“Know from whence you came. If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go.”
― James Baldwin, an American novelist, playwright, essayist, poet, and activist.
The Point Hamilton has existed in blog form for over six years now, having been started in line with the beginning of the physical copy of The Point community newspaper in January of 2014.
At the start of 2019, it was announced that The Point would only continue as a digital outlet, bringing the news team from a group of a dozen or so volunteers, to two.
Sean Hurley and Cynthia Lokker have been involved with The Point News in all its forms through its ups and downs, but both were ready to dial down their roles and “pass the baton”, as it were. Sean and Cynthia are more than happy to stay involved, but this week the INSE team has officially taken over management of The Point which remains an asset of The Crown Point Community Action Teams.
We’ve spent a good amount of time over the past couple of weeks learning the ropes from Cynthia and Sean, and browsing through and documenting the history of this valuable community asset.
The above table shows a few facts captured through the documentation of all The Point articles both in digital and print forms over the past six years. All posts within the current blog are captured and we have documented back to mid 2016 so far from the original blog which mostly shared snippets of articles within the printed Point.
The Google Sheet linked below, can be used as a public tool to search the database of all these stories based on various search criteria from filtering by author, subject, hashtag, date, and within the blog or print editions. Within this document, we have also created a list identifying the social footprint of The Point, links related to other hubs around Hamilton, and contact information for your Point team.
A lot of effort over the years has been put into the management of the site, advertising, and content by the small but mighty The Point duo which is both evident through browsing content from the past six years and spending some time going over the website and blog’s complexities in an effort to ensure your voices are shared broadly, the site is kept secure, the sustainability of The Point is maintained, and that links and photos enrich the content and ensure better exposure to your products, talents, accomplishments, events, and services.
We have big dreams for The Point, but we will not be able to accomplish it all without your input, stories, or social media shares. Our goal is to make sure the content continues to be rich, frequent, and from the virtual pens of a diverse collective of voices, ideas, and beliefs, all the while keeping in line with the existing mission, vision and values of the Crown Point Community Action Teams.
Thank you to the community developers, organizations like the NLI, SPRC, Hamilton Best Start, City of Hamilton, Hamilton Community Foundation, partners, businesses, and volunteers who represented and supported Crown Point and who helped transform our neighbourhoods both with regards to our physical assets, and the people that have made up our great hub these past 6 years. We look forward to being a part of the next chapter in an effort to continue to improve, promote, and showcase everything that makes Crown Point a great place to live, work, and watch our community kids grow and flourish.
Over the course of what seems six short years, our community and its individuals have won awards, elected crown point people to office, have lost dear friends and CP boosters like Chris Parkinson, Jodi Medcalf, and Kate Andrus. We’ve hosted festivals and concerts, parades and civic conversations. Businesses and community leaders have come and gone. Our diversity of people, assets and businesses continue to grow. We’ve seen homes and storefronts being revitalized and large developments change our landscape. We’ve celebrated our rich history and said goodbye to cherished traditions and institutions. We have had the highest of ups and the lowest of downs. Even in the midst of a pandemic, we have still risen above and shown our strength and resilience. Our beauty, and our natural tendency to give and brighten the lives of others.
You’ve contributed stunning photos, started important conversations, written poetry and creative short stories. You’ve worked tirelessly late into the night to help with elections, community planning and advocacy, to ensure the latest edition of The Point met its deadline. Your families have delivered 9,000 copies of our paper every two months for 5 years or 261,000 copies. You’ve helped us see beauty in the assets we didn’t know we had, and in that which me might have otherwise turned an eye.
Thank you to everyone who has been involved in keeping this community asset going through all of its transformations over the years, and especially Sean and Cynthia and those who have continued to contribute content to ensure the stories of Crown Point didn’t fade with the gentle clud of the final Point paper being slipped into your mailbox.
Here is to the next 6 years. See you around the neighbourhood.
And that’s The Point.
Do you have photos, a topic you’d like to cover, creative short stories or poetry, videos, reviews, or a product or service to promote? Drop us a line at contactthepoint@gmail.com so we can continue to promote this wonderful community to those beyond our borders. We especially look forward to seeing the number of different authors who have contributed to the point cross the 200 threshold. Even if all you have in you is a photo of a scrap of paper with point form notes, we’d love to help you expand your voice so that your dreams, ideas, and concerns can be shared beyond your notepad.