Five Notable 2008 Events in Hartsville

** The adoption of the 2010 Master Plan update
** The Coker College Centennial through 2008
** The Centennial of the Hartsville Fire Department
** The completion of the Lawton Park Pavillion makeover
** Dedication of the Coach T. B. Thomas Recreation Center
** The launch of Selling Hartsville and Hartsville - The Art of Good Living

There is almost always something going on in Hartsville, South Carolina. It is truly an amazing small city.

Happy 2009. Let's see what great new things can happen in our town.

Finding light in the community

There is a blog called Smart Communities that recently mentioned an article about Columbia that appeared in the NEW YORK TIMES. This article called Columbia a microcosm of the current economic problems. It was not an optimistic or flattering view though it was probably close to the mark. The writer of the blog, commenting on the article, noted that a different kind of leadership is needed at the community level. She discussed leadership that can provide communities with lights that would begin to lead to solutions and changes that made a difference. It was an interesting observation that caught my attention because of the number of people who have observed that the Selling Hartsville campaign is coming at the wrong time because of the confluence of economic events that are buffeting our community and communities all over the nation and world. I wonder if we all look at Hartsville - The Art of Good Living as one of the lights through which we can begin to look for solutions.

For example, one of the major objectives of this selling Hartsville program is for each Hartsvillian to remind other Hartsvillians that it would be smart to look in Hartsville first before deciding to make purchases in some other community. That little light shined our own retail opportunities might be the difference for one of the retailers.

For example, as you hear of people who might be moving to the area, it might be a great opportunity to get them together with some of your friends to discuss the qualities you feel are important to the high quality of life we lead in this community.

Let's just think how one at a time we can make a positive difference to continue growing Hartsville into the community we want it to be; into the community we need it to be.

Those who serve!

Merry Christmas, happy holidays and a very Happy New Year to any who might be perusing this post.

And, to those who serve and who build and protect communities on a daily basis a sincere thank you for all of your efforts.

As we take a moment or two at this time of year to reflect on those things we call blessings it seems appropriate to offer appreciation to those who daily serve ...

as caregivers
as protectors
as public policy makers
as teachers
as volunteers
as educators
as spiritual advisors
as optimists
as investors
as board members

as people who make a difference in the lives of others without thinking much about it because it just what they do. All communities need these people and as we continue thinking about community building we need to think THANKS for the difference these givers make.

Hartsville is Full of Pleasant Surprises

I was just visiting the HartsvilleToday civic journalism site. This is a site where anyone who wants to be part of the conversation can provide some news, observations and opinions about the community we call Hartsville. Several times in the past I have commented on the value of this site as a community building tool. And, again this morning I am overwhelmed by the photo stories from this past weekend (Jana has some really interesting photos). In addition to the photos, you can quickly read into the site the idea of how many different problem solvers we have in Hartsville. Another name they might go by are community builders. They are the wealth of Hartsville. In a few days we are going to have another story about Hartsville from the perspective of Mrs. Betty Wiggins. Her observations show this community building spirit is the foundation of what has made this community different from many others for decades.

I know Thanksgiving has passed but this is a very sincere THANKS to all those who build this community from so many different places

Rich weekend in this small community

Not much to write but it is important to make strong note of how much there is to do in this small city this weekend. Jana and others on Hartsville Today are calling it a Christmas Extravaganza and I can't imagine even big cities in our State have this much variety for an early December weekend.

For this community building or community thinking blog, the major point is that none of these things would happen without the active involvement of people who care. The consultants who helped us shape the message of the Selling Hartsville campaign that is now expressed in the words, "Expect Pleasant Surprises" commented on the embarrassment of riches in this town. One of the major treasures are those who continue to work so hard to make things happen. You can make your own list of names but Seth Godin, whose newest book is called TRIBES, would note that we are full of tribes who are being led by those who understand that the status quo just is not fun.

Some things happening
Hartsville Community Players Christmas Show
Hartsville Christmas Parade
Good Living Marketplace
Burry Park Tree Lighting (that was some out of the box thinking by Mel)

Harris DeLoach - Business Leader of Year

The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce recently delivered their November 2008 SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS magazine. The magazine is crammed with business statistics and business news and stories on people making a difference in South Carolina.

Harris DeLoach has been named the South Carolina 2008 Business Leader of the Year and there is a great portrait (page 52) by photographer Pat Crawford and interesting, readable article about Harris' career. We came to Hartsville very close to the same time back in the early 1970s and I got to know Harris when he was city attorney and I was covering the City news as a reporter for THE HARTSVILLE MESSENGER. My career moved to Sonoco in 1979 and Harris joined the company in a full-time capacity in 1986. He had been doing the legal work for the company since he arrived in Hartsville. He moved from being the lawyer to being a business operator. I worked for Harris when he had a couple of his Sonoco positions and always enjoyed the work. And, he was a major factor in my joining The Byerly Foundation.(disclaimers over)So, from pretty much first-hand knowledge, I can attest that the current chairman and CEO of Sonoco has been involved in a wide variety of activities in the community as well as making a significant difference in the operations he headed at Sonoco. The Business Leader of the Year is well deserved and it would be great if there were a line of people like Harris who were lining up to do work affecting the public good. I don't see enough of those people on the horizon.
The philosophy that I have watched Harris live is embodied in the quote from his commencement speech to Lander University's Class of 2008,which is quoted in the story: "You came to Lander as seekers of knowledge...If you haven't already done so, find a cause you are passionate about. Make a pledge to devote your own personal resources to service projects. Infuse your time, money and energy into building communities and doing good works."

Harris is one of those Leaders (community builders)who understands how much can be accomplished when it does not matter who gets the credit. He understands the need for collaboration, cooperation and commitment. He has been a catalytic force in Hartsville, at Sonoco, in the South Carolina and within industry to push for solutions through those three Cs. He not only understands leadership, he is a leader and the Hartsville community has been better because he chose to move here in back in the early 70s.

I think you will enjoy the story by Stefanie Caraviello if you can find a copy of South Carolina Business pages 52, 54, 55 and 56.

Hartsville First - Do good for yourself

According to the HARTSVILLE MESSENGER, page 5A of the November 19 edition, the City Council passed a resolution on November 10 encouraging citizens to shop in Hartsville and support our local merchants. Mayor Holt noted, "When you shop here, you're supporting your community, you're supporting Hartsville. You really are selling Hartsville." It was good to read that the Council added their clout to this message because one of the key, crucial audiences for the continuing Selling Hartsville initiative is those of us who live in the area. We have to continue reminding ourselves what a treasure we have the authentic retail community that is the Hartsville downtown.

In that same issue of the newspaper, there was a report on the dwindling funds within the city and one of the sources of city revenue continues to be the business license fees. Retail merchants need our patronage to be competitive and they need our patronage to stay in business. As Hartsvillians, we need them to stay in business because a robust, central, core shopping area is one of those strengths that differentiates Hartsville from so many other communities of a similar size. Times are tough and times are going to get tougher and one way to join in easing some of the difficulty is to "Shop at Home."

This Thursday night in downtown Hartsville is the traditional Merchants' Holiday Open House, which begins at 5 p.m. This would be a great time to see what is available and "expect pleasant surprises."

The back page of this same Hartsville Messenger has a calendar showing some of the things special about Hartsville but the list is even longer than on this schedule.

** On Thanksgiving the YMCA does the Annual Turkey Trot at 8 a.m.
** On December 4 is the Christmas Shoppe at Black Creek Arts (through the sixth)
** This Sunday night, November 23 at 7:30 p.m. the Coker Chamber Singers at Coker
** December 6 is the Hartsville Christmas parade and the Good Living Marketplace

We can all participate in building community and sometimes it can be a great deal of fun, extremely convenient, and really satisfying.

Building Community for Public Good

This afternoon I was reading the Smart Communities blog and noticed a link that took me to a PDF discussion from the National Council on Citizenship on Civic Life after the election. It seems to me this booklet would make an excellent text for a "Community Conversation" on the question of where to we go from here in building community.

