June 09, 2004 - by Maril Swan, The Tweed News

Bob Cloes of Community Futures Development Corporation invited those attending the June 2 meeting at Hungerford Hall to dream – to imagine the Tweed of 2013 and what it could be like.
The participants broke into three groups, which were then asked to brainstorm some ideas, based on the business and residents’ surveys, to come up with a vision of the Tweed of the future.
All of the ideas put forward were workable, and grounded in the reality of what was possible, given enough time and communal effort.
Last week, a Sub-Committee was given the task of taking four versions of a "mission statement", developed by the four groups at the previous meeting, and creating one mission statement.  The Committee, Jim Noble, Rev. Bill Perry and Jeremy McQuigge developed the following statement:  “Preserving our traditions and protecting our natural environment, we seek to create prosperity for the Municipality of Tweed by providing economic opportunities for all its citizens.”
Bob Cloes reminded the gathering that, “This statement is going to take us into the future; it will define us.”  Continuing in this vein, he added, “We are going to look into the year 2013; we’re going to dream.  In a couple of years, we will look at where we are, and make adjustments.”
Many creative ideas poured forth from the enthusiastic groups, such as developing a volunteer bureau to connect willing people with groups needing volunteers, and building a community centre with a swimming pool.  Each group agreed that the downtown core needed sprucing up.  One group suggested a theme with a definite colour palette for the storefronts.  All groups acknowledged that the whole community, including the youth, need to take "ownership" of the revitalization.
Towns like Bloomfield, Niagara-on-the-Lake and others were mentioned as small centers that attract tourists because they have something unique to offer, and they are all considered beautiful places with a neat, clean downtown, and pleasant atmosphere.  The three teams were in concert of the feeling that Tweed could also be such a place.  It just takes the courage to dream, then, “build it – and they will come”.