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How to sell Hampton County
Published on Thursday, April 30, 2009 - 11:46am |
First Byline:
Kathleen Myers
Don't know what a charrette or charette is? According to Wikipedia, the word charrette may refer to any collaborative session in which a group of designers drafts a solution to a design problem. While the structure of a charrette varies, depending on the design problem and the individuals in the group, charrettes often take place in multiple sessions in which the group divides into sub-groups. Each sub-group then presents its work to the full group as material for future dialogue. Such charrettes serve as a way of quickly generating a design solution while integrating the aptitudes and interests of a diverse group of people.
Right now county and town officials and leaders are working on a comprehensive charrette to help market and sell Hampton County and the small towns within the county.
I applaud their efforts. It is important to design a comprehensive marketing scheme for the promotion and development of our community. Let us not forget that the whole tourism marketing campaign of "South Carolina Smiling Faces Beautiful Places" put this state on the map.
This whole charette process could make or break the county. In marketing, it is important that you have a clean logo, good use of color, a slogan that is catchy or memorable and it is most important that you do not falsely advertise your product, which in this case is the community.
That is why I am so concerned. Many of our town, county and community officials have been toying with the slogan "Historic by Nature" to describe Hampton County. I respect the hard work that people have put into coming up with this slogan, but with all due respect this does not describe Hampton County.
Historic by Nature describes some place like Charleston and Beaufort-some place that has preserved its history.
Sadly this county has not done a good job at preserving their history. Just recently the Estill Depot was torn down. Most of our historic structures have been torn down in this county. I applaud the trailblazing efforts of people like Martha Bee Anderson, Mildred Rivers, Betty Ruth Crews, Marie Ellis, Ann Harper, Marie Brant, Paula Flowers, Mary Ann Sowell, Sarah Corbin, and Mary Eleanor Bowers all of which have been voices crying out in the wilderness to save our beloved county's history. They are to be commended. However to go so far as to say that Hampton County is "Historic by Nature" is like false advertising.
So what does Hampton County have going for it? A lot. Of course there is the Watermelon Festival, the longest running festival in the state, but to me it is the people that make this community great.
It's your neighbors who will let you borrow a cup of sugar, bury your dead cat or build you a new home because yours burned down. It is all the women who would put Paula Dean to shame in a contest of Southern cooking and have bake sales to help save someone dying of cancer or send a kid to a Missions Trip.
It's all our young boys and girls who knock one out of the ballpark for the home team or successfully sink a three-pointer with less than 4 seconds on the clock.
It's our beauty queens like Lu Parker.
It's all the countless parents that coach baseball, basketball, football and soccer.
It's our teachers who have been teaching so long that they have taught you and your children.
It's all the firemen and police officers that selflessly put their lives on the line every day. It's the National Guardsmen that go off to Iraq because they are willing to die for their country and, more specifically, this community.
It's all the local politicians that put the community first above their own political agendas.
Let's sell ourselves for what we are. Hampton County is a small, sleepy, Southern town that you want to live and die in. It's a place where people stop to say hello. It's a place where people know your name. I urge all the political and community leaders to sell this community for what it is ...
"Hampton County, where the watermelons are as sweet as the people that you meet."
Now that is not false advertising!
Re: How to sell Hampton County
Kathleen, your last couple of paragraphs make sense but even on local news and national news currently Hampton County is know for the HIGHEST TAXES IN THE STATE. Our taxes go for what I ask? Not to pave roads, support our elderly, veterans nor schools. Not for parks or even county golf courses. It went into a courthouse that now has no historal value and should have been torn down and a multi-complex built in it's place. The tax payers are still paying for that. We seem to cut school budgets and our children are our future. We have no activities apart from some county sports for our youth today. It's sad when you think about how many of our youth are into drugs and alcohol because there aren't any youth centers, or places to take dates out too. Our schools are in bad need of repair and expanding. In some cases the electrical isn't even up to code of the 21st century. Perhaps our county needs to focus on business that would promote our youth today which are our leaders of tomorrow. We are a divided county and until we come together as a county that can focus on what's good for our public then we shouldn't worry about how to sell our county to others. As long as our school districts are divided, our needs aren't met and our elderly and veterans aren't taken care of and our taxes are so high that today people just can't even pay them, then we shouldn't try to market our county. Perhaps we need to clean up our thinking and look for leaders who truly care about our county and not their "name" nor the money going into their pocket.
