An Open Letter to the Venice Community

Dear Friends, Family, Neighbors, and Visitors,

It’s our belief that this concept of “community” is suffering a long slow death. Before this saddens you, it’s worth sharing that we’re notorious optimists. In fact, our heads are so focus on Idealism that we believe we can revive this concept of community ourselves. The corner of Lincoln and Commonwealth will be a light to either be shared with other positive, motivated people or a spotlight that exposes mediocrity around us.

Our strategy isn’t very radical. It’s actually quite simple. We plan to say hello to you. Every. Damn. Time. We’re going to wave and smile. Most people learn if you show them, so we’re going to show our neighborhood how to be a good neighbor. We’ll look out for you and look after our community. We’re protective in that way.

This sense of community is just one part of what makes us tick, however. You see, we’re about standards around here. We expect a great deal out of those that walk through our gates everyday and, in our experience, it seems to make everyone better when we do so. This kind of thinking creates a filter. Our filter lets in all the good, forces it to become better, and in turn we have a chance to become something great. This filter also does a great job of keeping all the riffraff out, too.

In fact, we’re allergic to mediocrity. So much so, that I’d like to believe that over time, we’ll ooze a certain level of excellence that repels troublemakers, crime, trash, sadness, and despair. Similarly, we’ll attract some folks of amazing caliber, which in turn makes the whole system better.

We’d love for you to join us… if you’re up to it, of course. But, that’s not why we’re writing. You see this will all happen whether we have your help or not. We figured we’d just share the good news of what’s to come. Look forward to a bright future and be sure to give us a wave and a smile back.

 

Logan Gelbrich