There's no denying that no matter how much we enjoy sports - playing and watching - life anywhere is further enriched by the presence of a strong arts community.
We have one of those in Humboldt.
If you like to sing, there are all sorts of choirs and clubs you can join. If you want to start your own band, chances are there are people around who play instruments that are looking for the same thing.
If you like to paint, sculpt or craft, there are galleries willing to display your work.
But if you like to perform on stage, there are fewer opportunities to do so now.
Sutherland Theatre, which was part of the old Humboldt Collegiate Institute, was knocked to the ground this fall. And while there were reasons for its demolition - mostly surrounding money and title - now that it's gone, there's a hole in the performing arts community.
In my view, we need another theatre, and we need it soon.
There are, of course, other projects that others may think are a priority, especially if you are hauling your kids to LeRoy and Watson for hockey practices every week (a second ice surface in Humboldt would also be nice).
But there are no theatres in the small towns around that can be accessed like their rinks are now.
In order for us to be treated to productions like those that were once mounted on Sutherland's stage, we need another theatre.
Sure, for dinner theatres, local halls will do. For concerts, there are no better acoustics than those found in some of the churches in the area. But for dramas, musicals and comedies, it would be nice to have a stage, and seating, that would be permanently installed; somewhere that lights and sets could remain set up for rehearsals as well as performances.
Arts Humboldt is working towards that. The umbrella organization, formed last year, re-committed to working with the City on plans for a new theatre at their annual meeting last week.
A committee is apparently being formed by the City already, to talk about a multi-purpose facility that would include a theatre.
That's a good step - it means putting down some solid plans, even if they are just on paper at this point.
But they can't remain just on paper.
And I think this is where the arts community steps in.
Though artists are generally known to work alone, they need to get on board, to join the team that's clamoring for this theatre - even those who don't act, or sing, or do any sort of performance art. The presence of a new theatre will raise the status of all of the arts in the community; it will shed new light on that part of our culture, because it will show we are a city that values the arts in all its forms.
Together, they need to ask the City to make this theatre a priority.
Because if there is nowhere to perform, no performances will happen. And the productions that we once enjoyed here will become a distant memory, if they are remembered at all. We will become a community that let its theatre go without a fight, a community where the arts are not valued.
As much as we love sports, I don't think we want to become a single-faceted community, a one-hit wonder. We need the arts, and right now, the arts need us.
