Candidates Forum Nov 8th - What "Really" happened on the Mckim stage.

McKim School

"Life is sweet... life is sooo sweet". I thought to myself - many times, actually - as the council candidates forum started and progressed into the evening. The moments were precious, and I needed to hang onto them.  We were 16 individuals all doing our best to tell our stories to the packed theatre. For me (and I'm sure for others) it was a very special time. Although the light was toned down over the audience, I kept looking around as best as I could, picking out faces in the crowd that I recognized. It was a remarkable event for many reasons for many different people, but for me the energy, ambiance, camaraderie, and sheer love of community were in abundant supply. It was a night where my "sense of place" in small town Kimberley became cemented to a level that I could never have imagined. We were all Kimberley characters painting a picture of our sense of place on the living canvas called Kimberley. I think the capacity crowd that showed up appreciated all of our efforts to "paint".  Some of the candidates were painting with wild brush strokes, while others were more conservative, painting fine lines. All of the "painting" was extremely colorful and vibrant.
I could not have picked a more priceless place to sit: Kent on my left and Tim on my right. Right beside Tim was Craig. If this were a scene from high school, a teacher would have immediately sensed trouble with "that row", and split us up right away.  It has been many years since any of us had been a student in a high school. However, a sense of camaraderie and a sense of "we are in this together" - if for no other reason than our hearts sing in unison for this town.
Playful mischievousness on stage was tempered only slightly when Tim was asked to hold the mic further away from himself so it would not be so loud. Instead Tim did a "playful" sound check with the mic even closer to his mouth, causing the audience to cover their ears and complain. Realizing his impact, Tim glanced at Craig and I with a look of mild surprise, as he came back to his seat and said "whoops...I think I just lost a few votes". The look on Tim was priceless - because he loves this town as much as the rest of us - when he realized that while the "sound check" may have got him elected to student council in high school, possibly it may have a different effect with this audience.

Later, after I had described how my grandfather and grandmother had moved to Kimberley in 1920 ( in my opening remarks) and was on my way back to my seat that Craig leaned towards me and whispered; "when my turn comes, I'm going to start it with...in 1492...". 

And so as the evening evolved, and our (random) speaking order numbers were selected  and written down on a small whiteboard by Craig Campbell, Kent and I were a little surprised when both of our numbers were not showing up. We were simply not getting the chance to speak. Of course - eventually - everyone had a turn to speak, but not before a few "psst...psst" were sent towards Craig.             
      
The evening was truly full of beautiful, loving moments. For me one of those moments was seeing Mellisa speak so proudly about Kimberley, while coping perfectly with a condition that can hamper public speaking. As I sat listening to her, I could not have been prouder of anyone else on stage.

When Bev finished speaking, whispers of "right on, Bev" always followed her back to her seat. Her words were saturated with heartfelt moments.

This went on all night, one speaker after another bravely grabbing the microphone and sharing their priorities and love of community with the audience.
In McKim theatre on Tuesday night, the sound system may have been too loud once in a while, but the environment was saturated with a heaping dose of "Sense of Place", and - after all - that is what makes Kimberley such a special little town.
Darryl Oakley