In line with what was in the Smart Communities blog, Rich Harwood is talking in his blog about the need for generating both Hope and Empathy as we go forward in what seem to be some of the darkest days (and I don't mean coming of winter) that many of us have seen. I am thinking it is always the right time to talk about community building and to discuss what we mean by the public good but we all know that the cocoons we have woven over the past several years are not going to unravel quickly. It is going to be the process of conversation that will help many emerge from these cocoons to answer the call of community. If any would like to get a conversation going with this booklet as a foundation, please let me know. I will help arrange!

What is going on with the economy?

Dr. Tim Koch and Mike Ayotte, a community bank president from Morganton, NC, were at Coker College on Monday afternoon giving their assessment of how we got to where we are in our current economic woes. The event was sponsored by a community bank based in Hartsville, Heritage Community Bank as a community service. It is too bad we did not have more community members and others there because this is one of the most dynamic presentations I have seen in quite some time. The two presenters have obviously shared the platform previously and they had complementary styles even when they had opinions that did not mesh. Dr. Koch is the Chair of the Finance Department at the University of South Carolina. He came to the presentation from an academic/research perspective. Mr. Ayotte approached the subject from the perspective of a banker who has been successful during these stressful time and who is not wanting what he considers an incompetent government trying to run his business.

I am writing about this presentation in this Community Thinking blog because it was a community service provided by Heritage that in my opinion was a tremendous service. Also, there was a very strong message coming from the speakers about the importance of Community banks and that was an interesting perspective. It was not all that long ago that community banks were one of the major funders of community-building projects.

This was an interesting presentation and just for starters, what role do you think a company called Goldman Sachs plays in the current bailout tactics?

Happy Birthday Marines

November 10th is the birthday of the United States Marine Corps. Okay, so maybe you have to have been a Marine to care but for 233 years members of the Corps have been one of the major defensive strengths of our nation.

A look at the traditions of the Marine Corps will give you some models for community building. There are not ex Marines, only former Marines. Semper Fi! One possible tradition that is more like a value is that the Marine Corps is about the mission. A plan, resources to execute the plan (always in short supply), and most importantly Marines, who bring that plan to life.

Carolina Lunch and Breakfast

Carolina Lunch only serves breakfast. You pretty much have to be from Hartsville -- or a very regular visitor -- to know that fact. From the Selling Hartsville perspective, we would probably call this one of the "Pleasant Surprises" that you will find around this community.

This Saturday morning, about 7:15, it looked like just about every seat in Carolina Lunch was occupied and there were people coming and there were people going. Carolina Lunch for breakfast was a happening place. As I drove by and saw some of the people it reminded me of the little things that make such strong connections in a community. If you want to know the latest of what people are thinking in Hartsville, you probably want to stop in to Carolina Lunch and overhear conversations. It is the center of talk and while facts might need to be checked, it is certainly where you can find the pulse of the day. Talking to Hartsvillian visitors to their town, you will often find that one of the highlights of their time home visiting is a nostalgic trip with their father(sometimes mother)to Carolina Lunch for breakfast. Besides a trip back to Church on Sunday morning, I am wondering what other touch points might be part of a return visit to our Community.

Now there are other places people meet for their first get-togethers of the day, it just so happens that Carolina Lunch is the place I have passed daily for a lot of years and the one that always seems open for coffee just after 5 a.m.

It is all about people -- Harwood on this election

We write and talk a lot about community building on this community thinking blog and I keep the words of Rich Harwood close by because I find that his macro approach to our micro communities seems to be a very solid foundation for discussion starting. Today, in his blog, Rich talks about Senator Obama's grandmother and the true humanity represented by the idea that she succumbed to cancer on the last day of this presidential campaign. I hope you will read this Harwood column because it really does pack a lot wisdom.

Here are a few lines that I think pertain to the ideas and actions in our small, dynamic cosmopolitan piece of the world we call Hartsville, SC:

From Richard Harwood: "It is easy for people to get pushed aside in our politics and public life. Our strength is gauged by how we outfox our opponents, or can get funding for our efforts, or gain publicity. Sure, each of these is needed at different times. But they are not what our efforts are about.

If want to make progress, any kind of progress, then we must return a greater sense of humanity in our politics and public life. We need to see and hear each other again. We need to resist mechanistic responses that deny people's ability to truly engage and express their aspirations and concerns. We need empathy -- not sympathy that asks us to take up each other's cause, but a willingness to understand a different perspective and to welcome different insights. We need to be willing to think about the common good, and not just own good."

Community building is about building so that other are included, and I think you will find it much better said in Rich's November 4 blog. Let me know what you think of it.

Community Journalism Site three years old

www.hartsvilletoday.com

Doug Fisher had an idea a few years ago that the concept of "citizen journalism" was going to be a more important journalistic movement than most in the news industry were ever going to guess. He is now a professor in the University of South Carolina School of Journalism, Mass Communication and Information Science, and he wanted to put his thoughts to the test. You can read more about how he did it in his papers on this subject, but he and Graham Osteen, at the time the publisher and editor of THE HARTSVILLE MESSENGER decided to put this 'laboratory' in Hartsville. This week, I think on October 30th, the hartsvilletoday citizen journalism web site celebrated its third birthday.

Once and awhile I get the opportunity to talk about some of the unique aspects of Hartsville that make this a special little city in which to be living. Very near the top of the list is this citizen journalism web site. While it may be taking a little longer to catch on as THE place to go for news about Hartsville, it is a crucial place to go for the flavor of Hartsville -- news, views, opinions, art, humor, insight and awareness. The Hartsville community has significantly benefited from the site being part of our media mix.

A couple of years ago a version of the World Cafe method of getting community input was held in Hartsville over about 13 months. The site proved a fantastic tool for providing the after-talk observations shared by those who took part in the meetings. The site allowed a transparency for a public get-together not often available. The comments section ensured that the person providing the recap could be checked by those in attendance.

The Selling Hartsville initiative moved ahead, in part, because of the ability to share information, ideas, involvement-pleas directly with the community on a very timely basis.

Those were a couple of key aspects but this site has provided so much more. We have a view of the community directly from citizen-eye view. There are people sharing photographs of life in this community that provide perspectives many have never even considered. There are people providing commentary on life in the town that demonstrates why complacency is never a good idea. The HVTD contributing community is self selected and is becoming a voice for sectors that don't always make the mainstream news.

As we move into the fourth year of this site there is a strong hope that those who still think they don't have a voice begin to see how they sound as contributors on the hvtd site. What is an example? Suppose you have a neighborhood association and you have begun an active campaign of clean up or neighborhood watch or neighbor helping neighbor. This site is a perfect place for those small-city heroic stories to be told. How do you tell them? All anyone would have to do is read over some of the posts and you will quickly see there is no need to uncover the mystery of the inverted pyramid. All you have to do is start writing your story and it won't be long before you have a sort of conversation going. There are lots more examples of stories to be told and pictures to be shown but blogs are not supposed to be too long.

The hartsvilletoday web site is a major new-media communication vehicle for the Hartsville community but its value and richness depends totally on those who are willing to be the community story tellers. Thanks Doug for making a difference in Hartsville.

Hartsville -- Saturday is Good Living Marketplace

One of the interesting things to come out of the Selling Hartsville launch of early October was the "Good Living" Marketplace that was set up the first Saturday of October in downtown Hartsville's Cargill Way. This was the first Saturday of what founders Nancy Myers and Judi Elvington (Executive Director Hartsville Downtown Development - sponsors)hope become a lasting first Saturday tradition. The participation of people is what will decide. From what I hear the event has already grown from about 32 vendors to more than 45 for the first Saturday of November. It is certainly a great addition to the community and one of the Pleasant Surprises of being in Hartsville.

Clemson Grad Students Share Visions of Butler

Got home a few minutes ago from the Butler gym where Clemson students working on the question of how to revitalize the Butler High property were showing their initial thinking on this project. This was really an energizing experience from a community development perspective. The students were in Hartsville about a month ago getting preliminary input. These students are a mix of landscape architecture Masters students and community planning masters students. It was really exciting and energizing to see and hear the fresh thinking the students are bringing to the challenge of developing this southern entrance to Hartsville.

