I stood at the front of the common room. Ethan stood beside me. My heart was beating fast, but it wasn’t thumping wildly like it had the last time I was in this room. I was more confident about what I had to say this time, but there was a lot at stake.
The council members were seated at the long conference table beside us. They had just called for a short break to discuss some picky detail in the Neighborhood Act. Apparently, they needed to sort it out before the meeting could proceed. The AGM had started at 6:30 pm. It was already 8:00 pm. “Let’s just get on with it!” I wanted to yell. Waiting was hard.
In front of the Neighborhood Council sat rows and rows of Cedar Grove residents. I looked around. There was grouchy old Mrs. Leary, front and center. She had three different sweaters wrapped around her, despite the heat, and she looked like she was about to fall asleep. Mom and Dad were sitting directly behind her. I could tell they were holding hands, as usual. In the next row, Ashley sat next to her dad. Beside them, Sammy and Salina were squashed between both parents, who were desperately trying to keep Sammy still.
Toward the back I saw Michael. He was looking at me, so I smiled. He smiled back and gave me a thumbs-up. It made me feel good. Maybe just because of the confidence he had in me. Or maybe it was something more.
Sitting next to Michael was Tyler. I was surprised to see him. He knew that Sarah wasn’t going to be at the meeting. He’d asked me about it yesterday. He’d also wished me luck with my presentation. Did he care about the bylaw after all? Or was it possible that, instead of resenting me, he was starting to respect me, like Michael seemed to think?
There were a lot more Cedar Grove kids there than I expected. Especially considering we weren’t allowed to vote. I guess I wasn’t the only one who felt there was a lot at stake.
Finally, Ms. Matheson cleared her throat and said, “The next item on our agenda is the ratification of bylaw 47.21. Please have the minutes reflect that Brianna Bridges, Unit 83, and Ethan Matheson, Unit 49, have asked to address the residents of Cedar Grove prior to the vote.”
Ms. Matheson paused and waited for the room to settle. When everything was quiet and still, she said, “Go ahead, Brianna,” looking directly at me and ignoring the fact that her son was standing proudly at my side.
“Thank you, Ms. Matheson,” I said as confidently as I could. “And I’d like to thank the Neighborhood Council for providing us with this opportunity. Ethan and I have put together a PowerPoint presentation to illustrate why we think tree climbing is a fun and safe activity that should be allowed in Cedar Grove.”
I turned to Ethan. He took the cue, not looking at all nervous. “Bree has been teaching me to climb trees outside Cedar Grove property.”
Ms. Matheson scowled and narrowed her eyes. Mom frowned even though she already knew all about this. I’d told both Mom and Dad the whole story right after Michael convinced me to speak at the AGM. As usual, Dad was very supportive, and Mom—well, Mom was Mom.
Ethan went on. “I can climb quite high now and I have not fallen once. I have a few scrapes and bruises but nothing worse than I’d get from a game of street hockey. The important thing is, I love it. Tree climbing is fun. It makes me feel happy and free, and it helps me forget my problems.” He looked at his mom when he said this.
“Bree’s been teaching lots of us to climb,” Ethan continued. “She’s very good. And she makes sure everyone stays at a level where they are safe. No one can move higher until she decides they are ready.”
Without hesitation, Ethan proceeded through the PowerPoint presentation that Dad had helped him prepare. His voice was loud and clear, and he didn’t make a single mistake.
When he was done, he turned toward me.
I took a deep breath and launched right into my part of the presentation.
“As Ethan has pointed out, tree climbing is very safe as long as it is done carefully under the right rules and guidelines.” I flipped to my first slide. “Here is a list of rules that we have been following.”
BREE’S RULES FOR TREE-CLIMBING SAFETY
1. Only climb using branches thicker than your wrist.
2. Keep two on the tree at all times (two hands, or two feet, or one hand and one foot).
3. Always have an exit plan that doesn’t involve landing on your head. In other words, NEVER FORGET THE FALL!
I read each rule aloud and offered to answer any questions anyone had about any of them. No one said anything, so I carried on.
“Here are some examples of how other groups have made tree climbing safe.” I had a couple of slides that covered this topic. One was about a school that got a professional arborist or tree trimmer (I had to look that up) to do a hazard inspection once a year to ensure the trees in the area were safe to climb. Another set up a certification program where students had to go through a safety workshop and climbing instruction before they were allowed near the trees.
“Even without these types of precautions, backyard tree climbing is considered safer than most other recreational sports.” I flipped to another slide.
The Top Ten Most Dangerous Sports for Kids
1. Basketball
2. Bicycling
3. Football
4. Soccer
5. Baseball
6. Skateboarding
7. Trampoline
8. Softball
9. Swimming and Diving
10. Horseback Riding
I went on to list other sports that lead to emergency-room visits, including weightlifting, volleyball, golf, roller-skating, wrestling, gymnastics, inline skating, tennis and track-and-field. And then I talked about cheerleading since it was listed in several places, including an official medical website, as the most dangerous female sport there was. Learning that had prompted me to search for something about skipping. To my surprise, I’d found out that skipping was a highly competitive sport. And that many elite athletes used it for cross-training because it was so safe. Was it possible that skipping with the Cedar Grove Girly-Girls could make me a better climber? Maybe I’d judged it all a little too harshly.
My last slide showed the map of Cedar Grove and the location of the Spoon, Fork and Knife. Dad had helped with this one by scanning the map of the Easter egg hunt into the computer.
“In conclusion, I’d just like to say that people— both kids and adults—have been climbing trees for… forever.” I hadn’t planned this part of the presentation but I felt the need to finish with something big. “It’s fun, it’s healthy, it’s almost spiritual, and it can be very safe if it is done properly. You can’t protect kids from everything. You can get hurt crossing the road. Banning tree climbing in Cedar Grove will not make us safer. It will just make us miserable.”
There was some clapping at the back of the room. One of the Cedar Grove Girly-Girls yelled, “No more bylaws!” Some of them had really taken my warning about skipping bylaws seriously. I felt kinda bad about that.
I still had everyone’s attention. But I had nothing left to say. I allowed myself a deep sigh of relief.
The hard part was over. Or so I thought.