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

Opportunities for work on Selling Hartsville

One person who is a life-long resident of Hartsville said she would like to be part of the Selling Hartsville project that is now ongoing. Earlier today I sent her an email about three of the task forces that are now at work. I thought it might be interesting for others to see this and to have an opportunity to assess if they would like to participate at this stage. So, the following is from that email -- not great prose but fairly specific:
OPPORTUNITIES:
There are two task forces that have begun meeting as a result of the initial Selling Hartsville Report.
LEGACY ENTRANCES:
The first meeting of the Legacy Entrance Task Force is Monday afternoon at 4 p.m. at the Byerly Foundation. This task force is looking at the way in which entrances to the city might become legacy themese. The first report noted that the south entrance to the city by the old Butler property and the old Wal Mart was not very pretty. The report also noted that this could be a fantastic place to highlight the African American legacy that is a major part of Hartsville's history. The Butler Heritage Foundation already is working to build a community center on the old Butler property and there may be ways in both the short term and long term to find ways of highlighting this legacy.
IDEA IS BEING DEVELOPED:
Jim Dawson thought about that and came up with the idea that all of the entrances to Hartsville might be able to be featured from a legacy perspective. For example, at the South East we already have the Coker Seed Agricultural museum and the agriculture legacy could easily be featured there; at the West we have Kalmia Gardens and that gives the beauty, gardening legacy; at the North end you can't miss the Sonoco plant on the right and that brings to mind the industrial and entrepreneurial legacy and then on the East we have the new vista area and the educational connection of Coker the GSSM property and what they have called in the report a "Walk of Scholars". The first task force committee meeting on this topic is Monday at 4 at the The Foundation on the corner of Second Street and East Carolina.
MARKETING TASK FORCE --
A marketing task force will have its second meeting on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the Foundation. They are also looking for additional participation and Johnna Shirley of Mutual Savings is chairing this task force. It is to come up with a marketing concept of the selling hartsville ideas.The third task force has not yet set a meeting date.
RECRUITING TASK FORCE
It is called the Recruiting Task Force and is going to be meeting with those who have reasons to recruit people to the Hartsville area with the first goal of deciding what they need to help sell Hartsville better and the second goal of putting a plan into place to come up with a message framework that can be shared in these major recruiting situations. The primary focus of the Selling Hartsville report is that a large number of people are looking for the "Lifestyle" that is offered in Hartsville, which they call an understated sophistication not expected of a small town. Finding the "facts" to back up the feeling will be another direction for this task force, I assume. Roger Schrum of Sonoco is going to be pulling that task force together.
Do you have an interest?
If you would be interested in any of these, let me know: rapuffer@byerlyfoundation.org This is an interesting project and one we need to make work in our town.

cooperation One Key to Community Building

Politics is politics is one cliche people like to toss around. Politics is more than politics. It is one of the ways that communities get built -- or not.

In Hartsville today (4-7-08) we saw some evidence of politics making a positive difference. The event was the ribbon cutting for the restoration of a Pavilion on the Lake. This was a city project and the city was taking pride in the production. It was time to recongize some of their team, guys who went beyond the call of duty to bring the landscape to life. It was a time to congratulate themselves for making tough decisions. But, today they did not need to congratulate themselves. Representative Jay Lucas told the audience how the vision of the city council is making Hartsville a special place for its citizery, Senator Malloy reminded Council of their tough decision to impose a hospitality tax, which paid for some of the great restoration. They both noted in a low-key manner how decisions need to be made if progress is to be made. the City Council did not have to congratulate themselves, the audience in attendance provided the applause and the State representatives provided the context. The City Manager was able to demonstrate the pride he is taking in the team that accomplished this project. Up, down and all around it was evident that cooperation can make a major difference to success,

Today, it was great to see so many people on the same page. It was even greater to see the fantastic results of the restored Lawton Park Pavilion, a facility that is now truly a part of the entire community.

working on SELLING HARTSVILLE

The selling tag we are working with on the Selling Hartsville project is "Hartsville, The Art of Good Living"

Every time we have a meeting on this subject there are people at the table who provide solid translations on how meaningful they find that slogan. The next step, which is ongoing right now, is for committees to work on specific projects to build up our product - Hartsville.

Last Wednesday, Johnna Shirley, who is the marketing director for Mutual Savings, has volunteered to lead the committee on marketing. The first meeting was held last Wednesday. Two other committees, one for legacy entrances and one for recruiting will soon be holding their first meetings.

The next meeting we have with the consultants will be to view how they see the slogan being used in things like ads, billboards, newsletters and other marketing materials. This project is making headway and we have to make headway so that we can start successfully growing our community.

We are looking forward to moving forward.

Discussion with Hartsville Chamber members about Selling Hartsville

The Selling Hartsville project gets a great opportunity today as we have some time to discuss this project at the All-Member lunch of the Hartsville Chamber.