In memory of my son Spc Harry (Buck) Winkler III KIA 11/12/2006 Samarra, Iraq http://goldstarfamilysupportgroup.com Where friends & families of the fallen can submit photos & messages of the loved ones who died in the service of their country
Re: How to sell Hampton County
Ma'am,
I would like to offer you a virtual pat-on-the-back. You could not be more right about the situation that the people of Hampton County face. Hampton County, like our federal government, is gaining to much power over the populace. I'm stationed in Germany with the Air Force and everytime I come home on leave I hear about all of the crooked dealings within the real estate markets, the politicians and even some of the police officers (not all). It's very disheartening. All of this happens while the well being of the people residing there is taking a nose dive.
I love Hampton County and the people that live there. However, those same people are being punished. SC apparently cut budgets to Hampton County. HC's response? Raise taxes. Let's tax the people more instead of ungluing our butts from our chairs and actually work on a solution to cut spending and improve on the way money is spent. Where, exactly, do all of these taxes go? You would be right about the court house. It's ironic that the only improvement made would be a nice new court house which will help shorten the tax lines on April the 15th. As John Adams said: "When the government fears the people, you have liberty; when the people fear the government, you have tyranny". What does Hampton County have right now?
Relay
It will be hard to sell Hampton to anyone when it's citizens can't even hold a Relay for life event.It's to honor fallen and cancer fighting survivors.Not some punks wanting to fight and argue in the parking lots like it's a night club.It was a total disgrace to the ones that worked so hard to put this event on for everyone to enjoy and raise money to help with cancer victims.In which is all volunteer ran.
I must say that I totally
I must say that I totally agree that a mockery was made of Relay for Life this past Friday night. I was elated that afternoon that the rain had held off and I felt the Relay was going to be enjoyable. However this was not the case for me and my kids. The kids that were out there trying to fight and causing trouble were just that...........kids. They should have been supervised by their PARENTS! I think next year there should be a fee charged at the gate and all children under 18 need to be accompanied by a RESPONSIBLE adult. It is really sad that such a wonderful event has to be undermined by senseless behavior but sometimes there just has to be limitations. Furthermore the officers out there were so busy huddled together "talking" it was almost too late for them to get things under control. Some of those officers of the law seemed to have an agenda as they were harassing kids that should not have been harassed. They should have been walking around and checking the scene to make sure nothing out of the way was going on. When I left (sooner than I would have liked) I saw a bunch of boys under the tree by Fun Wheels and it didn't look like they were up to anything good. In defense of some of the youth in Hampton County, they look at Relay for Life as a social hour because there is NOTHING else here for them to do. If they had recreational places to go on a regular basis I don't think they would act a fool like they did Friday night.
Relay 4 Life
I agree with the comments everyone made about this situation. It was so ridiculous the way the children behaved out there for something that was in honor of those who lost thier lives to cancer or battling with it today. I was extremely disturbed because I have a family member with breast cancer and lost another family member two months ago from lung cancer and I really felt that this was a disgrace to them as well as others in the same situation. And for the most part, me being a African-American, it made us look so bad out there. Our race is stereotyped enough as it is for this kind of behavior and for those kids to behave the way they did, it really me upset and it hurt me as well. But those ideas suggested by the blogs are all good ideas, especially charging at the gate. And this is also another way to raise money for Relay 4 Life. And I did not like the way some of the police officers had the children in handcuffs in front of everyone for that long amount of time. I noticed that brought even more chaos. I am not sure of the procedures that a police officer has to go by so if I am wrong, please forgive me, but I felt like they should had just arrested them, place them in a car, and kept it moving. With them out there in handcuffs, that brought all the attention to them when it should have been for Relay 4 Life. And some of the kids were out there cursing and saying things that should not be said among adults or children, or anyone for that matter. It was so disrespectful. But these things happen and there are always going to unless we come up with some ways to prevent them. But I pray that this does not ever happen again, because Relay 4 Life is a good thing and there are people that spend all year long to make this happen and for some children to take that away in a matter of minutes, that is messed up.
