Bay Minette has a lot of potential. We just need to look at it from a different perspective, a positive one! Numerous studies have been conducted that prove that the simple act of smiling despite how you feel can actually change your attitude and make you happier. That attitude needs to be applied to the world around us and to the way we approach it and think about our lives and our community.

Instead of becoming mired in the things we’ve lost over the years, Bay Minette’s “good old days,” we should embrace the positive change that is happening around us in an effort to bring about better ones.

You can be a part of that change. Join a local group or civic organization, attend the various activities going on in your community, take a walk through Old Town Bay Minette or down the beautiful, tree-lined streets. Look at your town as if you have never been here before, and you will see the beauty, the charm and the potential, a glimpse of what’s right about our town — the beginning of the sort of future it deserves. Change can be scary, it’s human nature to resist, but with the right attitude it can be wonderful too.

It seems to me that Bay Minette has always been Baldwin County’s redheaded stepchild mainly because of location. The Gulf isn’t at our doorstep, and we aren’t in an idyllic setting like Fairhope. But we have a lot to offer if you just look closely. One of Bay Minette’s greatest assets is our people. I am a firm believer that every person has a talent whether it’s painting a beautiful landscape, cooking a delicious meal or telling a great story. We need to embrace what makes us unique and promote that, celebrate that.

There is a wonderful spirit of cooperation that is blooming in our area. People are working together for the greater good, something we need to do to succeed as a community, to take our rightful place among our neighbors to the south. Last night the Old Town Bay Minette Arts Council held its first open membership meeting at the library. We had a great turnout with several local artists in attendance as well as the directors of the North Baldwin and Atmore Chambers of Commerce. Sheryl Vickery, the Executive Director of the Atmore Chamber of Commerce, spoke about the challenges facing her community, what events work for them, and how we can all work together make our communities better.

Our chamber’s wonderful new Executive Director Rebecca Cheshire was in attendance to discuss what she is doing to help revitalize our historic downtown area (Old Town Bay Minette), embracing the history of the area and using it to help promote what we have to offer. Having worked with her for a few months now on various projects, one thing that I admire most about Rebecca is that she won’t take “No” for an answer. Her positive attitude is contagious and the results are a testament to what can be accomplished if we all work together.

It won’t happen overnight, but it can, should and I believe will happen. The city, chamber and local civic groups are all working together with the same goals in mind now. The small grassroots effort started by the Old Town Bay Minette Arts Council is taking hold. We had a successful first year and have a lot on our plate for this year. We are working closely with the North Baldwin Chamber of Commerce to bring about positive change, promote the arts in our area and highlight the many talented individuals that call North Baldwin home.

We need to keep and enhance the charm and uniqueness that is small town America, that is Bay Minette. We need to embrace and promote all that we have to offer, from art to commerce, bound by a sense of community that is second to none. If we do, when we do, that fondly remembered past will be transformed into a richly rewarding present for all of us.

In other news, the OTBMAC will host a Yard Sale fundraiser this Saturday (April 6th) from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. in Blackburn Park. Come on out and take a look. You are bound to find a treasure that you just can’t live without!

Joanna Bailey is the director of the Bay Minette Public Library. She can be reached at baileyvolumes@gmail.com