The general plan I am using for this particular talk is to enhance something I said to the Lions Club of Hartsville a couple of weeks ago: "Change Favors the Prepared Community." I am borrowing some of Walt Whitman's words and changing a little for this theme. Last summer Harris DeLoach, president and chairman of Sonoco told this same All-Member lunch that Hartsville was losing potential residents and that Hartsville appeared to be losing some of its competitiveness as a community. He gave some very specific examples.

Today's message is that the alarm sounded in the DeLoach talk is being answered and one of the answers is the Selling Hartsville project that has begun. We will discuss how the Selling Hartsville project helps to connect some of the dots of recruiting new residents to Hartsville as well as enhancing the overall quality of living.

The consultants ended up telling us what many who live here already feel -- there is a strong lifestyle based on small town values and small town advantages that many people are aspiring to in many locales. They also pointed out in their findings that while there are a lot of people who feel the positive environment that Hartsville offers, there is no central theme or script from which the community is operating. The Selling Hartsville project, we hope, will provide the umbrella under which many community marketing efforts can flourish.

Today, I am going to review the need for this overall umbrella and share with this group the findings that have moved the Selling Hartsville project from a research phase into the implementation phase. The ultimate objectie will be to develop more awarness of the messages and, I would hope, more involvement by many chamber members in the conscious effort to sell Hartsville as "The Art of Good Living."

Selling Hartsville Moving from concept to action

The following post was sent out to the people who were at the last Selling Hartsville meeting on March 18 and to others on the Hartsville Steering Committee mailing list. It gives a pretty good overview of the move from presentation to implementation. This is a big rock in the Hartsville pond and we are hoping to have a large number of intersecting circles continue to spark sweet spots of activity for lots of people:

March 18, 2008

There were more than 30 people at the March 18 meeting of the Selling Hartsville Task Force. You can see, we have gone from calling the group a steering committee to the name of Task Force. The name is not just semantics. We are now actively in the implementation phase of the Selling Hartsville project. Thank you for all your input, your efforts and your desire to see Hartsville continue its trend of positive, forward growth.

Here is another story that demonstrates how well the target of "Hartsville, The Art of Good Living," summarizes our lifestyle. Parents of a person who has moved to Hartsville to work are visiting this week. After only about a day and a half they began to seriously wonder if they might not speed up their retirement plans and look to Hartsville as their next place to live. Everything we reminded ourselves of in the report that Carolina PR provided they explained in a conversation. They talked about the "feel" of the community. They talked about the community of the community. They talked about the ease and accessibility of so many different things like the walking trail at Byerly Park, the beautiful scenery of Kalmia Gardens, the downtown that was really alive and the YMCA and all it had to offer. They understood immediately when I told them of our efforts and before I could say more they filled in all the blanks about how while this is a small town it is not what they would describe as a small town from what they could see being offered.

Task Force Info --
We have a marketing task force and Johnna Shirley is going to be bringing that group together to begin thinking of the various places throughout and across Hartsville that we can begin to use, for and with an umbrella marketing strategy. They will also be working with the agency on graphic suggestions as well as many other areas.

There is another task force that will be composed of many of the organizations that recruit people for jobs in Hartsville. They are going to be meeting to discuss the impediments of people moving to Hartsville, the tools that might be needed to help better sell Hartsville and even some very hands-on tactics that might be devised to implement an aggressive, recruiting effort to educate those people who might really like the quality of life Hartsville offers. Roger Schrum is taking an initial lead on this task force.

The legacy entrances to Hartsville is a concept that has evolved since the consultants strongly recommended that the former Butler School property be thought of as a major part of the South entrance area to Hartsville and that it be made into a legacy entrance to highlight the African-American history and tradition in Hartsville. Jim Dawson, Coker President, then thought the legacy theme might be a great way to devise improvements for the Hartsville entrances with a manufacturing legacy to the North, an educational legacy to the east; an agricultural legacy near the Coker Pedigee Farm museum and the natural resource legacy at the Kalmia entrance to the west. Jim Dawson is pulling together this task force.

While there was not time for as much discussion, it is apparent that some good movement is taking place in the Vista area and the parties most associated with this area, the City of Hartsville, Coker and the Governor's School are going to be continuing progress in this area.

This is a short synopsis of activities. Anyone who has not signed up for one of the three task forces or who would like to begin to call another together should reply to this message and that work can begin.

We have pretty much decided on The Art of Good Living and now we have to continue to find ways to even better define this "product."

The meeting this past Tuesday was held at the new meeting hall of Jerusalem Baptist Church on Sixth Street and this is a beautiful facility and we appreciate their allowing this community-building meeting to take place in their Fellowship Hall.

