What good news that Niagara-on-the-Lake council wants to make our village more welcoming to folks with mobility challenges. The Lake Report’s Dan Smeenk has explained the process, which will have businesses installing temporary ramps outside single-step entrances.

We read that NOTL council broadly supported the initiative, and the committee of the whole endorsed it at their July 9 meeting.

But let’s think bigger, and really do the right thing.

We never miss an opportunity to call NOTL the prettiest town in Ontario — occasionally expanding the hyperbole to “the prettiest town in Canada.”

And daily, visitors to our Niagara wax eloquent about our downtown and residential street flowers. Attaboys all around to town staff and locals who annually plan and then plant gardens.

Perennials, annuals and everything in between — our local horticultural society provides the leadership, encouraging hundreds of citizens to add to the floral effulgence enhancing our streetscapes.

Perhaps we should aim higher and make the big commitment to become “Canada’s most accessible town.”

Yes, we have to be mindful of the historic character of Old Town, and require ramps to come in pre-approved colours that blend with their surroundings. Labels will not be permitted on the ramps.

How about a shoutout to Coun. Tim Balasiuk, who recommended using reflective material?

Let us grab the bull by the horns here. Local resident Pamela Turner Smith has advocated for greater accessibility for years, and now perhaps the time is nigh. She said the decision marks a positive step forward.

I am downtown on Queen Street by the old Court House almost every day, and I see so many happy visitors. Many of them have mobility issues and find it difficult to enter so many local businesses.

It was way back in 1971, in the seaside village of Sconset on Nantucket Island, that I became aware of this issue. As a summer job — in fact, the summer job from paradise — I was managing the Porch Restaurant on the Town Circle. For a second year, knowing when I had a good thing going.

I had studied the statistics regarding how many people, especially senior citizens, get around in wheelchairs. Before we opened the Porch that summer, we spent a very reasonable amount of money having a three-foot-wide, six-foot-long wheelchair ramp built and installed on the right side of the front steps of our restaurant.

Yes, we specialized in boiled lobster and Chef Ripper’s New England clam chowdah.

An immediate success! We had hit a home run with our accessibility ramp.

Almost every evening, we had one or more guests in wheelchairs dining with us. And surprise, surprise, they were not sitting alone. Family members or friends were with them. And they told their friends about us. And they told their friends. And they told their friends.

From a marketing perspective, we had created a unique selling feature — yes, a USF.

Luckily, an accessible washroom had been installed in a prior year.

I will not even guesstimate how much extra business our accessible and friendly front steps brought us back in that memorable summer of 1971, but I can categorically state it was a lesson learned and never forgotten.

Now, a fairly fast 54 years later, I feel the need to ramble about accessibility.

Have a look around and observe how many people are stymied by steps and staircases. There has to be a better way.

Instead of getting bogged down in details, let’s figure it out.

Let us boldly proclaim NOTL’s intention to become “the most accessible town in Canada.”

Not only would this be much fairer for visitors, but think of the many mobility-challenged would-be employees who would suddenly be able to work here.

This week’s edition of Ross’s Ramblings has definitely veered off course. But let’s think outside the box.

A lesson I learned in 1971 on Nantucket Island has stayed with me, and now the StopGap ramp has me hoping that our Niagara-on-the-Lake will seize the opportunity. Yes, so much to think about, so many details. Challenges to overcome.

Almost all great initiatives start small. Great oak trees always start out as small acorns.

I sincerely hope this Ross’s Ramblings will help the StopGap ramp initiative gain traction. It would simply be the right move — and would feel so good.

NOTL, the most accessible town in Canada.