Over the past two years of pandemic life, change has been the constant for most business leaders. Quite literally, most businesses made more changes to their business model, daily operations and staffing in the last two years than they have in the decade that preceded it. With CDC guidance changing depending on how the impact of the pandemic evolves and government leaders creating policies to try and regulate safe interactions to avoid community spread, even those who are not business leaders have been greatly affected by constant change.

It has worn down all of us to one degree or another. We can all point to times when our own dedication to following these changing protocols waned, only to have a close contact test positive to remind us to stay the course — it’s exhausting. Of course, about 1 in 5 people don’t carry the burden of change, as they have been completely resistant to any change at all and have lived their lives just as normally as they did prior to the pandemic. Not changing is their right to do, however having a small percentage of people not adhering to the same social contract of “following the best practices to keep everyone safe,” does bear out a level of resentment from the vast majority who are following that community agreement. That, however, is another topic for another day.

Today, I want to focus on this yearning for normalcy that I think resonates with nearly everyone and how to get some of that back. Your community organizations are a great way to do re-engage with your region as many of us have adapted our programming so that you can participate now and throughout the year. As the executive director of our chamber, I will be using our organization as an example below, but the Bath-Brunswick-Topsham region has dozens of local organizations and so if there is one you want to engage with. I encourage you to reach out to their offices and ask how you can participate.

Here are three examples of ways you can engage in your community right now:

Make time to show up

This may seem silly as the first point, but it’s actually the most important point to follow. Before you can engage you must actively decide to make the time for engagement — and that can be a struggle on its own. The pandemic has lasted long enough that we’ve created new habits, and the default for many people is to stay hibernated and distant.

To regain our normalcy though, we must break some of our new norms, meaning sometimes the most important thing you can do is show up. For the chamber making the time to show up could mean:

• Attending an outdoor ribbon cutting. We have one Friday at 10 a.m. at T-Mobile in Brunswick, one next month at Mechanics Savings and many more this spring.
• Logging in for a monthly Zoom lunch called 12 @ 12 (second Wednesday of every month at noon) where everyone gets five minutes to introduce themselves while we all each lunch at our desks.
• Taking a hike with our Chamber Coordinator Claire, who does so twice per month with a rotating group of six to 10 others.

Mark your calendars to save the dates

Another good practice is to do the simple act of saving the dates for major events on the calendar. Honestly, who doesn’t feel a little bit better once they have plugged that vacation trip into their calendar? Not to say that community events are the exact equivalent to vacation trips, but there’s a rewarding feeling of having things to look forward to. Honestly, who doesn’t want to say, “I have a couple of things to attend next week — maybe I’ll buy a new outfit”?

Community events can be the perfect way to engage. Here’s a few upcoming events not to miss:

• Brunswick Hotel Annual Ice Bar, Feb. 4 and 5. Live music, ice luges, specialty cocktails, fire pit, special bites from Chef Lamoreux — it’s all at the annual ice bar next weekend. This is an indoor/outdoor event, so if you don’t feel comfortable inside, then spend the night by the fire pits on the patio and drink in the night. For more information, visit thebrunswickhotel.com; tickets available on EventBrite.
• Chamber After Hours, Feb. 23, 5-7 p.m. at Sea Dog Brewing, Topsham. Our monthly chamber mixer will be back next month with 50-75 business leaders expected for a mingle and a drink. If you feel comfortable to come out, it could be a great way to remember how good in-person networking feels.
• Bath Winterfest, Feb. 25-27. This brand-new event is taking place the last weekend of February and includes beer gardens, disc golf, live entertainment and dozens of other activities. Check out visitbath.com for more details.
• SMMC Annual Dinner, March 11, St. John’s Community Center. We will be well spaced out this March as we hold our annual celebration where we will honor a handful of business leaders, but also unveil our new chamber name, chamber logo and six workforce programs.

Volunteer on planning committees

Finally, helping to organize and plan events is a good way to engage now for a future payoff. Often these planning meetings can be done completely safely online or in small, spread-out, in-person meetings.

Numerous organizations have events coming up this year and we all need help with planning. I expect once the weather warms there will be massive attendance numbers, especially for outdoor events this spring through fall. Just a few ideas of activities you could help with include: golf tournaments always need volunteers, outdoor concerts, 5K races or, of course, major community events. Volunteering to help organizations for non-event activities is also welcome and needed, as groups like Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program, Bath Area Food Bank, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bath/Brunswick, People Plus and many others can always use volunteers.

Cory King is the executive director of the Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber.

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