Today I attended a small ceremony just behind the bustling Codrington Farmer’s Market. We were there to plant two apple trees in commemoration of this year’s 50th Applefest: one to remember the apple growers of the past, and one to dedicate to the apple growers of the future. While there are certainly fewer apple growers today than there were in the past, it struck me that our annual celebration in some way ensures some continuity of that industry here, bringing the past, present, and future together. Applefest is more than a festival or party. Some of the apple growers who held a golden shovel for the photos today were growing apples before the first Applefest, fifty years ago; for them, Applefest celebrates their legacy. For the young apple growers who held a shovel today, it celebrated their heritage as they inherit the industry and culture. And for all of us, it’s a touchstone for community.
Somewhat fittingly, I ran into Catherine Stutt and Ralph de Jong, and “what’s new?” turned into a long conversation. Whenever I hear about some volunteer effort to enhance and support culture in our community, I expect that one or both of these people are involved somehow. As Catherine told me today, “we have a hard time saying no to things.” Their main thing these days is the Brighton Digital Archives, a growing collection of thousands of photos and videos cataloguing Brighton’s past. Ralph draws on his past career at TVO as he digitizes old videos and produces new ones, including interviews with residents whose perspective on Brighton serves to augment and even challenge a relative newcomer like me. Catherine’s experience as a magazine editor prepares her for one of their main challenges, capturing the stories that go along with the images.
We talked about what the photos mean to those who donate them: albums containing photos that often go back a century, each one a memory–and often, the person donating the photograph is the only person left who remembers that moment, event, or person. It struck me that there is something very human, almost universal, about wanting to be remembered. Most of us will only truly be remembered for one generation after we pass; once those who knew us personally have also passed on, anything that is left of us becomes an artifact of a past time.
Those artifacts are also incredibly valuable. Catherine asked me what the BDA’s work means to me, a relative newcomer to Brighton. I told her that while I don’t know the people in those old photos, and likely don’t even know their descendants, I can recognize where they are much of the time, and that forges a connection between me and the Brighton of generations past. I tend to be oriented to the future, and my contributions to this community are about ensuring that we have policies and infrastructure that prepare us for a brighter tomorrow; but looking at photos of volunteers hand-shovelling snow to clear Main Street a hundred years ago is a good reminder that this community is built on many people investing their effort and intention over generations.
As we approach the middle of this term of council, I’ve been thinking about legacy quite a lot. Two years ago at this time I was thinking about ideas and goals, with a list of pivotal policies and issues to address. We blew through many of those fairly quickly: we’ve purchased land for affordable housing, wrote a new Strategic Plan, budgeted for an Integrated Sustainability Plan (currently reviewing proposals, we should be getting started on the plan this fall!), and started an Inter-Municipal Task Force on Housing and Homelessness, to name a few. Now my focus is shifting to the question of what lasting impact these initiatives will have, knowing that starting something is much easier than following through. My focus over the second half of this term will be to make sure that good changes will stick, and on supporting and encouraging those who will come after me.
Fifty years ago, those apple growers had no idea that Applefest would become what it is today, or that they would be standing next to a new generation of growers to plant trees for the future. Those people shoveling main street had no idea that photos of them would inspire and inform a councillor a century later. But through traditions like Applefest, and through artifacts like those preserved by the Brighton Digital Archives, their legacy has become my heritage. Our local culture links us all together, not just with our past and with each other, but also to a future we cannot yet see.
So hats off to the endless work of volunteers like the Applefest Committee and the BDA! Your efforts form the cultural bridge between Brighton’s past and future, and I’m blessed to walk it with you.
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*For anyone who is interested in volunteering with the BDA, I know they need help entering metadata for all of the images they’ve collected. It’s a big job, but it makes the photos searchable. Check out their page, and click the email link to send them a message and volunteer!