As I was reading through the stories for this week’s Crosswind, it struck me what a cool community we have. I don’t just mean the city of Oak Harbor or the surrounding towns, or Naval Air Station Whidbey Island by themselves. I mean the people here who pull together to create that sense of community.

It’s not anything to do with size. There are big cities where you can connect and feel very plugged in and at home. And there are small communities where political divisions, for instance, make one feel they have to choose sides.

It’s people who make a community. I think people on Whidbey Island feel a sense of camaraderie just because of where we live. That’s the ‘island’ community. Then there’s NAS Whidbey Island – our military community.

Let’s not forget our vibrant business community. You might call the dozens of organizations, groups and clubs our civic community. Our churches are a spiritual community.

That’s a lot of different communities, and I haven’t even mentioned professional, educational or casual communities. I’m sure there are dozens more.

What I find so cool is how our communities overlap. They’re all connected, woven together into an enormous tapestry with a common thread. Spiritual community supports military; military supports civic; civic supports educational — suffice it to say there is a huge number of possible connections to be made.

I hope the Crosswind has a role in your community. Contact me at kreed@whidbeycrosswind.com.

–Kathy Reed, editor