Celebrate Beaufort's 300th Anniversary

NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release
Contact: Erin Dean, chairwoman, Tricentennial Committee, 843-524-1116

Beaufort Tricentennial parade organizers name actor, 'Lt. Dan' Gary Sinise grand marshal

 Forrest Gump's Lt. Dan, actor Gary Sinise, will serve as Beaufort's grand marshal for the Sept. 17 historical Tricentennial Parade, organizers announced today.

The morning parade through downtown Beaufort will feature floats highlighting periods of Beaufort's 300 years, said Erin Dean, chair of the Tricentennial Committee. Entries are sought and applications are available at Beaufort City Hall, the Beaufort,Regional Chamber of Commerce and online at www.cityofbeaufort.org.

"This is going to be a special parade, one that we hope young people and the rest of us will remember a long time," Dean said. "The floats must reflect something about Beaufort's history."

The Sept. 17 parade through downtown Beaufort will celebrate different eras in Beaufort's history, including its role in wars, in Civil Rights, in economic growth and in culture. The event coincides with the second annual Lieutenant Dan Weekend, a retreat for severely wounded veterans created by the Independence Fund in Beaufort. Sinise and the Lieutenant Dan Band will entertain those veterans, their caregivers and others the night before the big parade.

"We are absolutely thrilled to have Gary Sinise serve as grand marshal for this once in a lifetime parade," said Donnie Beer, the Beaufort City Councilwoman who led the charge to connect the busy actor with the Tricentennial event. "We hope to see thousands of people lining the parade route to see him and to learn more about what's made Beaufort such a special place for three centuries."

Parade participants are encouraged to use professional float companies for their entries, Dean said. The entry fee is $25 for groups and free for registered non-profit organizations.

As arrangements continue for different ways to mark the historic 300th birthday, organizers of the Beaufort 300 project are in the final stretch to raise funds for a new historical marker. For a $300 investment in Beaufort's future, donors' names will be featured on a permanent historical monument in the Waterfront Park commemorating the Tricentennial. Corporate and non-profit sponsorships also are available.

Also this fall, Beaufort County schools are working on a variety of projects to study, recognize and celebrate Beaufort's 300th birthday. Those projects, kicking off when school resumes in mid-August, will be rolled out later this fall, said Margaret Rushton, the liaison between the school district and Beaufort Tricentennial.

Between now and the end of 2011, the Beaufort Tricentennial Committee will be working with organizations to continue to highlight the past three centuries. The recently-wrapped 56th Water Festival, for instance, showcased Beaufort's history throughout the 10-day event.

Meanwhile, City leaders are laying a path for an even better fourth century through a revitalized city planning process that's already brought new residential construction and adaptive re-use of the former Beaufort City Hall. Lowcountry Produce will be opening a food market with a targeted opening in October.

Beaufort was founded in 1711 by the English, although its beginnings date back to Spanish explorers in 1514. Beaufort was named for Englishman Henry Somerset, Duke of Beaufort (1684-1714), one of the Lords Proprietors of Carolina. It was on Jan. 17, 1711, that Beaufort's formal charter was created.

On Dec. 31, 2010, the Tricentennial party kicked off with a packed Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park. This coming New Year's Eve, celebrants will conclude the year-long birthday party with another party in the park, Dean said.

 "While our actual 'birthday' was on January 17, we made a decision a year ago that we would celebrate the 300th birthday of our great city throughout 2011," Dean said. "Between City events like the Founders' Night and the upcoming parade in September, our regular festivals have been spotlighting the Tricentennial."

For more information and to sign-up for Beaufort 300, visit www.cityofbeaufort.org and look in the upper left corner. You can also join Beaufort Tricentennial on Facebook. 

A. Joseph Marshall
Commercial Real Estate Agent
Savannah, Ga.

Editorial from Billy Keyserling. Diversify Beaufort's Economic Base.

The following is an email sent to me from Billy Keyserling. It can also be read here.

Will we let go of a promise for better opportunities for the next generation? 

Despite the fact that Beaufort County currently celebrates the fifth highest per capita concentration of millionaires in the US and the highest per capita concentration of college graduates of SC's 46 counties, more than half our students are eligible for free or assisted lunches. 

This doesn't make sense. We need leadership and commitment to turn this around.  Can we disappoint future generations when we know we can do better?    Not on my watch!  

Since I was a child, growing up in Beaufort, I've heard "grownups" give lip service to economic diversification.  We heard frequent warnings that we should not be overly reliant on farming and shrimping (now almost extinct), tourism, the military, government jobs and more recently the construction trades.

Those who grow up here, and find career opportunities elsewhere, leave hoping to one day be able to afford to retire here.  And those who don't have these opportunities, stay and struggle without hope of giving their children more opportunity than they had. A huge demographic imbalance ... and we all pay the price.  

We expect our school teachers to give hope to students who see little reason to study because they don't believe that staying in school is going to lead to a better future.

On a positive note... together, the people of Beaufort County have scaled many mountains.  We've brought potable drinking water, indoor plumbing, comprehensive healthcare and other services to rural areas that did not have them.  We've more than doubled our population by becoming a desirable retirement destination.  We've invested hundreds of millions of taxpayers' dollars on bridges and road improvements to ensure safe evacuation and to avoid gridlock, one of the unintended consequences of the real estate boom.  We've provided urban level fire and emergency services to outlying areas.  We've built libraries and schools and recreation centers to accommodate growth.   And, we've invested millions of dollars to preserve open space, to protect our natural beauty and to steer growth.  

Who says we cannot do what we "choose" to do?

It's time to raise the level of commitment so we can fulfill long- awaited promises for a diverse economic base and more economic sustainability.  

Heated discussions about the financial failure of the Beaufort Commerce Park, and whether the Lowcountry Economic Network has done what was expected, as well as the benefits of regional versus local economic development were quieted by handing  the challenge to consultants.  The Lowcountry Economic Alliance committed $125,000 for a study and soon after Beaufort County committed $50,000 for its own study. Yet, I haven't seen one editorial or news report asking . . . Aren't people talking with each other?  Aren't we wasting public resources though duplication?  Are we paying attention?  Are we content to see a system failing?

And, regardless of what consultants tell us, if we don't   have the commitment to make change, our money is wasted. 

So, I ask ... when will someone have the courage to say the emperor wears no clothes?  That leadership is avoiding hard decisions, tough choices and investing little if anything toward this long-standing challenge?

Some wax eloquent that we have too much government in our lives; that the challenge is for the private sector.   Well, where were they when we voted to raise taxes to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for more bridges and roads to accommodate the retirement boom that brought them here?  

Economic development, however, requires partnerships between willing governments that embrace the private sector while also establishing predictable and timely regulatory processes. 

Regrettably, our county is perceived by economic developers as unfriendly to business. Perhaps this is because our regulatory processes are punitive rather than incentive-based and we have yet to encourage bureaucrats to collaborate.  (I don't mean a laissez fair approach where total control is yielded to few at the expense of many. I mean a collaboration to do what is right for ALL.)    

I am, however, saying it shouldn't take longer than 30 days to issue a development permit for a simple industrial building in an established business park.  And, we shouldn't cause delays for businesses locating to a business park because they didn't select appropriately colored awnings or their landscaping wasn't completely installed. 

In good conscience, I can't wait for someone else to do the heavy lifting so I am calling on you, my colleagues across the region, to bite the bullet, work together, dig deeper into our pockets if necessary and engage the private sector to walk the walk.  

We must fulfill our outstanding promise!  IF WE DON'T WHO WILL?

Billy Keyserling, Mayor of Beaufort, SC.