There were just under 40 people from the community there providing the second set of input for the students to take back and refine their projects. To continue the push for selling Hartsville and improving the overall product that is our Hartsville, it is going to take many more of us to continue the building. One of the reasons I mention this here is that as I listened to these students describe their thinking i could feel their passion for the project. They had thought deeply to come up with their concepts and they were amazed at how they could transform this area into something of pride and beauty for the community. As I listened to them talk about the transformations that could take place I thought how their ideas might move others in Hartsville to see the possibilities of the connections that might be made with focus and attention. Maybe the professors will find a way to have at least the team who wins their in-class competition come to Hartsville for a public presentation that more people might hear.

Rich Harwood who was in Hartsville about a year as we were developing some ideas for enhancing our community has the theme "Imagine and Act for the Public Good" for his Harwood Institute. The imagination that was being share tonight by the Clemson students gets you really excited about how to work for the public good. I suppose it is a stretch but this second Butler planning session is another of the pleasant surprises we often have in Hartsville.

Carolina Living one of publications...

That has been used to promote "Hartsville - The Art of Good Living." This publication reaches people thinking of moving to the Carolinas and Hartsville included an advertisement and an article in a recent edition. This link to Carolina Living takes you to an earlier story that also includes testimonials, which you can also find in the Hartsville Good Living web site.

Hartsville good living...

Was exemplified again yesterday when a group of board members from the Hartsville Chamber of Commerce met for planning the new year of business. One of the major areas where the Chamber is taking on new challenges is becoming the focal group for Selling Hartsville. The Chamber received a two-year grant from The Byerly Foundation when they proposed a method of keeping the idea of Selling Hartsville on the front burner of the community. There are some who say, "why the Chamber." As one of the people involved from the beginning, my answer would be, "Who better?"

The Hartsville Chamber of Commerce has the improvement of the economic world of Hartsville as a core mission. The Chamber is representative of members from the Greater Hartsville community. The concept of Selling Hartsville is a concept that involves the "Greater" area surrounding Hartsville. That puts the Chamber in a unique position of ongoing organizations to best find continuing methods of selling this community.

On Friday the Board discussed some of the challenges, which include ensuring continual collaboration of all organizations and individuals that need to be involved. During the run up to the launch of this effort, the collaboration and cooperations of many organizations was one of the strengths and at time the lack of the same was one of the weaknesses. Chamber and Downtown Development leaders sit ex-officio on each other's board. The Downtown Development group works closely with the city and the City Manger is an ongoing ex-officio member of the Chamber Board. These are methods for trying to ensure continuing and effective communication among these three organizations. But, it is not only these organizations that need to be part of the collaboration of effectively Selling Hartsville. Those organizations within the Greater Hartsville area that have employees moving in to town are crucial. Churches are crucial because they are one of the hubs of community building. Civic groups, retail establishments, real estate businesses and the area schools are all important players. And, we should not forget that those of us who live in the Hartsville area have to keep the need to sell our community at the top of our minds so we can attract more people to live, shop and entertain in our community. Every survey of visitors to this community speaks highly of the friendly people , great looking community. Remember to suggest to all your friends that they can "Expect Pleasant Surprises" in Hartsville. And, for some of these pleasant surprises go to the civic journalism site, HVTD.com, which always has lots of examples. And the Hartsville good living web site is full of content pointing out the depth of our community.

When is the right time?

There has been some talk lately that the timing was probably wrong for the initiative to Sell Hartsville. The economy is tumbling. There are difficulties with employment. Is this really the right time to begin a push focused on the theme of Hartsville - The Art of Good Living?

This is a great time from the perspective of one of the most important goals of this ongoing initiative. Why? The goal is to have more Hartsvillians shopping Hartsville. If we can convince ourselves that what we need is probably in Hartsville and does not require our going to Florence, Columbia or the internet. We can get what is needed here and very frequently with the added benefits of friendly interaction that might even lead to meeting a new friend. There is no question our businesses need more customers in these times of reduced spending. That means the Selling Hartsville initiative might be very timely. A portion of the sales tax collected on purchases goes toward property tax relief. All the dollars spent somewhere else have that portion of sales taxes supporting someone else's tax relief. And, the more people who come to Hartsville for a unique lunch or dinner in an authentic small city atmosphere the more additions we have to the hospitality tax that continues to help us build a better community.

This is the right time. Now, today. We know there are examples aplenty of how Hartsville represents "The Art of Good Living." Our goals should be to create many more examples and share the story that shopping in our small city will allow you to "Expect pleasant surprises."

So, what might be happening in and around and from Hartsville...?
Cotton Harvest Bluegrass Festival October 24, 25, 26 (Hartsville Messenger)
HHS Red Regime Marching Band heading to the State Band Tournament
Art work on display at the Black Creek Arts Council on College Avenue
Always an interesting exhibit at the Hartsville Museum.
October is Toastmaster Month in Hartsville
Environmentalist to speak at Coker on October 29

Red Regime Going to Lower State

"Around 12:01 PM the Red Regime will travel up Gandy Drive to Carolina Ave, to Fifth Street. I would like all the area businesses and supporters to line the streets and business windows with posters encouraging the Red Regime. We need to place at within the top sixth, to go to State Competition." They are leaving Hartsville High on their way to the lower state 4A marching band championship.

The above was taken from the HartsvilleToday citizen journalism web site. The band is winning a lot of hardware this year as they go to the lower state with legitimate hopes of bringing a Lower State Championship back to Hartsville. The dedication of the teachers, the band boosters and the band members is another great example of why we are so dedicated to making Hartsville - The Art of Good Living known throughout the state of South Carolina and beyond. Go Red Regime!

Selling Hartsville is nothing new

Mac Williams, a Spanish professor at Coker, was doing some research this week using microfiche copies of old Hartsville Messengers. He copied a couple of pages for me from something he came across in his research. If this does not show that there is not much new under the sun, maybe nothing would. Thursday, November 3, 1938 was the final message of a campaign that had been running weekly in the paper since the first of September that year. One of the prominent messages: "What helps business helps you."

Another prominent message, "You can buy these in Hartsville to your advantage..." Under that heading was a long list of things that could be purchased in Hartsville from men's clothing to Refrigerators and from beauty treatments to banking services.

The major message that was carried in these three-quarter page ads were the message of shopping at home. "In each message, an effort was made to shw that by spending money at home the community would be built up to the advantage of all the people who live in it..." Another line noted, "...it is certain that the more money there is spent in Hartsvile, the better aplace it will be in which to live."

From the tone of the 'Final Message' is appears there may have been some resistance to the earlier messages in people thinking they were only to benefit the businessmen of the community. So, the people writing the ad wrote this paragraph: "You are not asked to deal in hartsville to help the business and professional men here. The appeal is made to you in order that you may help yourselves and your families. Incidentally, you will be helping others , too, but the prime thing is that you are increasing the value of YOUR property, are providing more opportunities for YOUR children and YOURSELF. It is YOU who are being benefitted as well as others."

The plea for more people to be involved and for more visibility to our community is one that appears to need constant reinforcing. We hope Hartsville - The Art of Good Living will reawaken all of us on the need to shop Hartsville first!

Burry Park Dedication Makes an Impression

Burry Park is in the middle of downtown Hartsville between Fifth Street and Fourth Street and bounded on the North by Cargill Way. Why is where it is important? Because, it was only about 15 or so years ago that same piece of property was dominated by two gigantic soybean storage tanks. In truth, those tanks were Hartsville icons. People within the community had a vision of a downtown without those icons; a downtown with new office buildings, new restaurants, a hotel or two and green public space that enhanced and showcased the downtown, which had still survived the decay of urban sprawl. As Gregg Welborn, who chaired the Cargill Committee for years, told the crowd gathered for the dedication of this important public space, the project has been 15 years in the making. Fifteen years in the making represents some amazing persistence toward a vision. That is impressive and those of us who live, work and play in Hartsville owe a debt to the selfless public service of those who labored month in and month out to redo this vital section of downtown. Again, as Gregg noted at the dedication, "Very few communities have such an opportunity to redesign and rebuild an area the size of the former Cargill property, in the middle of their downtown" Had it not been for the tenacity of citizen committees and individual citizen efforts, it is not certain the project would have been completed. The redoing of this former Cargill property could be one of the major case histories in community building. So, thank you to all who had a part in making it happen.