Econmomic Development for a community

Currently in Hartsville there are several citizen committees working on the required updating of a strategic plan for the city. The State apparently requires the update and the city has implemented the process for updating. Citizens, when they are working for the good of their community, do so with the trust that the people who are in charge and who have the ultimate decision-making authority value the work and the thinking that the citizens are putting forth. Citizen input from the community conversations and other venues along with investments in Hartsville say that our community has a lot going for it. Those working on the update of the plan hope this is one way to find a way to focus on growth and progress and the continuing quest of making this community one of the best in South Carolina, if not the nation.

The Economic Development planning group is going to try defining economic development in a frame that fits within the context of the city or greater Hartsville area. So, if you were defining economic development, what would you be thinking about? In a series of add-ons to a string on hartsvilletoday.com there was an extended discussion about the types of businesses some people would like to see. The one requirement for nearly all those businesses is a population with money to buy the products and services those businesses have to offer. That population with money is one of the things being thought of in terms of economic development. There were a number of other factors that covered a range of issues. Rather than list those, let's have the question remain: When you think of economic development for the greater Hartsville area, what are the ideas that come to mind?

The committee is meeting weekly and this blog (or Hartsvilletoday posting) is way I thought of to develop a little more input from the community. If inclined, I hope you will donate your proverbial "two cents."

Firefighters -- God Love Them

My father was a fireman. My grandfather was a fireman. An uncle or two were volunteers. The fire service has been integral to my life. As I listen to Mayor Riley honor the nine firefighters who lost their lives, and the firefighters who daily protect Charleston, I can't hold back the tears, nor can I hold back thoughts of service.

Some of my earliest memories are hearing fire sirens and then making the sign of the cross and saying a quick, heart-felt Hail Mary (I was Catholic). The families understood, as did the firefighters, that this is a dangerous business. I don't know of a fire fighter who thinks of heroism as a part of their job description. All the ones I have ever known saw fighting fires as job that had the added plus of being service to their community. Most just say it is a job someone has to do and they feel fortunate to be among those who are called to do it. But they never think of themselves as heroes -- that is up to the rest of us to consider.

When I hear the fire siren, I am still quick with a prayer for the people answering the call. Their families also need a prayer because they do understand that each call has its own danger -- being a fire fighter is not a routine job, under any circumstances. One of my father's worst injuries came at a grass fire when the smoke obscured a hold and went down with a heavy water pack on his back.

Here in Hartsville we are fortunate to have a strong fire department that is a combination of paid fire fighters and volunteer fire fighters. Their presence is our protection and has been for 99 years in this community. They will appreciate your prayers but will be embarrassed if you talk about heroism -- that is not in their self concept. They serve and protect. Like most of you, in Hartsville, SC, or in other communities around the world, I am thankful they are there!

Speaker Provided Lots of Thought Food for Community Building

Lee Bussell was in Hartsville the other day. Lee is CEO of S. C. largest marketing communications agency and an active citizen in Columbia, SC and the State. He shared some thoughts at an All-Member luncheon sponsored by the Hartsville Chamber.

We really needed to have another 50 or so people in the room to hear some of the exciting ideas that Lee shared but most importanly so that those exciting ideas could ignite some thinking that would help Hartsville better envision its growth.

I was not taking notes, so this is not a verbatim account of Lee's talk but rather some of the connections that I was making while he discussed the direction they have been taking in Columbia.

** One idea I like a lot was the "Good to Great" committee that they established. His key message here was that this committee is working toward defined metrics for committee performance and working toward defining the core idea of Columbia. If you are one of the few who has not read the Jim Collins book, his central message is for an organization to adhere to a "Hedgehog Concept." In short, this concept is to determine what your organization can do better than any other organization and focucs all activity on making that happen. I don't think we have determined this in Hartsville and would love to see that type of discussion taking place.

** Another key message that was included in this talk was the need to build from existing strengths. He suggested that most successful community building efforts are not inventing something from nothing. During his talk he happened to mention biofuels and that got me thinking about Hartsville's strengths as a community built on agriculture, manufacturing and education and how well the concept of biofuels seem to fit this core of basic strengths.

** So, we often talk about our core and our strenghts in this small town but few of us in our various organizations put these strengths (and weaknesses) on paper where we might let them mix together to help ignite some creativity. Education is one of our strengths. We have a four-year college that provides an excellent college education for hundreds of students and most of them are from this area. We have the Governor's School for Science and Math, which provides a superior high-school education for juniors and seniors from schools across the state. We are fortunate to have a strong technical college that works closely with industry and others (Florence-Darlington) and we have pretty strong support for the public education system. But, I think this is an exercise for a cross-responsible group that could determine what they were going to deliver and then deliver as the first step in laying out a VISION for our area.

