Rural Life

My husband and I just signed up for a bridge class to be held at our local coffee shop. I’ve never played bridge before, and to be honest, never thought much about it until we received a promotional flyer this week from our local Chamber of Commerce.

The flyer certainly achieved its goal. It described how playing bridge exercises both sides of your brain, improving your skills in communication, memory, logic, visualization, counting and psychology. Did you know that bridge can also improve your physical health, by boosting your immune system and reducing your likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease? I’ve just turned 50, and have to admit the claim that individuals who play Bridge regularly are 2 1/2 times less likely to develop Alzheimers sure sounds good to me!

It’s also Winter in our small rural town, and most of us with seasonal businesses finally have some time to participate in community activities - at least until the tourists return to our Blue Ridge mountains in Spring. And we’ll get to sip some great coffee as we learn to play.

But as a rural business owner, what also struck me was the strategy of scheduling the Bridge club for Monday mornings at 10:00 am, after the morning coffee run when downtown retailers rush to open their shops, but before lunchtime when retailers return to the restaurant (along with shoppers needing a break and everyone else who stops by.) Those Bridge Club members who choose to stay for lunch do pay for their own lunch, but they get a free dessert. The Beginner Bridge class is scheduled for 3:00pm on Wednesday afternoons. The class will end just before 5:00 pm, so class members could stay on for an early dinner.

Shortly after making the decision to join the beginners’ Bridge class, I ran across a blog that made me think and will probably prompt you to do the same. The blog post is entitled Does Your Community Need A Coffee Shop and Other Third Places? What’s a ‘third place’ you ask? Here’s how Mike Knutson described the concept, originally created by sociologist Ray Oldenburg:

It has been two decades since Oldenburg invented the name “third places” in his influential book, The Great Good Place, to describe informal gathering places like cafés, pubs, bookstores, community centers and main streets.

To Oldenburg, third places carry out important community building functions that cannot be fulfilled by “first places” (our homes) and “second places” (our places of work).  They become the places where people develop personal relationships and a sense of community.  Without them, families are left to sit at home and watch television by themselves.

 Judging from several blog posts and news stories written over the last week, many communities are putting energy into strategies to keep their favorite ‘third places’ alive, whether they are local traditions that might need to reinvent themselves or cope with increased competition, a bakery with suddenly shrinking sales after sixty years, or start ups trying to establish themselves.

To the great credit of its founders, Dave and Trish Niven, DT’s Blue Ridge Java has become a ‘third place’ in our Spruce Pine, North Carolina community. In addition to building community, they also creatively build their business by linking up with groups in need of meeting space and offering incentives (like free desserts) for groups to gather there. It’s what rural communities have always been good at - supporting each other. The day of the week and time of day the groups are meeting seem to fit nicely between the morning coffee and mealtime crowds, a win-win for all involved with the added benefit of strengthening our rural community - One sip at a time.

How are the Third Places in your community doing?

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