Terrance Herrington Track Dedicated

And, the dedication ceremony was a tribute to Terrance Herrington, one of the most skilled and successful athletes to come from Hartsville. And, the dedication was a tribute to Hartsville. I find it a bit difficult to put into words but the feelings of pride in their home town from those who spoke this morning were a testament or testimony to how people make things happen for people.

The roster of speakers says something about the event. Mayor Mel Pennington kicked off the event, which was a tribute to the City for honoring one of the most successful athletes to come from Hartsville. (Look at the photo of the plaque for some of the reasons why.) Anthony James -- in many memories one of the most successful running backs and track stars of Hartsville fame; Danny Nicholson, another fast moving trackster, now VP of Development at Carson Newman College; Dr. Jimmy Bell, one of the most successful quarterbacks to guide Hartsville, Jay Lucas, another successful Hartsville athlete and hard working S.C. Representative and Gerald Malloy, Senator from Hartsville, who had the initial idea of naming the track at Byerly Park for the runner who was once the fastest in the state, fastest in the country and competing for fastest in the world. Also speaking, though he was out of the country, was Paul Rogers, who coached and trained Terrance in his formative years, and who was a Hartsville and Duke University track star.

There was a great story in the MESSENGER that announced this event and I hope many read it. And, there were inspirational elements in each of the short talks this morning but the message of accepting your blessing and making the most of the gift came through loud and clear -- for all of us in the audience. Dream, hope,and then work to make the hope real and the dreams come alive was one of my takeaways from this impressive event. (Thanks to all who made the morning's tribute such a success.)

Team Foxes Learning Academy Honors Achievements

It was a bit emotional to view. A seventh grade student called up to present flowers to a homeroom teacher calmly took the microphone. Then, he turned to face the seventh grade teaching team. 'I want to thank you for the way you helped me deal with my problems and learn to deal with people.' You can see a single quote mark, because I wasn't taking notes. His message was one of appreciation and was most impressive because seventh grade boys don't regularly make demonstrations of appreciation. His gesture was heart felt and it was a gesture of someone who had felt true support in his school life. he quickly went back to his script and presented the homeroom teacher the flowers but that was a powerful moment.

The Team FOXES Learning Academy is a program that began with eighth graders in 2008 and has been expanded to sixth, seventh and eight graders with support of the Darlington County School Board and a significant grant from the Byerly Foundation. The story referenced above appears to be representative of some of the major strides this program is making in helping students get back on track for school success in these Middle School Years. The hope of the Byerly Foundation when the Board approved the three-year grant for about $1.5 million was that this would be a program that could help students turn around their feeling for school. The honors program on Thursday night made it feel like that is happening.

How do you protect the "Urge within?"

One of the things on my mind much of the time when thinking about community building is how to continue my own personal motivation for making a difference and how to spark and sustain that motivation in others.

Today, the Harwood Institute put out a small video slice from Rich Harwood about the importance of this "urge within" and I did want to share that through this blog.

Just the other day there was a meeting of a economic task force, sub group, interest group -- for the city. I put down all the names someone might call it. As I sat listening to the people involved I was again amazed at all of the people adding their talents to help make Hartsville an even greater place. There were many other places most of them could have been but they were around the table using their talents and creativity to think about how to make Hartsville better. We are fortunate in Hartsville that we still have a great many people who will work to help make a difference. If a community is going to grown -- you all are needed to make it happen.