And, as this particular blog installment comes to a close it seems most important to also emphasize the actions of the man for whom the Burry Park is named, Charlie Burry. As his son, Hartsville High Principal Dr. Charlie Burry, Jr., was talking about his father, he concluded with what I hope is a call to arms for all citizens. Charlie told the audience that one of his father's core beliefs was that "you've got to put something back." Charlie Burry (senior and junior) have put a great deal back in our community and the impressive example of being focused on the 'public good' is something that more and more Hartsvillians need to embrace as we continue working to make our small city one of the best places in the world in which to live, work, play and pray. Charlie Burry, who opened Burry Bookstore in downtown Hartsville, would be another great example of a person who understood what Rich Harwood talks about when he discusses community building around the country. The Burry Park dedication and experience is one more crucial element in helping Hartsville stand out among small cities around the country.

Here is a direct portion of what Charlie Burry said about his father: He was quoting from a news story that hangs in his office. "The headline reads “Charlie Burry is at home in Hartsville,” and the article ends with him being quoted as saying, “You’ve got to put something back.” On the surface, the idea that “you’ve got to put something back,” might seem to be just an expression of gratitude for what Hartsville had meant to him and his family, and I’m sure that thinking was part of it. There’s much more to it than that, though. To really know Charles E. Burry is to know that he had the wisdom and the character to develop a philosophy of business and life that allowed him to combine his life’s work as a merchant with his service as a humanitarian. That was one of the keys to his success. Make no mistake about it, he was an astute businessman and knew how to turn a profit; that’s how he built two successful businesses from scratch. More importantly though, he understood that if he ran a successful business the way he thought it should be done, that it could do more than provide a good living for his family; it could make downtown a better place and serve the community, too. He also understood that his time and efforts in improving the community went hand-in-hand with creating a better business climate. He realized that his efforts in both areas served the purpose of the greater good for everyone, not just himself..."

Hartsville memories stay with you

Got the opportunity to attend the USC game on Saturday night. Had not been in a couple of years and it was a good time, even if the offense underperformed and the entire team underwhelmed. But -- and this is where it relates to community thinking...

During a lull in the halftime activities I heard the word "Hartsville" in a conversation going on behind me. Okay, I should not have, but I kept listening. One guy was telling another that he had lived in Hartsville several years and "We really liked living there" He followed that up with a couple of things about what a friendly town it was and what interesting things were going on. Now, this guy was a couple of years younger than I am and he has been gone from Hartsville since the mid 80s. But, with energy and enthusiasm he was remembering what a great place it is to live.

Okay, so I am not subtle. I jumped into the conversation, introduced myself and told him about our idea of Hartsville as The Art of Good Living. I even invited him to move back if he and his family were looking at another move.

The point? In thinking about our Community I think we have to remember that those of us who live here may be missing out on a lot by not realizing how much others think about this place we call home. The marketers from Carolina PR reminded us in their study of the city in preparation for this branding initiative, that Hartsville is a town with an embarrassment of riches. We have all kinds of activities ongoing from Upward Soccer to Community Players in "GodSpell" to a day of medieval activities, to a high school band winning top honors in competition, to financial institutions (in this time of financial strain) reinvesting in their businesses in Hartsville and even a pumpkin patch in preparation for Halloween.

On Thursday we have what is being called the LAUNCH of the Selling Hartsville campaign. The primary audience for this launch is us. We need to remind ourselves and our friends and our neighbors that we should take the many things we have going for us in this town for granted.

The Selling Hartsville Marketing Task Force came up with five pillars around which we tell this story: Learning, Lifestyle, Leisure, Livelihood and Legacy. Let's celebrate. The logo for the Selling Hartsville effort is the slogan "Hartsville, The Art of Good Living." Another key idea in this program is that one of the great things about this town is that you can always 'Expect Pleasant Surprises.' How about coming downtown on Thursday evening to say hello to friends and neighbors and maybe even make some new friends and meet some long-time neighbors and maybe find a pleasant surprise or two that will add to your appreciation of our cosmopolitan small city.

Wow -- lots going on in this small city

Take Byerly Park for example. Happened to be there this morning about 7:15 so I could get a couple of miles of walking on the 1.2 mile track. I was not alone on that track. Okay, only about 15 other people, but, think about it. At 7:15 in the morning 16 people getting walking exercise. As we walked or ran, I began to notice that the quarter mile track also had several people doing some running. And, about 7:40 it really got some people as the undefeated Hartsville High runners were showing up for a Saturday workout and at almost the same time the men's and women's cross country teams from Coker College were also starting their Saturday morning work outs.

Across the park in the soccer area the UPWARD Soccer league was laying out field for the younger kids and by 8 a.m. those parking lots were getting crowded with families out for Saturday morning soccer and the noise of cheering showed there was a great deal of excitement for this league. As I was finishing my four laps more cars started to park at the other end of the park. Football players began to jump from those cars as the Hartsville Recreation Saturday morning football games began cranking up.

There's more, and remember, we have not left Byerly Park yet. The first officials began to arrive at the softball fields, where Coker College is sponsoring a Fall tournament that is including technical college teams, Division II NCAA teams and softball traveling teams. At one point there were hundreds of people all over Byerly Park. I know you can find that in larger cities but there are not many cities the size of Hartsville that have that much activity at one outdoor location.

And, later on Saturday, Godspell, a production of the local community players was going to be in their second performance of the weekend at the Center Theater. I will also bet that people with the Black Creek Arts Council were putting their finishing touches on the Artist Crawl that is being held on this weekend too.

Check out other areas that boast of the Small-city values. There are few with the variety and breadth of activities on such a regular basis. Hartsville is unique and fits so well our new marketing logo -- "Hartsville - The Art of Good Living."

Butler Community Meeting Developed Lots of Ideas

There was a great deal of activity in the gym at the former Butler High School this past Tuesday evening. The Hartsville Planning Department under Rodney Tucker put together an event to generate community input to a process of redeveloping the Butler property, which at one time was a focal point for the South Hartsville community. Butler is also a major legacy in the history and education of many long-time African-American Hartsville area residents.

Currently, the Butler Heritage Foundation is rebuilding the former administration area to make a community center. The Hartsville Boys and Girls Club has been using the gym and a former wing of the school for their activities and the Pee Dee Council on Aging also has daily events at the location.

City planner Rodney Tucker learned a great deal about community planning and development at Clemson and he had an idea the school could could help develop a framework to help with redeveloping this property, which plays such a prominent role in the South entrance to the city of Hartsville. A large team of graduate students led by Professor Dr. Grant Cunningham were in Hartsville earlier this week meeting with lots of people and organizing the community-input session.

This project is a hands-on learning experience for these students, who are working for graduate degrees in planning or landscape architecture or a combination of these fields. The students were deeply involved in running the sessions and there were a significant number (my guess is 50+) citizens who were joining in this process.

This project will last through January. Anyone with questions should contact Rodney Tucker at the Hartsville Planning Department. This was an exciting night for building community and for an extremely focused effort of thinking about a specific area of the community.

Quick Thought on Anniversaries in a Community

Was at Hartsville Drug Store this afternoon and Joe McCullogh, Jr. and I were talking about doing business in Hartsville. This year Hartsville Drug Company is 60 years old, founded in 1948 by Joe's father.

This past week the S. C. Governor's School for Science and Mathematics celebrated its 20th year of existence. It was established as a high school for students from around South Carolina who are good in science and mathematics. Those students who are accepted spend their junior and senior high school years in residence at this this State High School.

The Hartsville Fire Department is celebrating its Centennial this year and they will be recognized by the Mayor at the Selling Hartsville Launch on October 2, 2008.

