By Chandler Inions

The lifeblood of a community is its people. To truly become a community however, those people must get to interact, co-mingle and socialize. After all, that engagement is what makes a community a community.

Rowan County’s municipalities recognize that to take place, those interactions require shared space. In those spaces, community flourishes and not all those spaces look the same.

Some take on the form of parks, where the great outdoors transports you away from monotony and a breath of fresh air changes your entire day. Others can be places to wine, dine and patronize small business owners. Those business owners and bar room cohorts are your neighbors and fellow denizens.

The more time you spend in the presence of others, the more those others’ presence begins to mean to you. We naturally care about people we know, but how do we get to know them? Maybe that first encounter only happened by chance, a casual passing nod. However, the next time you see them, that nod turns into a smile, and then a hello. Before you know it, you’re inquiring about their day.

Other friendships happen almost instantaneously, like you have actually known them all your life. Where have you been, my long lost pal? The common thread in the fabric here is that they did not happen inside each other’s homes. It took being somewhere with someone for something to happen.

If you are sitting here reading this and thinking the author must be an extroverted lunatic, well, you’d be right.

But only an icy-hearted cynic could walk through the Bell Tower Green on a warm afternoon, see the children running and laughing, others laying and reading, while more still break the bread of an outdoor lunch, and not feel endeared to the community. The same could be said for so many of Rowan County’s shared spaces and activities from China Grove’s Hanna Park to East Spencer’s Southern Soul Festival.

Within those spaces, we realize that we have a whole lot more in common than we do in difference. We like the same foods, fancy the same music and love to laugh.

For me, I found my new home in these spaces. Like a lot of people, I was mildly intrepid about starting life over. Who did I know in Rowan County? My wife and I had a life, friends and good jobs in the home we left. It did not take long for me to realize that we were going to be just fine here. I met people and made friends walking around town, eating out and going to local events.

Before I knew it, I felt like a regular part of the community and it is not just Salisbury. I love getting down to Landis and China Grove for events of all sizes or to just grab a bite or a beer and catch up. Cleveland welcomes me with open arms whenever I’m out west, whether that is for National Night Out or a concert on Depot Street. Some of the best oysters I’ve ever had were in Faith, and I’m from the coast, so that’s saying something.

Now that my wife and I live in Spencer, we love to walk our dog through town and pass other four-legged families. When we walk into Queso Salsa or Pinocchio’s, friendly faces make us feel right at home, grateful to be a part of a community and in love with our little town.

Every town in Rowan County is growing though. The tight-knit communities that we all take for granted are going to get a little bit tighter, but this writer thinks that projection has potential to be great. Thanks in part to our towns and city having a vision for public space enhancements, each new neighbor presents the chance for a future friend. We just have to get out there and meet them and all we need for that is a place to do it.

This year’s Spirit of Rowan shines a light on those efforts to bring us a better place to have that first encounter and to make that memory that we will cherish a lifetime.

So, what are you waiting for?