How to promote your town using real-life stories | Article | Homepage articles

About two years ago we built some of the "Selling Hartsville" program around stories that were told by people who moved to and/or lived in our great Hartsville city. Stacie Fields was working as an intern at the Byerly Foundation and wrote several of these stories. I figure there are lots of stories out there that can give credence to the story we tell about Hartsville as a place for pleasant surprises. This article is a case history from the a larger city in Canada that used this strategy:


How to promote your town using real-life stories | Article | Homepage articles

Community building is about consensus building and consensus is in generally short supply in the current environment at nearly every level of government. On Sunday THE STATE newspaper of Columbia had two articles that I noticed discussing the need for coming together. The first was an editorial by Cindy Ross Scoppe about the candidacy of Vincent Sheheen for governor of South Carolina. The other article was by David Gergen,called HOW MUCH GOVERNMENT. The article was a back-page column in PARADE magazine. He discussed the metaphorical daggers that everyone seems to be bringing to political and problem-solving discussions. He made a good point about not being able to solve problems when facing daggers. While I am on the other side when it comes to government, Gergen had important things to say about the discussion process. Just thought it would be good to note some of this very important food for thought.

http://www.thestate.com/2010/05/09/1277538/scoppe-tackling-big-issues-seeking.html#RSS=Cindi%20Scoppe

Community Foundation Sparks Disaster Relief Fund

The tornadoes from a week or so ago in Darlington County were the spark for a new fund at the Eastern Carolinas Community Foundation, which serves the Pee Dee. The fund and a way to expand the fund was developed after former Mayor Frank Willis of Florence talked with Susan Bankston of the ECCF to see if the Community Foundation could help with relief efforts in Darlington County. I am attaching an email that announced to the ECCF board that the fund had been established and that the Darlington Raceway had agreed to allow the fund raising:

It’s official, race fans!! We have established the Disaster Relief Fund and put $2,500 in it. Thanks for your voting responses.

Hats off to Paul DeMarco for giving us 5 hours today to make money collection at the race tomorrow a reality. Not only did he go to bat for us by cold calling raceway officials yesterday, but he received permission for volunteers to stand with buckets just inside the entry gates for collection purposes. THIS IS AN EXCEPTION they are making for us!!

So this morning, Paul and I have been to Darlington and Lowe’s and have put together the buckets w/ our identification. We are in the process of finding volunteers to man the buckets/gates and are hopeful that Boy Scout troops in Florence and Darlington counties will help us tomorrow. I have had three conversations already today regarding scout availability, and Paul is taking it from here. He is even returning early from a family trip tomorrow in order to be at the raceway and coordinate the volunteer effort. Thank you, thank you, Paul!

Please help us spread the word. If you have friends or relatives attending tomorrow, remind them that the ECCF will have tornado relief buckets inside most of the gates and would appreciate donations of any amount. Who knows………………we are probably setting ourselves apart as the first community foundation ever to have a collection process in place at a NASCAR race!

Gentlemen (and ladies), start your engines,
Susan

Susan B. Bankson
Executive Director
Eastern Carolina Community Foundation
234 West Cheves Street
Florence, SC 29501
843-667-1131
Susan@easterncarolinacf.org
For Good. For Ever.

Clayton Richardson -- Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award Winner

This past Saturday, Coker College presented Clayton Richardson of Hartsville with the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for service to community. I have known Clayton for many years and have been impressed by his zeal to help make Hartsville one of the best places to liven anywhere - for ANYONE. Clayton was one of the founders of a group that still meets in Hartsville called PEOPLE TO PEOPLE. The purpose of this group was to provide a place where people could discuss issues within the community across all the artificial barriers from race to position that are part of a community. The fact that People to People has continued meeting is a testament to the persistence that Clayton brings to helping solve problems and face issues in our community. He is a veteran of the United States Air Force and came back to live in Hartsville after his Air Force years were complete. While Mr. Richardson does go to meetings, his primary purpose is helping to get things done. A week or so ago when the Great American Clean Up was happening -- he was there -- picking up litter (bags of it). Clayton is a doer. He is a believer that working together communities can accomplish great things. He is one of the persons I consistently look toward as example for what it means to be a community builder. Coker's recognition of Clayton Richardson with the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award brings as much honor to Coker as it does to Clayton.
(Photo caption: Dr. Joe Rubenstein, education professor, looks over the Algernon Sydney Sullivan award being held by Clayton Richardson (left).