There are many things a community can do to change its image. Sometimes those changes start with a small seed, other times it can thunder through like a west coast storm.
Esquimalt decided several years ago that it wanted to change its image as a small, blue collar industrial town that was a playground to crime.
Of course, it’s all untrue.
Many people remember just snippets of the bad, but barely can recognize what is happening now and into the future.
Esquimalt is not about poop perpetrators of crime and payday loans.
You only have to look at what the municipality has achieved through the Township Community Arts Council to see what can be accomplished in less than a year.
And besides the arts council, the community has stepped forward with even more creative events geared towards family and building community.
You have to look no further than events like Ribfest, running and biking festivals, the Japanese arts festival to know that Esquimalt’s image is changing.
It’s unfortunate that Esquimalt is painted by some with a negative brush because they just don’t understand what the community has become and will become in the not-to-distant future.
The community’s future looks bright. Now the civic leaders must fine tune the direction and let people know that Esquimalt has come of age – and proud of it.
