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.

Education is one key to building and sustaining a community

One of the goals of The Byerly Foundation has been to find ways to help make our public schools among the best anywhere. This Foundation has spent a good bit of money over the past 12 years on various public education projects and will spend more in the coming years. We have a surprisingly effective school system for those students who are willing, eager and able to engage in the curriculum. For example, we have a former next-door neighbor who just earned her MD at the Medical University of South Carolina, after already achieving a masters degree in education and about five years of teaching math at various high schools in SC and Georgia. In a few weeks my daughter will be awarded her Ph.D. Both of these girls were products of the Darlington County Schools though my daughter did get two years at the SCGSSM. My youngest is a language arts teacher in a Title One school in Greenville. The parents who have her teaching their children are among the luckiest in the country. She is a product of the Darlington County Schools.

In the midst of a project to make prospective residents aware of how Hartsville represents "The Art of Good Living," we are identifying those things that need improvement as well as those things that make this such a great community. Schools in our area are doing an amazing job with many of our students yet, a number of our students are not getting what they need.

We do have gaps in the Hartsville Schools. You can see those gaps if you can understand the drop out rate or the graduation rate at the high school level. You can see those gaps in other ways and many parents from around the country will recognize these gaps, because, unfortunately, they exist around the nation.

One of the goals of The Foundation is to help our Hartsville schools find ways to eliminate gaps that can be identified by economics or race. That is not an easy job but they tell me that the city of Madison, Wisconsin, achieved that goal with a single-minded, laser focus over a multi-year period. We are looking for ways to help and one area of current investigation is early childhood-pre school. We are thinking that quality pre-school programs for economically disadvantaged children could be one of the keys to later success. We hear that the FPG Institute on the campus of the University of North Carolina is one of the groups who has had some long-term success. We are talking with them.

Right now, when I discuss the education question with people I stress the idea that we have a lot of fantastic success stories to tell but we generally ignore them and repeat the distressing stories. Children in Hartsville are experiencing amazing success in college, in their careers and in their classrooms. It would really enhance the ability to sell this community if we would tell more of those stories while working with the educators to see what can be done to ensure those who have to climb a more vertical educational slope have some additional tools to reach the summit.

Patriotism - My discussion

Richard Harwood's blog this week discusses the bombast being exchanged between the McCain and Obama camps on patriotism. www.theharwoodinstitute.org/ht/d/Blogger/pid/185

I consider myself pretty darn patriotic. And, sometimes people find this a wee bit amusing. Why they laugh do I snap off a salute following the playing of the National Anthem? The looks I get as I stand at Attention while the song is played are sometimes amused, often bemused and maybe even a little on the pleasantly condescending side ("He's old, sometimes they do that.") I am older but for some reason this has been a consistent force in my life. Growing up, it was not only the outer stuff, I believed I lived in the GREATEST country in the world. I believed that my country would and maybe could do no wrong but right or wrong this was my country. Then, I watched people getting beaten by police for staging demonstrations against a war they thought was wrong. Then, I saw news clips of other Americans being plastered with fire hoses and attacked by police dogs for marching and singing and demanding their share of the American dream. Then, I watched as my Marines were killed in a country whose borders were no where near America's and whose political health meant next to nothing for the peace and security of the United States. Yet we fought because we were sent there to protect and defend the constitution of the United States. And, then, there was this photo of a bus being overturned in a town called Lamar, South Carolina, and, though I was an officer of Marines, I cried because guys in my platoon were from that state and others nearby and now their brothers and their sisters were quite literally coming under attack in their own home towns.

So, I still consider myself a patriot and I still love my country. Quite honestly, it doesn't need to be the "grandest on earth" as long as it is my country. My country -- the home of the free -- all citizens with the same rights, the same freedoms, the ability with effort (some needing more than others) to make it. My country, where you can express, in very graphic terms if need be, your disgust with the government in power and not worry they will send you to jail. My country, where you have an expectation of privacy and protection of the law from the law. My country, where you can enlist in the military to help physically defend our land and/or ideals or My country, where you can get others who feel like you and protest in large groups against the government's desire to use that military to invade other lands.

Okay -- Patriots

• Marines and other military people willing to die to keep this country.

• Mothers, friends, those who are concerned willing to stand up and use that freedom of speech and freedom of assembly to protest when they think, feel and know the country is wrong.

• Those people who vote in every election

• Those people who pay their taxes

• Those people willing to give of themselves to right perceived wrongs

And, the list can probably get a lot longer
but how loud someone might sing the Star Spangled Banner, or how many flag decals might be on someone's car or how loud someone might claim to be a patriot does not make a patriot. What is a person doing for his/her country? What is that person doing to help strengthen her/his country? What is that person doing to strengthen her/his community because that strengthens the country too? Patriotism is not symbolism it is action.

This is what is supposed to happen

http://www.hvtd.com/?q=node/4487


Saturday night there was a Rhythm and Blues Block Party in downtown Hartsville. It was a fun event and a lot of Hartsvillians who would have had a good time had they availed themselves of the opportunity. Some proof of that is offered in the above positive feedback that was sent to the city of Hartsville web site from a couple on a weekend visit to Hartsville.

We are looking to sell Hartsville - The Art of Good Living and the feedback from a couple who were taking a short weekend away from home shows the possibilities.

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