Relay for Life
Thank you to Mandy Gooding, Wendy Jarrell, and the whole committee for their efforts in organizing the Relay for Life. It was an outstanding night until all the trouble makers started. Someone I work with made a suggestion which I think is excellent. Have everyone pay $5.00 at the gates to get in with all proceeds going to Relay for Life. This will keep many individuals and groups out because they will not be willing to pay to get into the event. This will also keep unsupervised children out because they can be turned away if they do not have a parent or an adult with them.
ay bro, this worlds changin
ay bro, this worlds changin and turnin dark. it aint like it used to be. deal with it
Re: ay bro, this worlds changin
HCGcritic,
I have read and pondered your deep thoughts concerning, what I'm assuming to be, Hampton County. You're right. Things are changing. But, we have the power and the right to make the times change for the better. This country was founded on principles. Most of thses priciples have been forgotten and I think that it is a sad day when people give up their rights and let the government have their way. Let me refresh your memory with a passage from the Declaration of Independence.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.
Save Black Youth, Not Hate and Fear Them
I want to say that as a young black man, I too am deeply saddened over what transpired the evening of the Relay For Life event. However, while it may be a good idea to charge admission and not allow children without an adult present, I feel there are more issues at stake.
After hearing about it, I asked myself a few things like what would make our youth behave in such a way. Then I wondered about how they were raised, where they were raised, what was their family life and upbringing like, did they have a good eduation, where were they're parents, did they have good parents and did they have parents period. I asked those questions because while I agree there is no excuse over their actions, I feel there are explanations behind it all.
The truth is that even if there was no brawl that night, the mere presence of young blacks, particularly males, stirs fear and tension to the gathering. Even since slavery up to today, there is a belief shared by whites and blacks alike that young black males are naturally anti-social, dimwitted, violent thugs who will cause trouble at any unexpected moment. The belief is strengthened with the help of the media who will report, portray and sell anything negative concerning black youth. Rarely have we heard anything positive concerning black youth from the media.
The sad result is that we view the lives of young black men as worth less than a white person or just plain worthless in general. The idea is to control them by putting more police on the street, mostly in poor black communities, or build more prisons, and a ray of hope is seen in the eyes of a fearful public. And if young blacks try to explain or talk about where they came from we look down on them even further and place the blame of the ills of society solely on them and them alone while strengthening our negative beliefs about them. Many of us who do this are likely the ones who have never been in their shoes. This, along with so-called war on drugs, concentrated poverty, an unstable upbringing, an environment of violence and despair, continual racism, institutional or otherwise, poor education, a media ready and willing to demonize them and a justice system that's more into profit than justice, our youth will fall, and most of us in society will not only watch them fall, we will also cheer.
No wonder why the black male homicide rate is unreasonably high in this country. It's societal suicide. To a young black male growing up in such dark circumstances the world could care less about his existance or the existance of another young black male. As a matter of fact studies have shown that the penalty upon a black person killing a white person is much severe than the penalty for killing a black person. No wonder there's been more cases of police brutality, harassment and murders of young black males. Yet, we continue to claim that justice is blind. Maybe so, but it's definitely not color blind.
The issues is not about the youth failing us; it's about us failing our youth.
