way in Abbotsford/Mission, but it's still far from perfect.

I just recently created an online blog allowing for a continued discussion on this model.

It sets up a stage beyond our borders were people can plug into our progress on community building anywhere in the world.

Kris Foulds, collections manager at the Reach Gallery Museum in Abbotsford has been patiently assisting me with my research on microfilm dating back to 1995.

Harwant Brar, who was doing his research on the history of the local Sikh's shared his comments with me: "it is important what you are doing because we are creating history."

Foulds said: "A big part of my job as The Reach's collections manager is documenting the stories or an artifact and share those stories in exhibits and programs. Research is a major part of being able to do that and an aspect of my job that I enjoy most. I enjoy helping visitors to the archives try to document their own or family history. I invariably learn something during the process and the researcher leaves with a sense of his or her place in the community, something to share with their family and great dinnertime conversation material."

The archives is a great place to visit and I encourage anyone with an afternoon to spare to make an appointment and come in and check it out, said Foulds.

Social media is the way of the future and there is an opportunity for everyone to publish and post. All they have to do is develop trust with their audience.

Feel free to visit me at: www.KenHerar.blogspot.com

- Ken Herar is a columnist for the Abbotsford & Mission Times. Contact him at KenHerar@gmail.com

© Abbotsford Times 2010