Coker College is celebrating its centennial this year and they will be recognized by Mayor Michael Holt at the Selling Hartsville Launch in downtown Hartsville on October 2.

Just in these short anniversaries we see the Hartsville Art of Good Living pillars of Legacy, Livelihood and Learning and probably even Lifestyle. The other pillar is Leisure and there is probably an anniversary for that but I don't have it in the top of my mind.

Just a thought on Hope

On this Saturday morning I was thinking much less about the "public good" and much more about my personal good as I embarked on the normal four-mile 'health' walk. Then, as I moved through the walls of fog and came upon the National Guard Armory a major surprise -- there was a platoon of young people. They were apparently engaged in a PFT test -- many of them were doing pushups with people in uniform doing the counting.

It was then that the ray of hope sort of burned off some of that morning fog. It was not quite eight oclock on a Saturday morning. The platoon was not age-diverse -- it was all young but beyond that it was America -- Southern style. There was every shade of person and nearly as many females as males and their mission -- to become better soldiers. For whom are they performing their mission -- Us or U.S., if that works better for you.

As I was watching and probably even counting some of those push ups, I was also listening to Tom Friedman's new book "Flat, Hot & Crowded" and a paragraph he had in his first part about the willingness and eagerness of our young citizens to become engaged in something bigger than themselves. Through my ears to the the front yard of the National Guard Armory. Proof that there is evidence for HOPE. To continue effective community building efforts hope is a critical ingredient.

So, Why does everything take so long...

During the Rotary Club talk about Selling Hartsville on Tuesday afternoon, one person, who had been involved in the community conversations and other aspects, questioned "Why is taking so long?"

The question hung in the air for awhile. It is a question that I find myself asking all the time. Why do things that make so much sense to me take so long to get up and running, off the ground and producing results.

Part of the answer ---
** It obviously takes some time to build support for an initiative that might not be as critical as some of us may think.
*** Why is that?
****When you look at some of the discussions on the concept of change you find that very often it is nearly impossible to get change to happen until there is a crisis that precipates that change. Without being too political, think about the crisis the past eight years have brought on and you begin to see what it takes for people to adopt the word change -- both candidates are running as agents of change.
****I know it is written in other places on this blog but as Jeannie Robertson said, "Change doesn't happen until the pain of change is less than the pain of staying the same."

***Okay, you say what is this need for change you are talking about in the Hartsville community?
1 -- Have you looked at the direction the population census has been taking?
2 -- Do you notice that very nice houses up for sale stay up for sale month after month after month after month
3 -- Do you hear the rhetoric from local government about the lack of a tax base adequate to pay for a community that needs the services our community needs?
4 -- Have you had a son, daughter or other try to find a good job in the area over recent times?
5 -- Have you heard the stories of people coming to work at companies and other institutions in Hartsvlle who are choosing to commute from Florence, or Camden or Columbia or even Charlotte.
6 -- Do you know people who want to open a business but don't because so many of their friends are always saying, I go to Florence to get that...

WHY
We need a WILL to change
We need a VISION of what that change will bring us
We need a responsible, authentic, authoritative, accountable group to move the agenda
We need authentic, authority-laden, accountable individual leaders to move the agenda
We need an understanding that just because things are "fine" or "Ok" today they are not going to be either fine or okay tomorrow without a lot of work today
We need a positive energy to ignite the population
We need to figure out how to initiate the change prior to the crisis because as I have been quoting (adapting from Walt Whitman) Change comes to the prepared community.

The plea is for anyone reading this to take what you read and then initiate some conversations about what it means, first -- HARTSVILLE - THE ART OF GOOD LIVING. It almost always makes sense to start the discussion from a positive position. Second, engage others in the discussion that revolves around why more people aren't understanding the need for active selling of our Greater Hartsville community. One of our major copy headlines in the initiative is "Expect Pleasant Surprises." For me, it will be a pleasant and welcome surprise for people to continue this discussion using the comment button, so we can see what others think.

Rotary Club and Sellling Hartsville

One of the institutions that has always been at the forefront of making Hartsville a better community in which to live is the Hartsville Rotary Club. Rotary International is one of the most 'can-do' organizations in the world. Today I got the opportunity to talk with the Rotary about the Selling Hartsville initiative. If the entire Selling Hartsville idea is going to take hold in our community it is going to have to be the civic clubs who play a major ongoing role. Looking out at the audience it was also apparent that we need to find ways to bring additional people to our community and get more people involved in all facets of the community. Several groups of people you might expect to be significantly represented in civic organizations are there in the numbers they used to be. Over the past several years --as Putnam has observed in BOWLING ALONE, there has been less participation in these groups and one of my beliefs is that if a community is going to thrive it has to reverse this trend. As noted in other blogs there are communities fighting not to survive -- but to thrive. I'm hoping that we see a lot of Rotarians and lots of other Hartsvillians at the October 2 launch of Selling Hartsville. The invitation tody was that they come to the launch to meet neighbors and gather with friends to remind each other what a treasure trove of assets we have in the Hartsville community.

It is a competitive, community world

Several of the recent posts have focused on the sense of urgency that I believe needs to be developed around the selling Hartsville initiative. By nearly any metric, the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area is thought of as one of the top places to live in the country. That part of North Carolina, called Orange County, is not just sitting around enjoying their position at the pinnacle of communities. In fact, at the end of this week that community has a trip planned to Ann Arbor, Michigan to see how another successful community sustains their growth and life style. In the corporate world this would be called benchmarking. In the academic world, this would be called research. In the Chapel Hill/Carrboro community is is a sold-out trip that is costing participants or their organizations significant dollars to participate. But, the trip is sold out, as was the last one to Madison, WI. These communities understand the sense of urgency and they understand that when you stop getting better, you stop being good.

Selling Hartsville is not an option

Trite as it often sounds, Hartsville is a unique community. In the studying of the community leading up to the discussions of Selling Hartsville strategy it became increasingly apparent that this community is unlike most towns that is most like in demographics, location, background, etc. The city is approximately 7,300 people -- small and by all accounts dropping in population. At the same time, those of us living within the community and within the the greater Hartsville area are feeling a sense of vibrancy.

There is so much going on. There are so many people in this community, born here, moved here, coming here who find Hartsville a great place to live. And, on any given day we have nearly three times the population visiting our area to shop, to work, to go to school, to visit, to tour, to play and to compete. We used to say that no one gets to Hartsville by mistake. We are a bit out of the way, stuffed into the near northeastern corner of South Carolina exactly half way between Charlotte and Myrtle Beach on Highway 151 -- 55 miles from Columbia; about 20 miles from Florence and about 90 miles from Myrtle Beach and two and half hours from Charleston. While no one comes by accident, we have visitors here for Coker College, for Sonoco, for the S.C. Governor's School of Science and Math, for Stingray Boats, and for a variety of shopping opportunities in our authentic, All-American downtown, We have athletes in all the time competing at Byerly Park and our Center Theater is one of the most exquisite performing venues in the State. The consultants we used for the Selling Hartsville study called this an embarrassment of riches that most communities our size would never even be able to imagine.

Yet, amidst this community in which there is nearly always something to do, even if only to go to the downtown movie theater showing first-run films for $2 a ticket, there is the cloud that many people who could be living here are choosing to live in larger communities within commuting distance. Many of those people choose these other communities without giving Hartsville a real look; because Hartsville is small and what could there be to do there.

What does this mean? It means that if do not reverse this trend homes will take longer to sell. Entrepreneurs, instead of choosing downtown Hartsville, might start choosing other towns. People who might contribute significant talents to building our local community will be putting their efforts into other communities. This is not something we can let happen if we want a thriving community (like today) in five, 10 or 15 years. That is why the Selling Hartsville initiative has been started.

