COLUMN: Many things make the Sault great

In my introductory column, I asked you what makes this city great. 

Since then, I received several responses that made me realize how lucky I am to have moved to Sault Ste. Marie a few weeks ago.

Many people described the respect that Saultites have when someone has died. I received several emails and comments letting me know that people will pull over at the side of the road to let a funeral procession pass by. 

It’s something people used to do all the time, so it’s good to know in our fast paced world that this respect is shown to the family and friends of someone who has died. This practice is definitely not followed everywhere. 

One person commented that “the overall caring of our citizens” makes the city great, “whether it be (for) a lost person or pet.” 

Someone else provided several positive points about the Sault and one negative point: the natural beauty of the environment; the nonprofits trying to make the city better; cultural diversity; creative, innovative city council; diverse restaurants; and the kindness of neighbours. This person’s negative point described the city’s air pollution.

One message I received stood out to me. Patsy Steele sent the following note: 

Hello,

I moved here 12 years ago from southern Ontario with my first husband. A couple of neighbours would regularly snowblow our driveway for us. A couple of years later my husband fell, broke his hip and was wheelchair bound. 

A few more neighbours cleared our driveway, one took down a dead tree and a couple cut the lawn for us. This all occurred in the first seven years we lived here. 

In the 27 years we had lived in Whitby prior to moving here, one neighbour and I would go back and forth with snow shovelling and front-lawn cutting and we talked to maybe three neighbours down there. 

In total I've had six neighbours randomly do the driveway and one neighbour regularly do the driveway for about four years and not accept payment. My first husband died in 2019 but I found a wonderful man three years later and both of us love it here. 

Sure there are drugs and crime but that is everywhere. There is a great big heart in this city and I love it here!!

Thanks,

Patsy Steele

In a follow up email, Patsy said she “moved here to be close to my first husband's family. They later moved out west but we stayed here because we loved it here!”

What a wonderful message.

I recently realized that for whatever reason people love to complain about their hometown, so it's nice to hear people say great things about their city. Often people realize how great their hometown is when they move away.

While living in Thunder Bay for more than a decade, I heard countless stories about how bad the city was. Make no mistake, there are definitely issues with racism and poverty, but I loved Thunder Bay.

Like the Sault, it has natural beauty and the people are great.

For a place named one of the most dangerous cities in Canada several times, Thunder Bay was not a bad city to reside in.

Something unbelievable happened to me there during an outdoor festival over the summer. 

The city recently installed a machine to pay for parking at the marina, where the event was held. 

I was attending with a friend. I paid for parking using a credit card and over the course of a few hours we enjoyed some food and a drink or two. We then left the marina to go play golf on the other side of town.

It was only when we arrived at the golf course that I realized I had left my credit card in the machine when I paid for parking. I used the banking app on my phone to turn off the card, which I assumed someone had pocketed, and we proceeded to play nine holes of golf. 

As we were leaving the golf course, my friend said we might as well return to the marina to see if my card was still there. 

“It can’t be,” I replied. “There’s no way. It’ll be long gone.” 

As I walked up to the machine, my jaw hit the ground when I saw my credit card on top of it. I grabbed the card and held it up in the air as if to thank some higher power for returning it to me. My friend looked shocked. 

In Thunder Bay, my credit card sat unattended for more than four hours in the downtown core by Lake Superior. 

If that doesn’t say something about reputation versus reality, then I don’t know what does. 

If you have a story you feel SooToday should tell, please contact me at brandon@sootoday.com.