It takes a lot of people to nurture a community

There was a block party in Hartsville last night with a Rhythm and Blues theme. The Hartsville Downtown Development Association sponsored the event. The city provided the mobile stage for the event. Lots of people were on hand helping with selling the refreshments that were being used to help cover the expenses of the event. That was really great of these people to volunteer their time to things as unglamorous as pour drinks. But, if they did not do it, it would not have gotten done. There were a number of businesses on hand to sell food, refreshments, etc and they also had to call on volunteers to staff their booths. When I passed the Downtown Development awning I also saw several board members laughing, talking and staffing the information area. It may sound pretty obvious, but events like downtown block parties don't happen by themselves -- they happen because people are willing to invest of their time and talent and creative energies to make this community unique among small towns -- not only in South Carolina, but in the U.S. In Hartsville, we have a lot of people who give of their time to help nurture our community.

And, right now it is Sunday afternoon and as I passed the Center Theater, an 800+ seat community venue in downtown Hartsville, the lights were shining and the marquee boasted of the Butler Heritage Foundation Gospel Fest that is kicking off a week of activities for the Butler Heritage Foundation.

Have you looked around lately? There is a lot going on in this town.

Notes about Selling Hartsville

This week I got an inquiry from a Hartsvillian thinking about being part of the Selling Hartsville project. Hope he joins us. This is a lot of the email I sent him in response to that question -- tell me more about this Selling Hartsville initiative?

The email
The Byerly Foundation has been acting as the lead organization in the Selling Hartsville initiative (only because it is easy for us to span organizational boundaries) . Participation is wide open. While this effort was started separately, it is an integral part of the updated comprehensive plan for the city. We think the more people involved and the more projects that are identified with The Art of Good Living, the more successful will be the effort. We have some major target audiences for this ongoing effort:

The recruiting task force is working on a program that will develop a process so that people who are being offered employment in the area will have an opportunity to get a view and hear a view of living in Hartsville before they do what many have been doing, and opt for Florence. A major reason for this effort is the high number of families employed in the Hartsville area but living in other areas, particularly Florence.

A second major audience for this effort are those of us who live in what we generally refer to as the Greater Hartsville area. Many are often complaining that there is nothing to do in Hartsville, that there is no place to shop in Hartsville, that there is no opportunity in Hartsville. We have to find a way to get the word out that when it comes to interesting, dynamic small cities in the South, Hartsville is up there with the best -- but at the same time we have to keep working to improve this product that we are touting with the the theme, Hartsville -- The art of good living.

The third major audience for this selling Hartsville concept are those others who live in the Pee Dee who would really want to come over and spend some of their money. The publisher of SHE magazine has told me she has readers from all over the Pee Dee who rave about the unique shopping experiences they have in Hartsville. If you look at a weekend in Hartsville, you will see things like Little Miss South Carolina beauty pagenant and a girls's softball tournament or a horse shoe tournament or like tomorrow night a Downtown music festival -- this one for Rhythm and Blues, the last called Rock the Block. And coming up on July 4 is one of the biggest fire work events in this part of the State, a true back to the "good old days" July 4 festival at Emmanuel. We want people from around the Pee Dee coming here for things to do and to spend some money. (Where else do you get first-run films for $2.50 a ticket?

Another audience will be those who are looking for a nice place to live, a community where there is a friendly spirit, where there are things to do and where you can contribute to life and enjoy life. We want those people thinking Hartsville.

So, that is an overview and we have three major task forces working now, with more as challenges are identified. This is an effort that takes the efforts of lots of people -- one of those things where the only real boundaries are the limit of the imagination and the willingness of people to 'do it.'

The next major task force meeting is August 6 but we have not yet set a place. We generally have the meeting from four to five thirty.

Hartsville has some real strengths...

And the truth is that we often don't realize how strong a community we have nestled here in the Northeast section of South Carolina.

I make this comment because we had a Selling Hartsville Task Force meeting on Wednesday afternoon and as I looked around the table I was awe struck by those who were giving of their time for this community. The number of people (nearly 30), the quality of their involvement and the enthusiastic spirit is amazing. I am fortunate enough to know of others who work really hard at community building and they would absolutely feel they could conquer the world with the can-do, volunteer spirit that is so often in evidence around Hartsville. Sometimes, we take it for granted that every community has this cadre of people. They do not. Several years ago when Hartsville won the first All-America city designation it was evident the depth and level of caring by community members. While I may be accused of being a modern 'Paul E Anna' (sic) I hope that we realize that the willingness of people to be involved is strength we do not say thank you often enough for in our part of the world.

