For Craig Wilson, it's all about making connections. The longtime owner of Queen Anne's Island Video relishes conversations with his customers and has no problems with being described as a people person.
And, as it turns out, relishing the interactions with his neighbors and customers pointed Wilson toward what has become years of community involvement. It's been a natural evolution.
It starts with running his store. But ending up as a small business owner on Queen Anne Hill was not part of any mater plan. While Seattle's been home since 1980, to hear him tell it, the city was not on the short list of places where he thought he'd end up.
"I didn't like Seattle so much on my first few visits," he said. He was born in San Francisco and grew up in the southwest. "But when I moved here I came across the pass, saw the trees, saw those mountains. I'm not much of a religious person but I thought, wow, this is God's country."
The step to owning an independent video store was another unexpected turn. Wilson had been working in construction for a few years when took some time off to figure out what he might do next. He'd been a photographer prior to coming to Seattle, and he ended up owning a one-hour photo lab on the top of Queen Anne for three years,
Wilson opened Island Video in 1986 as something of an accident. When the store, which was next door to his photo lab, was put up for sale only seven months after opening, Wilson elected to take the plunge.
"I wanted to get into retail because I missed those micro-moments, the short exchanges with people you have each day. I knew nothing about running a video store, and I wasn't really a movie buff. I offered to buy the business and they quickly said yes. Turned out I really overpaid for it, but it all worked out. I'm 23 years into my three-year business plan," he said. Wilson opened a second store in Fremont in 1989.
Becoming a community volunteer came about organically. His business was doing well, better than he had expected. And Wilson lived on Queen Anne. The thought of giving something back to his neighborhood seemed both appropriate and natural.
"I was making a comfortable living because of this community, so I felt I needed to do something in return," he said. "I was asked to work with the Queen Anne Helpline, and I said, sure. I soon realized I could contribute something to the organization. I could make a small difference."
He's been making a difference with the helpline for nearly 18 years. Queen Anne residents might know him best from his turns at the organization's Christmas Tree sales. But the Helpline was just the beginning of what has become a lengthy list of volunteer efforts.
Not long after joining Helpline, Wilson began sponsoring a Queen Anne Little League team. Beyond sponsorship, the team and the league needed to raise extra money. He came up with the idea of becoming the team photographer. Photographs he sold of the young players would be a worthy fundraiser. His efforts were so successful that youth soccer teams asked him to do the same thing to help raise money for their organizations. Safe to say, he takes a lot of photos of young athletes these days.
Wilson was then asked to become involved with the Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce, where he is a board member, and he's later become a member of the Upper Queen Anne Merchants Association.
For Wilson, community involvement isn't about building a lengthy volunteer resume. It's about doing one's part. And the rewards from being involved, he said, are getting to know people and working toward a common good. And good things do get done from such efforts.
"I found that one person actually can make a difference," he said. "And it doesn't cost money, it just takes some of your time. I don't need any attention for helping out. But it is good to remind people to be part of their community and not just stay on the sidelines."
If he has a philosophy regarding his considerable volunteer efforts, it's that everyone is part of the fabric of the community. It's easy, he said, to get too distracted to notice the weave. Wilson is all about making personal connections. It's not about his or anyone's particular accomplishments:
"This neighborhood is my home, and without this neighborhood I don't have a business. There's just an amazing group of people up here. I've received so much by getting to know them, and it really makes me happy."
Doug Schwartz can be reached at editor@capitolhilltimes.com or 461-1308.
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