Editorials Hometown spirit was on display in nearly every corner of Camas and Washougal this week as local seasonal events, outreach efforts to help those in need and tree lighting events took place in the local area. These holiday activities truly brought our communities together.
From Hometown Holidays in downtown Camas the Festival of Trees in downtown Washougal, to Stuff the Bus tree sales and Clark County Walk & Knock. These two cities were bustling.
The Festival of Trees in particular was an impressive event that truly demonstrated the results that can be achieved when different factions of the community come together to participate. Christmas trees were elaborately and intricately decorated by people who volunteered — students, teachers, representatives of non-profit groups, city department staff. The end result was a sizeable contribution that will be made to benefit Washougal schools, and plans to improve on the event for next year.
All of these events, unique but with very different purposes, have at least one common thread. They were all made possible by a need that was identified, and a variety of groups and individuals jumped on board contributing time, effort and funding to make it happen.
As economic times get tougher and traditional funding channels become more scarce, these kinds of collaborative efforts involving multiple groups working together to achieve a goal should become more and more commonplace in our small communities.
