HomeMy WebLinkAbout121025 email - In Favor of the Port Townsend Rec CenterALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
Dear BoCC Members,
I was very sad to hear recently that the Rec Center in Port Townsend is at risk of losing funding, as far as I understand, due to county budget cuts.
I haven't been able to find much information on it so far, so I don't know how immediate this possibility is, but I wanted to to put a word in in favor of continuing funding for the
Rec Center while I could.
I grew up here in PT and recently moved back to town after graduating from WWU in Bellingham. Upon my return, it has been interesting and sometimes very stark to see how the area has
changed while I was away. In some ways very exciting --- great new eats downtown, the new trails at Chimacum Ridge, and amazing events at the Quilcene Lantern --- and in other ways
more sad, such as the vacant shop spaces on Water St., and the continuing clear cuts along the 104. But alas, I suspect that was happening all along behind a rosy childhood veil, and
I have still been inspired on the whole by the passion for food, arts, and community that raised me and which continues to corse through the waters, woods, and little towns of Jefferson
County. It is, I imagine, why I can still meet so many young people moving here to start families during a time in which it's hard to afford even the basic needs for oneself. In such
times, Port Townsend grows more and more unique as a community that knows the importance of the arts, education, accessibility, and play --- all of which can be found currently at the
Rec Center, where I learned ping pong, and fussbal. Where I went to play soccer and basketball when it rained. Where I took Driver's Ed, and where we can all see all our local artists'
work every holiday season.
I will not go into every angle of this debate here. I don't even know all the ways the Rec Center has benefitted this community, but I can say that everything I have learned academically
and experientially have led me to believe that our entire lives and the ways we affect the world hinge on how we play and are welcomed and are held as children. If we are taught that
you can only meet and run into friends at work and school, or that only those who can afford it get to play and relax somewhere warm and dry, that is the world we will make.
I know none of this came about out of hate for recreation or community spaces, but rather from the reality of resources and your obligations to absolutely everything else going on in
the county as well. But I hope this can be a reminder that even as a relatively empty building, the Rec Center is one of Port Townsend's most valuable assets as a resource for community
members of any age and ability, especially all those little kiddos who will never stop running around all the time and may they never have to.
Good Morning,
Jack