** One of the quotes that often gets into talks I give around the community comes from something the former CEO of Sonoco often repeated inside and outside the company. That uote is, "When you stop getting better, you stop being good." One way that Lee Bussell highlighted this state of affairs was to note that 15 to 20 years ago Columbia, SC, Austin, TX, and Raleigh, NC, were about the same size municipalities. Can you guess which of those communities had the highest income ratio? Back then it was ......Columbia, South Carolina. Today, Columbia only wishes it could compete in the same area as Austin and Raleigh. There is a moral to that story for Hartsville and one that we need to wrap our heads and hearts around before it is too late.

** Some things are happening in this town and there are several projects that might be on the verge. Is there a connection? Is there a thread that brings them together? This is where that vision thing comes in again and while there may be a thread, it is pretty thin and not very visible to many in the community.

** Another major part of Lee's message is the same refrain we heard from Rich Harwood when he was in town to talk about the role that citizens must play in their communities. According to Harwood, it is the citizens who can make positive things and positive change happen. Also, according to Harwood and to Bussell, it is only those citizens who will make the change happen because other people have other priorities and really don't care all that much about Hartsville, or, for Lee - Columbia. So, who are those citizens who should be joining together to make things happen?

** Building community and building communities within a community is the work of the citizens of that community. It is OUR job. Let's do it!

Momentum is important

Momentum is important to a community because it means movement is taking place. The worst thing, in my view, that can happen to a vibrant community is to allow "status quo" to become the goal. Complacency is a contagious virus. Complacency has few symptoms. Complacency can even provide a type of feeling well that can mask the sickness until so much damage has been done that it takes major intervention to get the community back on a healthy track.

Communities with a lot of activies that are ongoing may suffer from growth pains and may even have some stress and strain as the programs are implemented. Those who have spent time in the gym or on the practice fields understand this condition in the adage, "no pain, no gain."

In the Hartsville community we are beginning to see some momentum building. Just yesterday, Senator Joe Biden brought his Presidential campaign bid to our Coker College. While those in larger communities see this as little to nothing, for a town of 7,500 in a wider community of about 40,000, a candidate stopping by is noteworthy. It is also appreciated. Senator Biden treated Hartsville as he would have treated Columbia, Greenville or Charleston and those in Hartsville, on all parts of the political spectrum, appreciated his contribution to the national debate. Later this month William Raspberry of the Washington Post will be in Hartsville as part of statewide education conference investigating poverty and education. That March 30 event will be discussing a topic crucial to the ongoing question of improving education, not only in South Carolina but throughout the nation.

While on important events that demonstrate momentum, the Coker College Center for Leadership and several other organizations are investigating the question of gang activity in the Darlington County area. Gang activity is not all that prominent an issue and the meetings that are going to be held, with noted community authorities including Stedman Graham and Ron Carter, are to draw some attention to the question before the issue becomes an out-of-control problem.

"Imagine and Act for the Public Good" is the underlying theme of The Harwood Institute, an organization dedicated to helping communities re-engage their citizenry. Richard Hawood, founder of The Harwood Institute, will be in Hartsville on March 28 and 29 to talk about his views, findings and ideas on re-engaging citizens in the well-being of their communities. His public speech will be March 29 at Davidson Hall on the Coker College beginning at 5:30 p.m.

For a small community, there is quite a bit going on in Hartsville, SC. This note did not even discuss RENOFEST, which is a Bluegrass Music Festival that has become one of the mainstay events bringing Bluegrass fans from many states to this town March 23, 24 and 25.

Mostly it is the little events that provide the momentum but it is leadership that must be envisioning those events and bringing them to reality. Communities need their citizens to be involved in all types of momentum-creating events. Get involved!

Thinking About Thinking About Community

She participated in the community conversation we held at the library on Wednesday evening and stopped outside the coffee shop this morning to tell me how much she enjoyed the experience. Her visit interrupted some thoughts that were along the track of 'is the effort for these conversations really worth the time invested?" Her comments and observations from her participation don't just affirm, they shout 'keep the conversation going."

Even today, after a lot of time observing, I continue to be amazed at the way we receive or attune to messages about how we maintain or ignite motivation. My decision to spend more time than normal at the coffee shop and enjoy the outdoor chairs seemed pretty random. Her crossing the street at that point from her morning Y workout, while not so random, was still unplanned. My thought about the value of the conversations at that point of the morning might not have been all that unpredictable, since these conversations are a focal point since the students have left for the summer. But the thought coinciding with her stopping by and the genuine enthusiasm she showed for the process of questioning how we continue to improve the quality of living in this community was fuel I needed to get me ready for next week's public innovator lab at the Harwood Institute.

Serendipity can take a lot of shapes but when it is a woman in her eighties, who has just left her Y workout, who is excited about building the future of the community she has called home her entire life -- you have to know there have to be ways of igniting that enthusiasm in the age groups who have so much more riding on the outcomes of these engagements. (May 19, '06)