Standing up Leadership even when you are on the other side

The following is a blog post by Rich Harwood of The Harwood Institute. If I were more technically savvy I would just include the live link but somehow I seemed to have missed that class. The example he shares in this post is, I think, crucially important if we are going to help engineer more civil, civic discourse for the public good in America -- or even in our own hometowns. While I am at it, his phamphlet, Make Hope Real is very worth time for reading. And, the fact that Hartsville is mentioned is not the only reason I recommend it.

Mayor Bloomberg and the Jews

Jun 23, 2008 Posted by Rich Harwood 1 comment Add your comment
[Link directly to this post]

On Friday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg stood before some 200 people at the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County to set straight a nasty rumor about Senator Barack Obama, intended to strike fear into the hearts of Jews. The rumor holds that Obama is really a Muslim, who will not support Israeli or even American interests. Bloomberg went to South Florida to tell Jews the real story, and his actions lead to this question: Will each of us stand up when our turn comes?

Over the years Bloomberg has not made it a habit to talk publicly about his Jewish faith or ties to the Jewish community. Nor is he an Obama supporter. He even tested the waters for his own presidential run this year, and he is known to be close to Senator John McCain. But according to The New York Times, Bloomberg told the Palm Beach crowd that the rumors about Obama represent "wedge politics at its worse, and we have to reject it - loudly, clearly and unequivocally."

In Make Hope Real, I dedicated Chapter 3 to what I call, "A New Breed of Leaders," and included Bloomberg among individuals who are exhibiting a new, promising kind of leadership.

"The new leaders are people who have highly pragmatic approaches to policy, who seek to find ways to make public life and politics work rather than to disparage it, who vigilantly look for opportunities to engage people in the ongoing process of governing and improving their lives, who try to avoid hyperbolic and heated rhetoric." (pg 26)

But there was another point in that chapter that I have come to believe is just as important. Over and over again, people in communities have asked me, "How communities can get the leaders they need to make public life and communities work?" My response: We must stand by our good leaders when they come under fire, even when we do not agree with their positions or political party when, to vouch for their principles and values.

That's what Bloomberg did last Friday for Obama. Instead of standing on the sidelines watching people take pot shots at Obama, he stepped forward. He did so because he knew that he held special credibility on this issue with fellow Jews; and he knew that many of the people now living in South Florida once lived in his beloved New York City.

The Times quoted Elizabeth Sadwith of Delray Beach as saying, "There was no other evidence, so I believed the [rumor-filled] e-mails." There are many people across America who might make the same statement; indeed, perhaps my 103-year old grandmother from Brooklyn, who now lives in North Miami, has entertained such thoughts.

Whether or not people end up supporting Obama is their personal business. But whisper campaigns to make people fearful must be fought head-on. Bloomberg has done that, and I gratefully and enthusiastically applaud his actions.

Now, the question for each of is: When a good leader comes under fire, will we stand next to them and vouch for their integrity and good will, even if we do not agree with a particular position or their party?

If we want to change public life and politics, then more of us will need to follow Mayor Bloomberg's lead.

Download Make Hope Real
and learn more about this new breed of leaders.

Thinking about momentum

http://www.theharwoodinstitute.org/ht/display/ContentDetails/i/8383 (This is a web site from the Harwood Institute that should take you to Rich Harwood's discussion of the 3As of public life -- authority, accountability and authenticity. Those three As are critical to a change process.


Change is not something for which most people clamor. Most of us really like it when things stay pretty much the same and we don't have to put up with the dissonance brought on by change. Jeanne Robertson, a well-know professional public speaker from North Carolina, used to have a line she used in her talks, "People don't change until the pain of change is less than the pain of staying the same." When you think about community building you naturally have to think about change and how to make it happen for the public good.