We as a society must intervene and treat the youth with respect and dignity as we should anyone. We can not rely on the government to solve this problem because the government already gave its respond, more money for prisons and less money for schools. The blcak community needs to step up and save our youth while they're still developing, and just marching around streets, asking for more police or praying for a Black leader or Jesus to pop-up and save us will not cut it anymore. It's time to stop the cycle of self-hatred by empowering our young black males and females with the knowledge that they come from greatness and, as such, are destined to be great themselves. Society can no longer grand them with harsh names and labels--persecute them and expect them to automatically change, nor can we just talk to a troubled youth and expect them to change. We must set examples and work collectively to bring our youth into society instead as viewing them as outcasts.
We need to start because if we continue to overlook this or downplay the seriousness of this crisis and go on with our lives as if it's not serious enough to start moving, if we continue to invest in ways that certainly are not working and pretend that it is, if we don't take responsibility for our own neglect and abuse, then we should not complain if he hear about another murder committed by a young person.
Instead we should feel embarrassed.
Re: Save Black Youth, Not Hate and Fear Them
Well said sir. Well said...
saving black youth
Finding excuses for their behavior and making them think everyone treats them wrong will only hurt them also not help them.
I feel ya. However...
True, but I mentioned in the beginning that there are no excuses in
their actions. I also must say that there's no excuse to avoid or
ignore the situations going on.
It's not so much as making them
think that everyone treats them wrong. Some children, teenagers and
young adults have already been hurt because they've already been
disrespected.Some of them already feel that the world is treating them
wrong, but some of us will turn a deaf ear to and say how it's their
own fault as if they have a stable family background, a prosperous
neighborhood, a sane mind and healthy heart and they chose to become
deviant.
To a young male if he doesn't have anything else he
must have respect, and if it's taken away, then he is hurt, depressed
and angry. It's a human reality and not just a black reality. Many, but
not most, young blacks don't have self-love or self- respect and it's
evidenced by the homicide rate, suicide rate and death by disease and
other health issues.
Unfortunately, our feelings toward the problem of the youth are almost never acknowledged unless a horrific act is committed by a white youth. Then society asks "What's wrong with our children?"
The
black community is just as warped in their stance on youth violence. In
fact at least some of us fear our own children. We buy into the myth
that black youth are out-of-control savages. So, some of us hope that
someone else will take care of our children which is where foster homes
usually come in. Hell, some of the women will even abort their
children.
Whenver a crime is committed by a black person, many
will hardly holler or even move. We may march to symbolize our supposed
stance against so-called black-on-black, but nothing much else happens
afterwards. We will hope for Jesse or Al to step and make a speech and
promote more marching. We will get on our knees and pray for Jesus to
do something about this problem. They may be noble moves, but so far,
neither "proceedure" has been truly effective. We can't simply march
around, call on the black leaders to come and rescue us, or pray for
Jesus to descend from heaven to work His magic. We need to pull our
efforts in to reach out, save and empower our youth.Youth programs,
mentorship, seminars, mental help that's afforadble and sufficient,
well paying jobs, and other solutions should be a priority, but in this
society we will put our funding more into building more prisons and
cutting budgets to educational and youth programs.
We also can
not rely on law enforcement to be the only soldiers in this crisis
because locking up our youth without alternatives that will help them
will do little to solve these problems. The sad truth is that without
help behind bars and without improvements within the community and
society as a whole, once a youth leaves prison, he will return to the
conditions that molded him and will end up back in prison.
On
that note, I want to say that I am guilty of demonzing our youth when I
first wrote a letter to the editor. I blamed young black males for the
problems going on during that time, but I have learned a lot about who
and what's really at fault. I do apologize.
The main thing is
that we must to much more to help not just the poor black youth but all
youth who are troubled. Putting them in prisons will only benefit the
prison industrial complex. There's no rhyme or reason to allow this to
continue.
Our youth are crying for us; we should listen.
Please...
Pardon my spelling errors.