Belt Sanders and Community
Living Happy Extra
Yesterday, I went to this annual event at a local brewery and barbecue called a belt sander race.
I went last year, too.
Why?
I’m not a big belt sander type of human. I’m not big into barbecue or even local brews. But what I am big into? That’s joy and community.
And that was what this event was all about: joy and community. Actually, you should add in a touch of silliness, too.
Local politics in my town of Bar Harbor is often talked about in all capital letters and headlines. It is all US vs THEM. People are pro the tourist economy or against it. People are pro short-term rentals or against them. People are pro cruise ships or against them. A decade ago, it was about parking garages. Before that there was something else, I’m sure.
In council meetings words are bandied about like “scourge” and “vilify” and people tend to only get riled up when those words are thrown out and used against them. People pick sides pro-one staff member, against another. Pro one councilor, against another. And sometimes, I think that they forget that the person that they are against are part of the community too, supporting the library, taking kids to games, donating time, picking up trash on the streets, or just bringing a neighbor a casserole.
These systems where we make everything good or evil with no ground in between? They don’t help a small community, not even a tourist community. And unless we’re addicted to the adrenalin rush and dopamine hit of hate and outrage, they don’t help us feel happy inside and they don’t help the world.
But at these races on Sunday? It didn’t matter. There were trees down all over the island, power outages. One guy there was talking about how he’d pulled out his chainsaw to help some tourists get out of the road because their rental was done. People who fight at town hall were lofting beers together, cheering on carnival-themed belt sanders as they rushed and fell and sputtered and even when they hopped off the track.
Sometimes it feels like a community can hop off the tracks, too, when it forgets what it’s all about.
The beauty and quirky giddiness of the belt sander races was amazing.
No, that isn’t the stuff that makes the social media posts or the newspaper headlines, but it’s the stuff that makes an actual community.