In Hartsville we are thinking about some major change as we try to determine how to make the positive living in Hartsville experience more visible to potential residents before they make the resident-location decision. To recap, we lose a lot of people who work in Hartsville to another nearby area that is perceived as a larger city with more "to do." We are working on Selling Hartsville with the change proposition -- Hartsville -- The Art of Good Living. Just a few minutes ago I heard someone on NPR quoted as saying they wanted 'that guy in Portland to be quiet, we don't want to share the Portland secrets with the rest of you...' was the jist of the statement. We have some in Hartsville who probably feel that way but we also have a good many volunteers in Selling Hartsville who are enthused about finding ways to bring in new neighbors and friends to this dynamic, cosmopolitan small community.

And, that brings me the question of the 3As in Community Building. This effort at Selling Hartsville is a boundary spanning effort that encompasses just about any organization you can think of. We have a lot of action happening. We have a lot of momentum building. We are using authority for this effort from months of listening to community members saying this is something that needs to be done. The listening is paying off in the variety of people from all areas of the town who are helping build this program.

Accountability gets a little cloudier in the Selling Hartsville program. During one group meeting the facilitator suggested that those who wanted to make this happen start working to make it happen and the selling process would begin to happen. We are moving and we are holding ourselves accountable in the various task forces. We are hoping to be so transparent that in a short time the residents of the city begin to discuss accountability and begin to ensure this process takes off.

As a community project the question of authenticity is at every turn. But, again, with a commitment to be open, with a desire for as much involvement as possible and with so much to be gained on so many levels, the question of authenticity of motive and authenticity of action is open for the assessment of any who want to view or to join.

At the same time, it appears to me as we all think about community building and positive change to make Hartsville one of the best places in the world in which to live, we have to be certain that we are holding ourselves and others to the principles inherent in the 3As of authenticity, authority and accountability. Failing to establish those basic foundations will stall any real progress toward getting the world to recognize Hartsville as a town that understands and practices The art of good living.

Sometimes, I think it is how you frame a situation

Thinking about community and community building is, I think, deciding how to frame the opportunities and challenges and interesting events that are happening within a community.

Hartsville has a progressive, interested and active planning commission. This group took on the responsibility of updating the city's comprehensive plan to make it a living plan that the City Council could use as a roadmap for growth. Plan updates are required by law but the planning commission went beyond the requirements and invested this update with an opening vision for Hartsville in 2020 -- and this is the first vision anyone has laid out for the community in over a decade. City Council has accepted the plan and continues to search for ways to make the plan an integral part of the way they move the city forward.

There was a news article written about a recent meeting of city department heads with the city manager and head of the planning commission that was a sort of plan update. As everyone knows, the economy is in tough shape, prices for key commodities like fuel are out of sight and the city gets a great deal of its funding from taxes. So, there is a budget focus. The headlines from the meeting were that the comprehensive plan could be stalled because this is a tough budget year. So, I am thinking about framing. It is a tough budget year. My experience with government is that every year is a tough budget year. It seems to me that the most useful frame to put around an updated comprehensive plan is something to the effect -- We are in a tough budget year it is good we have this plan to help us sort out some of the priorities so can move forward even in a tough budget year. The way the story was reported (the reporter got it right) was that because this is a tough budget year it might not be all that possible to really work on implementing the plan at this time.

It seems to me that putting a frame around the plan that identifies the plan as an important tool for continued growth of the city despite budget woes would be more effective than applying brakes because it is a "Year of the budget."

Dynamic time to be living in Hartsville

This is just an observation. This is a dynamic time to be living in Hartsville! No, I am not a native (one of those transplanted Yankees) but I have been here since 1973. We have had interesting and exciting times and today's times may hold the most potential in all the years I have been here. There is a great deal going on and there is a great deal that might go on and when discussing the Selling Hartsville project with heads of the city's departments on Tuesday afternoon, it struck me as to how exciting things are.

By the way, one of the takes on that famed Chinese proverb is "May you live in interesting times."
What am I talking about?

• In downtown Hartsville today there is a major project to help alleviate the problem of the occasional flooding that takes place when we have HUGE downpours. That will strengthen perception of downtown.