Earlier today there was a program on National Public Radio about leadership in communities. The community featured (9-6-08) has been fighting just to survive and they have been successful at surviving but they do not thrive. In Hartsville we have the opportunity now to actively remind ourselves of the riches and resources of this community and urge each other to take advantage of this unique blend of livlihood, leisure, lifestyle, legacy and learning. We have the opportunity to develop some processes to acquaint potential residents with the friendliness that is so apparent most people who just stop by for a cup of coffee at the Rooster go away talking about this experience. We also have to understand that none of this will just happen. If we want this community to continue thriving and progressing we have to sell its advantages. Let's think about what this logo means: "Hartsville, The Art of Good Living." When you answer what it means to you make sure you share your answer with a friend, a neighbor and someone who does not live in our community. At the same time listen when others tell you what "Hartsville - The Art of Good Living" means to them. It will be amazing to you how quickly your examples and anecdotes will expand.

As we developed the thinking behind Selling Hartsville, one of the things that became apparent to those working on this project was how many different things they were able to point that they never expected to find. That is where a copy headline developed -- Expect Pleasant Surprises. For example, are you into exercise. The Hartsville Family YMCA, one of the most forward thinking and looking facilities of its kind, is sponsoring a triathlon. That same weekend you can attend a Division II NCAA soccer contest. There is a great art exhibit at the Black Creek Arts Council called "Unbidden Visions" and the problem with starting this type of list is that you always forget something.

There have been a significant number of people working on the Selling Hartsville Task Forces the past few months. That is one thing about Hartsville, you can find lots of willing hands, backs and minds when things need doing. The introduction of the Selling Hartsville initiative is taking place in downtown Hartsville on Thursday evening, October 2 over a period of about three hours from five (with the dedication of Burry Park) to eight with lots of entertainment and some good information. Everyone is invited to come up to enjoy this First Thursday in Hartsville, meet your friends and neighbors as you stroll this real-live American downtown. One of the hallmarks of a healthy, growing community is the realization that you have to keep working at being better. Those communities that reach the top of 'best places to live' lists are always looking for ways to get better. Hartsville can be among those communities recognized as among the best if we understand the need to sell our advantages and continue to work on improving those areas of our community that need enhancing -- businesses call this continuous improvement or product improvement. A former boss had an important message that he shared frequently with his organization -- "when you stop being better, you stop being good."

Let's all work together to demonstrate why Hartsville is The Art of Good Living and to continue to create unexpected pleasant surprises for ourselves and all those who might come to visit or live in our unique community.

It's Hartsville, of course there is a Show opening

Hartsville - the Art of Good Living is the logo to identify the initiative we call Selling Hartsville. One of the first places that logo was unveiled was the Black Creek Arts Council on College Avenue in downtown Hartsville. The BCAC is one of the gems or jewels that in the push of the Selling Hartsville, we call a Pleasant Surprise. And, in Hartsville you can always "Expect Pleasant Surprises."

A pleasant surprise is what awaited Gallery visitors on Thursday evening as the large number of visitors went in to view the "Unbidden Visions" of Shawn Lay, a Coker College professor of history and talented artist. The visions that come to life in the drawings on the walls of the BCAC Gallery seem out of the past heyday of ComicBook art. Most of these visions seem to jump from the drawings as super villains, not super heroes -- but that could just be a personal perspective. Not being an art critic of any stripe the best advice here would be to stop by the Gallery and judge for yourself. Dr. Lay's show will be up until September 26th.

One of last night's Pleasant Surprises was the large number of new visitors I saw coming into the Gallery. Large numbers of students who did not even know the Gallery existed came to view the show. Lots of Coker professors also had their first exposure to the Gallery. With the innovative shows and programs that are a key hallmark of Black Creek Arts Council, it is likely many of these first-time visitors will become repeat patrons. Hartsville may be a small city but the resources available in this town do give us lifestyle riches beyond most imagining. One of the messages in the Selling Hartsville initiative (to those of us already living in this community) is to not take these riches and resources for granted. Sustainability requires nurturing. If you want more information on Black Creek, check with Bruce Douglas, the executive director.

A lot of unusual early morning activity in Hartsville

Right at six this morning there was a lot of unusual activity in the Hartsville. Fourteenth Street was much busier than ususal as lots of cars came past the powerline and then took right turns into the National Guard parking lot. You have heard there are about 2500 Guard troops on alert for the weekend weather. Yesterday a student of mine came in and said her unit, Florence/Timmonsville had people activated and it looks like many of the Hartsville Guard have also been put on alert. Isn't it amazing how much we take for granted until a potential crisis looms? Thanks to those troops who have interrupted their normal lives to help others feel more secure in their lives.

Thank you to those working to make a difference

Selling Hartsville? Who Benefits?

Hartsville, The Art of Good Living is an umbrella under which the Selling Hartsville initiative is progressing. This is an interesting community building project because it is moving forward as something important to the “public good” without a specific group or organization having accountability as part of their ongoing operations. The initiative has progressed to the point that there will be a launch of what this effort means to the greater Hartsville community on Thursday, October 2nd.

This initiative got to this point because of people volunteering their time, contributing their ideas and opinions, and joining with others, some they had never met because they see and feel a need to share the quality of life that is Hartsville, South Carolina. We could look at the email lists and at some of the minutes of various meetings to get an exact count but generally there have been about 75 people who are part of the ongoing effort. There are many more who have taken some part in the building of this initiative.

It feels important that as part of this ongoing initiative, which is beginning to require more than just a few hours of meeting, an authentic THANK YOU is shared with those who are part of the effort. Not many of them will receive direct benefits from their efforts but all of them seem to have a strong understanding that as the Hartsville area becomes a destination of choice for more shoppers and people looking for interesting and fun experiences and as more people begin to take a serious look at Hartsville as a place to make their homes – everyone of us living in this area benefits. So, again, Thanks to all those who are involved in this Selling Hartsville initiative. You are making a difference for your community!

And, if this initiative begins to take off as it seems to be doing, we will all see many direct benefits. When more Hartsvillians choose Hartsville first when it comes to shopping, local sales taxes will stay in our community. When more people find reasons to come to Hartsville because of our unique eateries and our unique entertainment events, our hospitality tax base increases. When merchants are selling more they are able to invest more in their businesses and growing businesses help grow communities. When more people begin choosing the 29550 zip code for their homes, the housing values stay strong. When more people choose the 29550 zip code, our governmental services can be strengthened. When more people choose 29550, it becomes easier to work on some of the areas of our product that need enhancing. If Selling Hartsville bears the fruit that it can bear, we will find ourselves with an even more dynamic community than we have imagined. Who benefits – we all do.

Thanks to those who are helping to make this difference!

And, as one last thought many who live, work and play in Hartsville, SC, will attest that when it comes to moving projects forward, getting things accomplished you will be in good company in Hartsville.

In the midst of change

We are going to see change this election year. Whew! Rich Harwood is guru of community change efforts and he has a rigorous process that he advises for positive change in communities. His constant reminder is that planned, positive change is not easy and that it must be accompanied by Authenticity, Accountability and demonstrate Authority.

We have political conventions happening and we have news media who have nothing to cover if there is not a fight so they continue to urge negativity. Harwood writes about that kind of discussion in his blog today. It is an interesting read!

Why a Selling Hartsville initiative? (repeat)

Change happens! The role of community builders is to Make Positive Change Happen – that is often very difficult. Jeanne Robertson, a motivational speaker from North Carolina used to use a line in some of her talks about how many of us feel about change. She said, “Change doesn’t happen until the pain of Change is less than the pain of staying the same.” Think about that… Do we really want to wait to bring about constructive change in our community until something happens that provides us no options?

The student business organization at Coker had some shirts printed with a quote from Walt Whitman, “Change favors the prepared mind.” That is an excellent quote for students coming from a dynamic liberal arts college. I think with a little tweaking, it is an excellent quote for the reason behind the Selling Hartsville initiative. The tweaking – “Change favors the prepared community.” If we want Hartsville to be a thriving community in another 10, 20 or 30 years we have to continue laying the foundation now. The best time to change is when you are in a position of strength and you can determine the direction of change. One of the worst times to begin managing change is when the change has control and you are just there for the ride. It would be my assessment that in Hartsville, we are in a good time for change. There are lots of positive things happening on which we can build. (For purposes of length, I will let you think of them. They are many.)

