Thank you to those working to make a difference

Selling Hartsville? Who Benefits?

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

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

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

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

Thanks to those who are helping to make this difference!

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

In the midst of change

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

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

Why a Selling Hartsville initiative? (repeat)

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

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

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

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

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

The Harwood Institute Helps Build Community Builders

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

Lots of little things build community

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

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

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

What do you mean, Selling Hartsville?

Change Happens!

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

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

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

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

Selling Hartsville Task Force Talks Launch

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

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

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


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

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