• Within the city today will be hundreds of visitors coming for the Little Miss South Carolina pageant. Every day thousands of non-city residents visit the area to work, to shop, to attend special events, to attend college or for some other reason. We get lots of visitors even though Hartsville is not exactly on anyone's 'beaten path.' (http://www.hartsvillesc.com)
  
• Any trip out to Byerly Park will demonstrate the dynamism that is part of the city. There are new fields under construction as people walk to get in shape around the 1.2 mile track or run to get in shape around the quarter-mile competition track.
• Check the meeting schedules of those who help maintain this city and you will see a wide variety of meetings with packed agendas. The comprehensive plan, recently approved by city council, and constructed by more than 60 volunteer citizens in countless meetings, sets out a vision for the city that is requiring connections to be made that are ways of making things happen, but they are not business as usual. In fact, the message that Vern Myers, who is chair of the planning commission, carried to the city department heads on Tuesday was that there are groups of citizens looking for opportunities to help the city make things happen.
• Many downtown shops are becoming destinations for shoppers from around the Pee Dee. Yes, people are coming to Hartsville to shop.
  
• At the end of this month there is another downtown music event scheduled using the big, portable city stage. While not exactly on the heels of 'Rock the Block' this event is hoping to continue that momentum. And, within the next week will be on the largest Fourth of July fireworks events (http://www.hartsvillechamber.org) in the eastern part of South Carolina
• There are a couple of new neighborhoods under construction and those of us living in the city are really anxious for more real-city neighbors.
• The selling Hartsville project is exciting. Three major task forces are working on three crucial elements of this project -- Marketing -- City Legacy Entrances -- Recruiting and these volunteers are demonstrating the specifics of "Hartsville - The Art of Good Living."
• Speaking of the art of good living, we have a fund raiser, photo exhibit scheduled for Black Creek Arts Council and photographers can enter up to three photos @ $15 each for showing. There are a lot of photographers taking advantage of this opportunity to show their work.
• This list could be much longer but it is already too long for a blog.
  

Visitor Survey

As part of the Selling Hartsville initiative the Marketing Task force suggested a Visitor Survey to see what visitors are doing, where they are staying, and what they are thinking about Hartsville. There is a major pageant going on at the 800-seat Center Theater in downtown Hartsville. The first batch of visitor surveys was distributed at the first two days of this event by the Darlington County Tourism people. We had about 170 surveys in this first round. The information from these surveys was sent in a quick report to the people who are signed up for the Marketing Task Force and we did generate some additional discussion. Hartsville is a community that does have a great deal going on and we need to find ways to more formally tell this story to a broader audience, both within the Hartsville area and those who might have the opportunity to come for a visit or to make new homes.

Compiling the information from the questionnaires is not difficult but it is time consuming. At the same time, this could prove a very useful tool in information gathering. This post was essentially to discuss the visitor survey tool but for those who are still interested, the report that was sent to the Marketing Task Force follows:

June 16, 2008

From: Puffer/Fields

To: Marketing Task Force

RE: Report on first distribution of Visitor Survey for the Selling Hartsville initiative

The Survey was distributed by the Darlington County Tourism Department at the Center Theater where there was the Little Miss South Carolina pageant in Hartsville for week. The pageant is divided by age groups and these surveys were given out the first couple of days of the pageant. There were 170 surveys returned in the first batch. Jim Money, Darlington County Tourism director, and his summer assistants asked people who were registering for the event to fill out these surveys.

Of the 170 surveys that were filled out, there were a total of 80 surveys that said they were using local accommodations and 90 that said they were not staying in local accommodations. The most popular motel for this event in 2008 is the Landmark with 37 people putting that down as their accommodation. The Comfort Inn had 14 of these early competitors and families and the Fairfield was listed for four families.

One question on the survey asks visitors if they are shopping or dining locally and of the surveys returned, 122 said YES, they were shopping or dining locally and 48 said NO, they were not.

There is a question on the survey that asks if the respondents can see themselves living in Hartsville. Of those responding to the question, 59 said YES and 109 said No.

There are a couple of other questions on the survey but since nearly everyone filling out this batch were in Hartsville for the Little Miss South Carolina pageant, we did not tally answers to the questions of places they have seen in Hartsville. Nearly all said they had seen the Center Theater. That is where the event is taking place.

There is also a question as to how these people heard about Hartsville and we did not tally since they are all here because the pageant is here but many did say “word of mouth.”

And, what was their quick impression of Hartsville. Surprisingly, a great many did provide written comments and those comments follow. Where there are parentheses, we just put in number of other questionnaires with the same wording to save time in typing.

Written comments

Nice, Very nice community

Nice town

Ok

Wonderful

Quaint

Nice quaint, somewhat abandoned

Nice downtown area

Beautiful town

Very friendly

Friendly, quiet

Beautiful!