There are also alarms that have been providing some wake up calls. Some of the alarms are clanging, some just sort of nagging noises. A clanging alarm came the summer of 2007 when Harris DeLoach, CEO of Sonoco, told the July All-Chamber Lunch Meeting the number of Sonoco employees who moved their families to places other than Hartsville when they got Sonoco jobs. The income of those more than 100 families is being spent in places other than Hartsville. Recently, because of economic downturns, the Hartsville city manager has been warning council that less money is available for city projects and that this could significantly affect implementation of the comprehensive update of the city plan. Not too long ago updated census figures showed Hartsville had lost in-city population. In the past couple of weeks the Darlington County School District’s human resource department noted that new teachers do not have much to choose from in affordable housing in the county.

The Selling Hartsville initiative that is under way, which is going under the slogan/logo of “Hartsville, The Art of Good Living,” is one initiative aimed at building on the strengths of our unique community so that we can entice more people here to live, to shop, to play so that the vision that leads the updated 20/20 comprehensive plan is a reality in the next 12 years.

This blog has appeared as a letter to the editor in THE MESSENGER of Hartsville and is also on SC NOW, a Media General web presence.

The Harwood Institute Helps Build Community Builders

The Harwood Institute studies those who do community building and studies the processes of community building. They bring innovative thinking to the process and, perhaps more importantly, help people from around the country make connections for stronger community building. THI recently held an Innovators Summit and this week the Harwood blog is featuring reports from this Summit. I think it is important to see what others are thinking, feeling and doing so I am providing the link in hopes you will take the time to hear from others.

Lots of little things build community

Reminder: It takes thousands and thousands of little things to build community and that becomes apparent with an event the scope of the Olympics, working to build a community through sport and events the scope of Coker College orientation, working to bring in new members to the college community. And, while coming back to the office today there was story on NPR about a teacher/soldier (Captain Laura Peters) who today was awarded recognition for her Civic Affairs work in Iraq. Her description of listening to concerns, acting on those concerns and reaping the benefits of people caring about people was a great affirmation of how it is the little things that make such a difference to the big things. We need to remember that, because we can all do the little things and as they add up, they make this fantastic difference.

• We had a colleague die unexpectedly last week. James Cox did not awake. His heart stopped. Many from his work (Coker) family joined his family at the funeral home, at the funeral, in cards and other expressions of caring. Little things but they make a difference and are remembered.
• Earlier today there was a story on NPR about a photo journalist working with children in a changing neighborhood in Oregon. The story told what a difference it makes when people in a neighborhood acknowledge each other with even a quick hello. In the South we can't imagine that not happening but a unique use of photography is helping old neighbors connect with new neighbors and helping young neighbors connect with older neighbors. Little things.

So, if you are reading this blog, what little thing might you do today to help strengthen one of your communities? If you can't think of anything, think THANK YOU; always a good start.

What do you mean, Selling Hartsville?

Change Happens!

There are many people in the community development calling that talk about the difficulty of making change happen in a community but if they were more careful with their semantics, you would quickly understand they are talking about the difficulty of getting people to do things differently, move in positive directions and making change work for you, instead of against you. Change happens! The role of community builders is to Make Change Happen – that is often very difficult. Jeanne Robertson, a motivational speaker from North Carolina used to use a line in some of her talks about how many of us feel about change. She said, “Change doesn’t happen until the pain of Change is less than the pain of staying the same.” Think about that…

The Student Business organization at Coker had some shirts printed with a quote from Walt Whitman, “Change favors the prepared mind.” That is an excellent quote for students coming from a dynamic liberal arts college. I think with a little tweaking, it is an excellent quote for the reason behind the Selling Hartsville initiative. The tweaking – ‘Change favors the prepared community.’ If we want Hartsville to be a thriving community in another 10, 20 or 30 years we have to continue laying the foundation now. The best time to change is when you are in a position of strength and you can determine the direction of change. One of the worst times to begin managing change is when the change has control and you are just there for the ride. It would be my assessment that in Hartsville, we are in a good time for change. There are lots of positive things happening on which we can build. (For purposes of length, I will let you think of them. They are many.)

There are also alarms that have been providing some wake up calls. Some of the alarms are clanging, some just sort of nagging noises. A clanging alarm came the summer of 2007 when Harris DeLoach, CEO of Sonoco, told the July All-Chamber Lunch Meeting the number of Sonoco employees who moved their families to places other than Hartsville when they got Sonoco jobs. The income of those more than 100 families is being spent in places other than Hartsville. Recently, because of economic downturns, the Hartsville City Manager has been warning council that less money is available for city projects and that this could significantly affect implementation of the Comprehensive update of the city plan. Not too long ago updated census figures showed Hartsville had lost in-city population. In the past couple of weeks the Darlington County School District’s Human Resource department noted that new teachers do not have much to choose from in affordable housing in the County.

The Selling Hartsville initiative that is underway, which is going under the slogan/logo of “Hartsville, The Art of Good Living,” is one initiative aimed at building on the strengths of our unique community so that we can entice more people here to live, to shop, to play so that the vision that leads the updated 20/20 comprehensive plan is a reality in the next 12 years.

Selling Hartsville Task Force Talks Launch

The combined Selling Hartsville Task Force met at the Hartsville Library on Wednesday, August 6 and talked a lot about the coming public launch of "Hartsville, The Art of Good Living." The launch is set for Thursday, October 2 and will be centered in downtown Hartsville.

October 2 is the first Thursday of October. That date is when the Hartsville Downtown Development Association has their regular late night opening, "Alive after Five." Why this date? It turns out the first weekend of October is one of those times, that are generally quite common in Hartsville, where there is a great deal going on. What?
1 -- Alive after Five
2 -- Coker College Homecoming
3 -- Jazzfest
4 -- Battle of the Bands
5 -- Black Creek Arts has an event

And, without question I have probably left off some other major things that are happening that weekend. One reason the logo/slogan "Hartsville, The Art of Good Living," made so much sense was that something is going on all the time. The somethings may not be for everyone but in a month or two you find that there is something happening for almost everyone's taste. Lots of these events are often discussed in THE HARTSVILLE MESSENGER but sometimes people miss the stories.


That brings up the major reason for the launch, which is to get the word out to Hartsvillians that Hartsville is often more than most of us know. The agency that has been working with the Hartsville Task Forces noted early in their report that this city has a wealth of community resources that they initially called an "embarrassment of riches." They noted that communities throughout both Carolinas would be in envy for the wide variety of visitors who come to and through our Hartsville on a daily basis. They kept being amazed at the variety of events and happenings that just seemed to be on the schedule. Much of the time, those of us living here just take it so much for granted that we forget things are happening. So, the first major objective for Selling Hartsville is SELLING HARTSVILLE TO HARTSVILLIANS. If all of pay more attention to what is here, look here for what we want to buy before automatically leaving town, and look here for interesting things we will understand what the agency consultants mean when they use ad copy to say -- "Expect pleasant surprises."

To try keeping this in blog format instead of book-length, I will end this note.

Community Journalism Site a community building tool

Hartsville is one of the relatively few communities in the country that has a community journalism web site. This site is called hartsvilletoday and was the brainchild of Doug Fisher of the University of South Carolina School. He received a quick let's do it from Graham Osteen, who was then publisher of the HARTSVILLE MESSENGER and funding from the Knight Foundation and the J-Lab at the University of Maryland.

The key purpose of the site is for participants, who can be anyone who signs up, to help tell the many stories that emanate from a community like Hartsville, SC. Some days the site includes news about a break in at a local restaurant or about Toastmasters speaking at the All-Member Lunch of the Chamber of Commerce or about the local Dixie youth team and their progress in the all-star competition. In the past week or two there have been lengthy exchanges among animal lovers that are bringing to light organizations that many never knew were around for the 'love' of animals as well as what are considered problems with the local animal shelter.

In the past this site has been used to report on community conversations that were started to get local input on what's needed to bring Hartsville to the next level of quality of life. One result of those community conversations was the initiation of a current project called "Selling Hartsville," which has the logo-slogan Hartsville, The Art of Good Living. (This slogan was created with the consulting assistance of Carolina Marketing of Charlotte.)

