Community spirit, by definition, is "a feeling of belonging to a community, expressed in mutual support." (The Canadian Oxford Dictionary)
Does it seem that the residents of Weyburn and area have lost their sense of community spirit?
In some ways, the answer would be no; groups like the Young Fellows Club of Weyburn and the Rotary Club, and the Lions and Knights of Columbus and Kinsmen, all embody the very concept of "community spirit", and demonstrate it to the community at every opportunity, both with events and with contributions back to the community.
But, and this is an important point to make here, some of these groups have been shrinking in numbers, while others have been continuing at a healthy pace to help the community and to grow in numbers.
What is more of concern is that issues come up where there should be more community spirit shown and involvement by those who are affected. When there are issues on which a variety of opinions should come forward, people should be writing letters to their MP, MLA, city council, and yes, to the paper in the "Letters to the Editor" section. Sometimes letters appear on a given issue, but there are times when the letters are few and far between, leaving one with the impression there aren't many who really care.
An example is the proposal to build a 60-unit apartment/condo building on Second Street, extending south from Prairie Avenue, taking out four residential homes.
Perhaps if the development was a little smaller, allowing for some green space and setbacks from the street, it wouldn't be such a big thing - but this is a rather large building being proposed that will change the nature of the quiet residential neighbourhood, which is considered on the fringe of the downtown business district.
Another example was earlier this spring, when the city should have been in a "clean-up" mode, and picking up a winter's worth of refuse on the streets, boulevards, parks and alleyways; instead, a few residents here and there picked up but there was no community-wide effort made in that direction. Why not? Is there no sense of community spirit any more?
What embodies community spirit, but people all of one place who care about the place they live, work and play in, and speak up and/or act so this community can be a better place.