Beautiful

Nice place, small

Beautiful

Old timey, quiet

Love the shopping, Love little miss South Carolina

Nice – Quiet

It’s a nice place

Nice Community

Very nice

Very nice town

Beautiful Community

Pretty place, well maintained

Very nice city

Nice friendly place (1)

Very pretty town

Good

Sweet, clean, nice little town, I love small towns

Beautiful progressive city

Beautiful

Quaint community

Great town, had a great time

Very nice

Very nice

Pretty

Neat

Nice town

Hometown

I like it

Quaint

It is nice

Friendly, old historic town

Nice community

Nice community

All right – need better & more hotel choices

Great

Nice Town

Very nice small town USA

Sweet, quaint

Nice, Quaint

Very quaint town, Interesting

Clean and quaint

Very quaint, great shoping

Very nice

Pretty Town

Love it (2)

Very pretty

Calm and beautiful

Cute little town

Nice (6)

Beautiful country side

Friendly people

Beautiful town

Very friendly

Neat

Good

Hometown life

Very clean

Nice people

Pleasant

Very sweet and quaint

Love what I have seen

Great (11)

Very Nice and welcoming

Very nice and beautiful

Seems a very nice place to work and live and play

Beautiful town (9)

Nice town (5)

The people here are very friendly

Pretty place, nice people

Beautiful city

Beautiful place

Hartsville, the Art of Good Living - Summary

This week the Planning Commission for Hartsville is having a work session with members of the city staff to discuss momentum on the comprehensive plan. As part of that meeting there will be a report from the Selling Hartsville initiative. The report is going to be a short summary that will sound much like this:

Hartsville, the Art of Good Living

The Hartsville Planning Commission went to work on an update of the comprehensive plan for the city more than a year ago. Updates to comprehensive plans are required by the State for a variety of purposes, sometimes funding of specific programs. The Planning Commission took its task seriously and came up with not only an updated plan, which involved input from a wide variety of citizens, but with a vision for what Hartsville might become. The City Council has adopted this plan and has said it was going to use this plan as one of the major tools for moving the city forward.

One element of the updated comprehensive plan is something called “Selling Hartsville.” It happens that as the planning commission task forces were working on aspects of the plan other groups, citizens and gatherings were also working on a concept of selling Hartsville. A major impetus for the “Selling Hartsville” idea stemmed from the fact that Hartsville is losing a large number of potential residents to neighboring communities, like Florence. Last summer, Harris DeLoach, CEO of Sonoco, told the Hartsville Chamber of Commerce All-Member Lunch of the large number of people hired by Sonoco over the past couple of years who opted for Florence, rather than even thinking about Hartsville. Now, Hartsville is never going to be Florence (and a lot of us feel good about that) but there is a strong concern when more than 100 families with incomes averaging $80,000 decide to live somewhere else. And, it turns out that a number of families from Progress Energy, Coker College, Carolina Pines and other organizations also have chosen places other than Hartsville; often without even considering Hartsville. It is apparent that if we want our community to remain strong, vibrant and vital, we have to address this issue.

Several months ago The Byerly Foundation hired Carolina Marketing and Public Relations, a Charlotte firm with strong ties to South Carolina and Hartsville, help us begin to address how to sell Hartsville better. In a nutshell, their conclusion was that Hartsville has a lifestyle that many people are looking for around the country. They even pointed out that the lifestyle is being created in new communities that have none of the authenticity that is inherent in our 110-year-old community. They also noted that we should probably not keep this lifestyle a secret and that it might take a concerted, community-wide effort to tell the story and make it resonate so that people who should hear it, do hear it, before they have made rash decisions to live in other places.

They had conversations with people from all demographics representing a wide variety of the things that make Hartsville such a unique Southern-South Carolina community. From those conversations they developed the logo they believe encompasses the major sales message of our community. The message: Hartsville – The Art of Good Living.

Over the next few weeks and months we will continue having conversations about how to implement this sales message. Who are those we hope will hear this message about the special lifestyle that makes Hartsville different from many other communities around our State? Certainly, we want those whose jobs may be bringing them to the area to hear about Hartsville. I think it will also help those of us who are already here, recognize there is really something special about this lifestyle we call Hartsville.

www.hartsvillesc.com
www.byerlyfoundation.org