The HVTD website has also proved to be a major showcase for the community as photos can be uploaded to the site. Several people have highlighted special places in the Hartsville community as well as their own pets, gardens and other hobbies.

And, the site has lots of characteristics of other interactive-people sites with disagreements as well as congratulations -- often a rather vibrant community interchange.

In nearly every meeting that I attend with Hartsville people working to ensure a growing, vibrant, diverse, thriving community, the question and issue of inadequate communication is on the table. The HVTD website has been helping us bridge this issue and has the potential to be a major medium in community communication. Doug Fisher recently reported that more than 1000 people have registered and that is a start. We are hoping that increasingly more people will find that this community journalism site, an opportunity for anyone to tell Hartsville stories, will generate more and more contributors and readers. It is really an amazing tool for various aspects of community communication -- one of the major building blocks of community building.

So, whose job is it to build community and communities?

Lots of answers and one answer -- all of us.

But, now let's go to the lots of answers option. This noon while having a sandwich I was perusing the CHRONICLE OF PHILANTHROPY, and in the 'New Books' column was a review of "Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives." This book is by Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek and published by Josey-Bass. The paragraph in the review that caught my attention for this blog posting is: "Rather than being driven by the opportunity to create an innovative enterprise, a life entrepreneur is driven by the chance to create a life of significance."

In Hartsville, everyday, I work with and come in contact with people who have this drive in life. The book itself apparently describes 55 stories of people who are giving back in their communities in innovative, constructive and positive ways. Minutes ago a woman left my office who was sharing her passion of developing a children's park in a convenient, accessible place within the Hartsville community. She has a vision for a park that would be accessible to all children that would allow those who don't always have a place to play a place where they can be part of the fun with all the children. She has done a great deal of research and is bring a passion to make it happen despite not having any personal stake. Her whole reason for the hours she i8s spending is summarized in "It needs to be done!"

There is another person who is involved in a wide variety of happenings within the Hartsville community. He is a one-person liaison to several areas of the community that do not always have people at the table. He often is at the table. He is nearly always there to do his part of the work. A retired military man, he has been back in his (this) community working to make a better community for everyone and your can make that EVERYONE. Blogs are not supposed to be long, so I will stop with two examples and just remark that those who have had successful lives in younger days and want to enrich the next part of their lives can choose active involvement in the community and often find great satisfaction in this new role.

Richard Harwood of The Harwood Institute talks about the public good and as the book reviewer in the CHRONICLE quotes authors Gergen and Vanourek, "It is no longer enough to work for a pyacheck; there is a growing belief that a good life requires work in pursuit of something meaningful and lasting."

So, we get back to the question of whose job is it to help build a community. Maybe it is someone like you, who understands there is a need to work for a public good.

Traditons, friendships and community

Got to celebrate a half-century birthday with a friend last night. His friend had set up a Dutch dinner to celebrate the milestone of 50 years. It was a crowded dinner. Bill was the common denominator and it was sort of minor-amazing to notice how quickly this disparate group formed a common experience around Bill's half century birthday. This was a fun event with all the normal things that accompany someone hitting the top of the hill (50). There were the requisite jokes about forgetting (wish they were as funny as they used to be), about body functions, about those good old days of childhood along with laughter toward the leisure suits and shaggy hair cuts of youth. There was also a great Thai meal (Ann's Restaurant in Florence) and a guilt inducing piece of birthday cake. And, this morning I am thinking about Aristotle and community building.

Aristotle discussed the discourse used in ceremonies (epideictic) and last night's 50th birthday party was such a great example of how this type of discourse brings people together and helps them in bond in that common experience I mentioned above. Common experiences are also those happenings that lay foundations for friendships or for something a little less intense, productive acquaintances. Common experiences in the form of events, ceremonies, planned get togethers, etc. give people an opportunity to expand their personal spheres and perhaps make new connections.

And, that is the bridge that leads to community building. It takes a lot of cooperation, collaboration, cohesion and connection to sustain any type of community. Whimsical celebrations like over-the-hill birthday parties are important to strengthening smaller communities like the family or the church family and other common experiences focused on special events can and do help people cross the barriers of their personal defenses, meet new people, reengage with old friends and perhaps spark a new encounter that may possibly lead to strengthening, sustaining or expanding a community.

Some may think that is putting a lot more into a 50-year-old's birthday party than might actually be there but I am thinking that we might not pay as much attention to these type events as we should if we want to be part of building stronger communities at all levels of our lives.

So, Happy Birthday, Bill and, Dorothy, thanks for all the work in bring so many people together. And, Catherine, Joyce, Carolyn, Ken and Patty, I really enjoyed sharing some time with you guys.

Talking Together

Earlier this afternoon I had a phone conversation with a man named Scott London who is doing some consulting work with The Harwood Foundation that is involved with helping determine the elements involved in the dynamics of positive change in communities.

We were in a meeting in Alexandria, VA, that he was helping to facilitate that was discussing how people involved in community change go about this work. One of the things that he and I spoke of previously were the community conversations that were hosted by The Byerly Foundation in Hartsville over the period of about 13 months. In a very real way, these conversations led to the initiative that we are now calling Selling Hartsville that has resulted in the umbrella brand slogan of "Hartsville - The Art of Good Living." We covered a variety of issues in our phone conversation but he mentioned a couple of key points that continue to roll around in my thinking. How do you go from engagement to action? That is a key question and one we continue to wrestle with as we actively move to "launch" the Selling Hartsville campaign. One thing I hope I shared with him is that one key ingredient for moving from engagement to action is getting someone to commit to action. There are a good many people involved in the Selling Hartsville project and Johnna Shirley, whose full time position is with Mutual Savings and Loan of Hartsville, is chair of the marketing task force. Johnna is one of those who understands the importance of taking action and knows how to implement. Coincidentally, she came by the office just about as the phone call with Scott London was ending. We discussed some of the many things that need to be planned for the launch of Selling Hartsville. We also commiserated over the idea of how we continue to move from engagement to action. It takes a lot of people performing a lot of different roles who focus on a goal to make things happen.

And, that gets us into another major topic Scott and I discussed -- the question of where the focus needs to be -- one the process or on the outcome. He is doing a good deal of research on that question. But, as we discussed process, we got into how decisions might be made. The process of Selling Hartsville is currently what I would call a consensus process. We have three task forces that are working as part of the larger Selling Hartsville Task Force. All participants in the three task forces can also be on the major task force -- many are. Those involved are the ones working to make the right decisions.

As noted earlier, before all of this started, we began with community conversation dialogues. Scott mentioned he has a recent blog about dialogues and I am including one short paragraph of a very enlightening discussion of the role of dialogue.

"The process of dialogue is more important than ever today for a number of reasons. For one thing, the confrontation between different cultural traditions and worldviews requires some process by which people can communicate across differences. For another, the fragmentation of society into a myriad of subcultures based on profession, status, race, ethnicity, political loyalty, etc., make it necessary that people find a pathway to common ground. A third reason is that traditional authority structures are falling away."

This seemed a particularly appropriate topic for this blog because dialogue is one of the things that is helping us move forward in Hartsville and, in truth, the lack of dialogue is one of those things that is slowing the momentum. Hmmm

Hartsville - The Art of Good Living

In the middle of the week - A Thursday evening in Hartsville

• The Chamber of Commerce has a crowded Business After Hours at Raceway Chrysler despite a heavy downpour.
• A juried exhibit of local photographers (nearly 100) opens to the public with venues at the Hartsville Library and at the gallery of the Sponsoring organization, the Black Creek Arts Council
  
• Darlington County Head Start and Jacob's Ladder hosted an African Dance Concert perfomed by the children in the program under the direction of Elsie Mufuka, a May graduate of Coker College with a degree in dance and communication.

Hartsville has a strong foundation of Human Capital and a tradition of people in the community being involved. On www.hvtd.com there are lots of examples of things going on in this community -- the good and the bad.