5 Years And Going
"Believingi n God will save you from a devil's hell...bel i ev i ngGod will take you to a whole new level of living!"
Small Town Main Street
Program Kicks Off
September 29 marked a great day in our towns his-
tory. Not only are we celebrating 200 years of being
founded we have a new first day. That would be the
official
reception
of the
Small
Town
Main
Street
(STMS)
Grant.
Town
Manager,
Roger
Davis
welcomed a room full of citizens to meeting. NC
Rep. Pat Hurley, was present to celebrate in this day
and encourage our fair town on. Sheri Adams of the
STMS presented the official grant to Mayor John
Stanley. All day long the STMS staff meet with all
the different groups in town to
learn more of the good and bad of
our community and hear our
thoughts. From 10:30 in the morn-
ing, the staff toured our town to
review all if aspects. At Noon they
began their meetings and below I
have listed them in order as they
day went along. Town Staff,
Mayor, City Council and planners,
then on to property owners, mer-
chants, bankers, realtors, develop-
ers, county manager, EDC director
and other county agencies, Chamber of Commerce
and other non profits and concerned citizens. Con-
cluding their interview sessions that went on inapprox.
25 min-
ute
ses-
sions,
the
staff
com-
piled
all the
notes of
the day.
This
bring
them to the current meeting. Sheri Adams of STMS
then introduced the group to Lou and Lauren that
would assist her in helping us. All the time the point
was brought home that they would not be coming in
and telling us what to do, but they would be here to
help us (Liberty and its citizens) plan out the new
future for Liberty. They offer professional guidance,
suggestion, resources and more. A great video pres-
entation was given by STMS to bring into focus what
we could expect. From comprehension, incremental,
long term (which is always evolving), partnerships,
building on existing assests, action oriented, quality
focus, changes, management and self help was some
of main keys the illuminated. The group has four
divisions in Liberty. The organizational committee,
headed up by Billy Hardin of Hardin\u2019s Florist and
Wholesale, will help keep all other committees to-
gether while establishing the Downtown Develop-
ment into its own entity. The design committee,
headed up by Phillip Wright, local architect that cur-
rently assist the town with his services. He has a
strong love for Liberty. This group will look at re-
storing the luster to Liberty from many different area.
The economic development committee, co chaired by
J B Griffith (Liberty Advisors) and Ronnie Murray
(Co Owner of Liberty Hardware), will work on how
to increase and improve the economic well fair of our
town. The publicity committee, will be lead by Kevin
Bowman (Owner of The Liberty Leader). This com-
mittee will work on bringing
a new brand to Liberty and
promoting its current items
and building on the new ac-
tivities. This seems like a
whole lot, but as one wise
person once said, \u201cyou want
to eat the whole pie, but you
can take eat it at once, you
have to take one small bite at
a time.\u201d As you entered the
room you received three
stickers. These were used at
mid point of the meeting. On the wall was a list of all
the items pointed out at the interview sessions all day.
Here the community marked their three tops points to
work on first. Belief it or not, majority picked the
same items. The meeting concluded with each group
breaking up and asking for any to serve on the new
appointed committees. From 6 to 8 people signed up
for each committee. If you would like to contribute
your time, your passion and talents to any of the four
committees, contact Roger Davis at town hall and he
will pass your names on. Well Liberty, here is our
chance. For the next two years we have free profes-
sional guidance to move our town up. I for one am
excited. The track record of every community that
STMS has been part of has seen increase growth in
business, employment, tourism and improvements in
the look and pride of their town. Lets embrace this
opportunity. With the economic situation we are in
this great country, we have no where to go but up. As
I write the paper each month, I can only say, for a
community our size, we do a lot of things. I believe
we do a lot better than our larger cities around us.
Continuity Gives Us Roots and
Change Will Give Us Branches
I moved to Liberty in 2004, when I was 13 years
old. I thought it was pretty much the smallest
town imaginable. I moved from Tucson, AZ,
which is, as most of you probably know, a large,
busy, HOT metropolitan area. Moving to Liberty
was a huge change for me. I never thought I
would end up liking it as much as I do. I\u2019d never
been to the Southeastern United States before
moving to NC, and I had a hard time imagining
what it would be like. All I could think of was
grits, bird dogs and that thing that they call South-
ern hospitality. This last element was the one
thing that stood out to me the most when I set foot
on southern soil. I still cringe when people talk
about grits, which happens much less than I
thought it would, and I have yet to meet a bird
dog. But that Southern hospitality is something
that is alive and kicking down here in the South,
and I am so glad it is. I love Liberty\u2014people here
are friendly, considerate and incredibly kind.
Working downtown at the Liberty Emporium has
allowed me to meet a plethora of people that I
never would have met otherwise. I\u2019ll have a hard
time leaving this place when I head to college
next year. But I have a challenge for Liberty: I
challenge you all to move forward. I challenge
you to develop. This town has so much potential.
Why are things still the same? There can still be a
homey, small-town feeling with new stores or
chain restaurants. Evolution and development
don\u2019t tear people apart\u2014they bring them together.
There are hundreds of teens in Liberty who go out
to Siler City, Burlington and Greensboro to have
fun. Why not keep them close to home while they
enjoy themselves? Play movies (old talkies, musi-
cals, even new releases) at an old-fashioned
movie theater. Put in a small bowling alley. Open
up a clothing store geared towards a younger gen-
eration. Teens love to spend money. Most don\u2019t
fully understand the meaning of recession\u2014a
word that Liberty knows to well. Liberty\u2019s teens
won\u2019t mind losing their money to in-town shops.
They\u2019ll be happy to have something to do. This is
not a criticism. This is a suggestion from a Liberty
teen that lived her life in several different areas. I
love this town and everyone in it. But please, oh
little town of Liberty, don\u2019t hold back on develop-
ment and don\u2019t resist the evolution that this place
has to undergo at some point. Living in the past
will get us nowhere. Change is good. It will open
doors that you never knew were closed.
--Aryn Leighton
Leave a Comment