Thursday, February 02, 2006

Tremont's Annual

Tremont West had it's Annual Meeting last week. I can think of no other community event which brings together more people from the neighborhood - except for celebrations like the Taste of Tremont or the Tremont Arts & Cultural Festival.

I have attended the Annual Meeting since about 1992. At the time, I had just bought a house in at the southwestern edge of Tremont - actually what would historically have been the heart of Tremont - if the area had remained farmland, Lincoln Park had never been developed, and the freeways had never been built. But things change.

At the first meeting I attended, I believe Tremont West had only three employees. I think the office had one computer. Times were tough.

I eventually ran for the Board, and sometime later, became an employee. When I first joined, we worked in a big open room with a hodge-podge of old desks - it looked like the City Room of the Chicago Tribune, circa 1934 - and we had two computers. And now we have a new, larger office and we are very up-to-date. And still, once a year, the community comes together to help set our course for the coming year.

Over time, many things about the Annual Meeting have stayed reassuringly the same - Sister Corita and her crew from St. Augustine's Catering do the food, there are speeches by our local councilman and other dignitaries, Block Club updates, and of course, elections for the Board of Directors (this year, almost twice as many candidates as open positions!).

It's Grassroots "Democracy in Action!" - corny, but true. Neighbors talk, and argue, with neighbors. People make motions from the floor. Tempers flare. Babies cry. Politicians politificate.

I always find myself, by turns, inspired, bored, angered, and humbled to be there. Sometimes I like the outcome of the election, sometimes not (as an employee I do not get to vote). But I am thrilled that we, collectively, take the so process seriously.