Community spirit might be battered and bruised in many places; there are some where that spirit of place is on life support. Then, there are those towns where the locals recognize that the solution won’t be coming from anywhere else but from within.

I was in Rangeley Wednesday night for a Community Visioning hosted by Rangeley Health and Wellness. On a very quiet night in the middle of the region’s sleepiest month, more than 100 townspeople turned out to say what were the most important things their community needs to consider.

Rangeley definitely qualifies as a small, rural community. The year-round population is just under 1,200 people. The town is a good 40-45 minutes north of Farmington, and if Rangeley doesn’t have something, then residents need to make that drive, if not even further to Lewiston or Portland for services.

Come on baby, let’s go downtown (Rangeley).

Healthcare and access to health services is one of the elements that small rural communities struggle with. This is the 20th anniversary of Rangeley Health and Wellness, begun in 1993 as a grassroots initiative to bring locally-based, high quality primary health care to the Rangeley Lakes Region through the newly-opened Rangeley Region Health Center (now Rangeley Family Medicine). After achieving that original goal, a fitness center was introduced, where many local health and wellness programs take place.

A visioning process was initiated in 2007 and many of the items gathered have been implemented, or are in process towards implementation. The Wednesday night event was a chance for the community to consider their progress and keep the process moving forward.

I’m pleased that I got to participate.