Well, local business owners Bruce and Carol Dirom held up their end of the bargain. And North Island residents certainly held up theirs.
Now it’s time to see what we can do with that momentum now that the lights, cameras and celebrities have rolled out of town.
The Diroms, tasked by the CBC’s new reality show, The Big Decision, to put on a community event, certainly impressed show host Arlene Dickinson with Sunday’s extravaganza at the Civic Centre.
A crowd of more than 2,000 — most from Port Hardy, but bolstered by attendance from other area communities — turned out for the free food, music, prize draws and, in all likelihood, a chance to get a snippet of face time onscreen when the show airs in April.
But underlying the made-for-TV event is the harsh reality of a small business straddling the margin of viability in a small market.
And the majority of North Island businesses, struggling or otherwise, are not in line for an infusion of sustaining funds from outside the area.
It remains up to local residents to support their local businesses to keep them strong and to strengthen the communities they live in.
By all means, let’s thank the Big Decision sponsor Domino’s Pizza for its contribution of $5,000 to local causes and its pallet of ingredients to Harvest Food Bank.
But locals also donated, contributing $220 and more than 500 pounds of food.
That’s the kind of support the North Island needs when the cameras are not rolling.