Boundary-spanning organization

I am not sure how much most people think of an arts group as a boundary-spanning organization but there is little question in my mind that for Hartsville, SC, and the surrounding area Black Creek Arts Council is such and entity.

This past Thursday evening they had the monthly gallery opening and this one features three artists. If you are in the area you should really stop by to see this work -- both upstairs and downstairs. There was a large group of people attending the opening on Thursday, which was sponsored by Segars Prudential Realty. There were members of artitst's families, there were people who really like the arts, there were students and professors from Coker College, there were people from around Hartsville of a wide variety of backgrounds. Black Creek Arts works to attract people from these backgrounds and they are one of the organizations who are very successful at spanning the artificial boundaries that often keep people in both small and large communities.

Communication Power in Community Building

There is a story that every time a carpenter sees a problem he goes for the hammer. So, every time a communicator sees a problem or an opportunity the she or he generally says, 'how can we get the word out.' In fact, that is something I teach regularly in my Coker College communication classes. Often, those who don't see communication as all that important don't put as much stock into that strategy.

But, today's MESSENGER in Hartsville shows some of the power of communicating to set a mood and a tone and provide, I think, momentum. We like our slogan, "Hartsville, The Art of Good Living," and we like to follow that with the urging to "Expect Pleasant Surprises." Today's paper is demonstrating both of those ideas while showing some of the power of communication.

** The top headline
"$150 million in development"
**adjacent headline
Hampton Inn & Suites coming to Vista area
** Next headline
Delayed apartment complex back on track

And those headlines are joined above the fold by a sports ear that says the HHS baseball team has at least a second place in the conference and a reminder that the 'Anything Butt BBQ Contest' is coming.

Those headlines, at least in one reader, generate some powerful positive emotions. Those are projects that have been discussed for some time and it is great to read they are coming to reality.

But, while on the idea of the positive emotions, the Art of Good Living and Pleasant Surprises as you go below the fold on today's newspaper you see the headline of the Black Creek Kayak/Canoe Festival set for next weekend.

Hartsville is a unique community with a great deal happening nearly all the time. The power of communication, we hope, will bring more people in to help continue this tradition of generating pleasant surprises in all areas of life in this small South Carolina city.

Rich Harwood, The Harwood Institute, has some community building tools that include an assessment of the community he calls Community Rhythms. With communication like we are reading in today's paper we can feel the Rhythm of growth, the Rhythm of Hope.

There is much more -- but for another blog.

Tourism Meeting is coming up

Jim Money, Darlington County Director of Tourism has an upcoming meeting where there is a search for some public input. These planning types of meetings are important to buidling community and the press release announcing this meeting follows:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DARLINGTON COUNTY INVOLVED IN TOURISM PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PLAN
A public hearing regarding existing and potential tourism is scheduled for March 24th at Black Creek Arts Council in Hartsville at 6:00PM. Public involvement in the regional tourism product development plan is encouraged. Darlington County is included in the east region consisting of Chesterfield, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Lee, Marion, Marlboro, and Williamsburg Counties.
In November 2005, New Carolina’s Tourism Cluster Committee commissioned a study by international consultant Michael Mac Nulty of Tourism Development International (TDI) in Ireland to complete a statewide Tourism Action Plan. Included in the completed plan was a call for planning at the regional level.
In 2007 the Legislature passed an appropriation for product development. A part of that money now is being used to develop detailed, long-range plans for each of the eight Tourism Product Development Areas.
The East Product Development Area (EPDA) is one of those eight designated regions. TDI team members will work with area stakeholders and SCPRT to develop a Tourism Development Concept Plan for the region.
The public forum is being held to bring together public administrators, Chamber and CVB representatives, private sector developers, visitor attraction and event organizers in the EPDA. The attendees are being asked to help the consultants get a clear understanding of the key issues and challenges that tourism faces in the EPDA. The consultants also want to learn as much as possible about the existing and potential tourism offerings throughout the EPDA.
Information regarding the state-wide effort may be obtained through the SCPRT website www.scprt.com or by contacting George Estes, Director of Operations - Heritage Tourism, Community and Economic Development (803) 734-1312, gestes@scprt.com.
For additional information on the Darlington County meeting contact Darlington County Tourism at 843-339-9511 or email darcotour@bellsouth.net.


