Mud Bogs 1991 was the best I can remember.

Just enough rain had fallen, just enough sun was shining. Most of the trucks got stuck. Engines revved and winches whined as we silk-screened tank tops under the shade of towering fir trees. Countless “you know what they oughta do’s” floated on the breeze.

The bogs were a proud tradition on Vashon. We took big trucks out to the muddy pits in the woods, a ways behind IGA, did our best to get them hopelessly stuck; sat around and drank beer, and watched folks get dirty and bruised to get them unstuck – just to do it all over again.

Growing up, a summer day like that was the pinnacle of my community. We were all just making it, but many of us were making it. Good jobs were local: K2 was cranking out skis, and Boeing was cranking out airplanes. Tech was still fun, and Microsoft was starting to float some money around the island. And the ferries ran. Not always on time, but they ran.

You don’t have to dig deep to find an island old-timer with a halcyon memory to match mine. And while “remember whens” often glaze over hard truths, those memories mean a lot these days. Because it seems, right now, as though a lot of new hard truths are staring us in the face.

Property taxes are up for many reasons. Inflation is at record levels. It seems simultaneously true that well-paying jobs on Vashon are hard to come by, and at the same time employers can’t seem to find adequate staff no matter what they do. Let’s not even mention residential and commercial rents.

You might say it’s a tough time to start as the new executive director of the Vashon Chamber of Commerce. Our work is supporting our island businesses, and we’ll need a lot of help from the community to do our best for the community. Though the work put in by the Board is mighty, as a small nonprofit with one staff member, we count on volunteers to help us keep Festival strong and our programs vibrant.

But hey – I’m an island kid. I’m optimistic. We grew up in community, understanding that helping our neighbors is helping our island. We grew up working hard and solving problems for ourselves. We made it through the grist mill of the infamous McMurray “Fun Run,” the original tough mudder for 12-year-olds. We split kindling in the rain on cold, pitch-black winter nights. And we cleared blackberry vines in shorts and t-shirts.

But many of those lessons are about the past. If we’re going to make it now, we need to move forward, right? We need to welcome new energy and new ideas. Apply what we’ve learned about getting our families, friends, and neighbors through hard times, to learning how to thrive in this brave, new, peri-pandemic world.

That’s the kind of thing I’m interested in doing and learning at the Chamber: how do we discover, in the age of Amazon and social distancing, that we all share some kind of love for this magical place? How do we build an island economy that keeps our businesses strong and works for everyone?

Where do we start on all these problems that won’t seem to budge? Maybe the same way you clear a truck. Experience. Grit. Teamwork. Trust. And a lot of imagination. Maybe let’s make some new memories of the golden age of Vashon. How about we run a Tesla through a mud bog and see what happens?

Amy Drayer began, in December, as the executive director of the Vashon Island Chamber of Commerce.