“A gripping tale about community building in Abbotsford – really.”

Communities usually have recorded histories of a few of its famous builders, often entrepreneurs and sometimes scoundrels who left legacies of street names, railroads, or notable landmarks of brick and mortar.

But few have richly detailed chronicles about those others who toil quietly and obstinately along with their neighbours and for their neighbours, sometimes against towering obstacles, to build the true heart of their community with compassion and with a vision for the future.

It Takes Raindrops to Fill a Lake is that story.

Walter Paetkau, executive director of Abbotsford Community Services for 30 years from its inception in 1970 to 2000, gives us the gift of a fascinating narrative of the creation and growth of one of the most successful community services agencies in British Columbia. Paetkau turns what one might expect to be a boring topic into a gripping page-turner – really!

Told in a riveting first person narrative, Paetkau takes us on a journey from the first heady days – and late nights – when he and other founders of the nascent ACS painstakingly carved out the Constitution that would guide the organization and its future caretakers, through its various growing pains and happy milestones.

He anchors the beginnings of ACS in the 1960s era of social foment that brought forward discussions on social justice issues not only globally but also locally. Paetkau and his ACS founding colleagues recognized there were many ‘lakes’ of need that required response, hence the title of the book.

Drawing on his personal recollections and a trove of meticulous notes, records and interviews, Paetkau provides a real time chronology of meetings, planning sessions and debates with provincial officials, UBC School of Social Work advisors, and countless others who had a hand in the community services entity. Contemporary news articles that underscore the human and political realities of the day support each section.

Paetkau’s reminiscences also provide an amusing peak into what really was another time: the good old days of handwritten memos and typing pools, hand-cranked gesteners (duplicating machines), smoking in the office complete with ashtrays on the desk for guests, and the first computer, a four-by-two foot metal behemoth that cost $30,000 in 1976!

While Paetkau was essentially the underlying life force that fueled the organization for its first three decades, he generously highlights the many leaders who had key roles in making ACS a success in its sector. In 1973, during a big funding announcement, then-minister of human resources Norm Levi called ACS “a trailblazer in the field of citizen and community development.”

His story includes those of the various essential services ACS now provides: the food bank, multicultural services, families and senior support, Legal Aid Services, and much more.

It Takes Raindrops will no doubt become a valuable reference for students and supporters of social work in the province. It receives high praise as such from Roopchand Seebaran, Emeritus Professor at the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia.

Seebaran notes Paetkau’s compelling account demonstrates the vital role of ACS as “social architect, developing needed social infrastructure to build a strong and vibrant community,” and he highly recommends it for the lessons it contains for those dedicated to community betterment, including students, academic faculty and those working day to day in the field.

“The story told here will undoubtedly be inspirational to anyone interested in community building and community development practice, as well as a source of pride and gratification for the local citizens of Abbotsford.”

It Takes Raindrops to Fill a Lake is one more gift from Paetkau to his community – a historically and culturally important document that shows us where we’ve been, and where we aspire to go.

Paetkau’s story reminds us what a remarkable treasure the community has in ACS, a legacy certainly greater than a mere edifice of stone and concrete.

It Takes Raindrops to Fill a Lake by Walter Paetkau will be available at Abbotsford Community Services.

-Christina Toth, writer, former reporter at Abbotsford Times