Jim Money
Director Darlington County Tourism
PO Box 578, Hartsville, SC 29550
Phone: 843-339-9511 or 888-427-8720
Fax: 843-332-8017
Email: darcotour@bellsouth.net

So, what is a community to do?

The Selling Hartsville initiative is alive and well in Hartsville, SC. Jana Longfellow is the Chamber employee with the single focus of finding ways to push the concept of Hartsville - The Art of Good Living.

So, what does it mean to push the concept?
1 -- A primary audience for Selling Hartsville is those who live within the territory that when asked, they say "I'm from Hartsville." We need people who are "from Hartsville" to think of Hartsville first when buying -- when buying anything. We need the sales tax receipts in this town. We need the hospitality taxes from eating out in this town. Those who have invested in businesses in Hartsville need Hartsvillians to help them succeed by stopping by to see if they have what you need. for example, did you know that Alexanders now is a combined mens' and womens' clothing store? What is a community to do? The first thing is to look in Hartsville first and support fellow community members.

2 -- The companion slogan, logo-mark for Hartsville- The Art of Good Living is to 'Expect Pleasant Surprises.' This is being written on Saturday, February 6, 2009 and there is a Love is in the Air Good Living Marketplace that people are setting up for right this minute. Pushing the concept of Selling Hartsville is to find the trigger points that will help reach more Hartsvillians and get them to choose spending some of their free time with neighbors and friends at events like the Marketplace, like the fantastic Hartsville/Coker Community Concert held last Tuesday, like the Hartsville Community Players dinner theater, like the Black Creek Arts Council events and classes. And, so many, many more pleasant surprises.

What is a pleasant surprise?
A -- People may or may not realize that the South Carolina Governor's School for Math and Science is located in Hartsville. Today the Governor's School seniors are presenting their summer research projects in a GSSM colloquium. As it turns out, there is not another community in South Carolina that has a research colloquium of high school-age students. Surprised?

B -- What is another type of surprise? There is college basketball, both men and women at the Coker College gym this afternoon.

C -- What else? Have you visited the Hartsville YMCA. It is one of the best YMCA's that many people ever visit. It is one of the melding organizations of Hartsville.

D -- If you are Hartsvillian, I am hoping that you are already thinking of your own pleasant surprises and that you might add as a comment to this posting.

While Jana is focusing on the marketing of Hartsville - The Art of Good Living and just spent two days working with others to help enrich web sites, there is still a strong group of people working on parts of the product that need work.

Those in community building always hear that it is the quality of education in a community that draws people. The task force for Selling Hartsville heard a few days ago from Dr. Charlie Burry, principal of Hartsville High. He distributed some of the numbers that show Hartsville High competing favorably with schools around us in the Pee Dee. For some reason, many people want to spend more time telling of the bad stories they hear from the schools instead of the good stories. Teachers everywhere are working hard and making a significant difference in the lives and education of children. But, one of the things our task force is doing is working with the schools to both tell some of the positive stories and join forces to make the school programs even better.

We also know that in Hartsville we have some housing problems. One of those problems is not enough housing for younger professionals. We also have a severe problem in this community of former residences that are literally falling in on themselves. Despite the deplorable condition, the buildings remain in the neighborhoods. We hear the problem is extremely complicated to solve. The problem needs to be solved.

And, like the rest of the world, Hartsville is being affected by the failing economy. We need more jobs. We need more jobs to entice younger people back to Hartsville. We need to work on economic development and one of the ways might be to determine the types of organizations that might flourish in an area that is 15 miles away from an interstate. What types of businesses do you think would be good for our community and what type of businesses could we help with a good work force?

As always there is a lot more that could be written but this is already too long for a blog posting. What are your thoughts about building 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.