Pay it Forward: Bamberg Public Workshop 10/18/08

My day started early today. In order to make it to Bamberg in time to set up for the Public Workshop, I was getting picked up at 7:30am. 7:30 is not so early, but I am training for a marathon and had to run 6 miles that morning. My thought was that I would catch some extra z’s on the 3 hour car ride to Bamberg; however, I was riding with a classmate about whom I knew very little. We began talking the moment I got in her car and continued until we arrived at Bamberg. It is amazing how much you can learn about a person in such a short time. I already felt like I had gained new outlooks, perspectives, etc and the workshop had not even started.

Needless to say, by the time we pulled up to the old building where the workshop was being held, I was quite exhausted. Set-up was rather quick and people starting filtering in early. This seemed positive, people coming early—maybe we would have a good turnout! Harry, the Clemson Extension Agent leading the workshop, was optimistic about the number of people he was expecting to attend. In the end, I would say we had about 25ish people participate. I would have liked to see more people, but I think I was most disappointed by the fact that I did not see any of the people whom I had surveyed on my previous trip to Bamberg present. Looking back at most of the people I interviewed, I think their situations (age, mobility, access to an automobile, etc.) made it very unlikely that they would actually be able to attend, I guess I had overly optimistic expectations.

I was also hoping there would be a better turnout among the high school students whom Lauren had spoken to early in the month. One of Bamberg’s concerns is how to retain their young people. The high school students could have provided invaluable insight that simply could not be obtained from the age range of those present at the workshop. Only one brave girl attended and I am not sure whether she felt comfortable enough to express her ideas and concerns as she was surrounded by people who were significantly older. This might be a group we consider reaching out to in a separate event. After all, my understanding is that the current ‘hang-out’ spot for this age group is the local Hardee’s!

Harry’s first instructions were to have the attendees rearrange themselves into 5 groups, based on the numbers in the corner of their nametags. Two people from our class were assigned to each table. Leigh and I had a small group of three—one of whom was the mayor and the other a city council woman. The third lady I’m guessing was in her 70’s and had grown up in Bamberg. She moved to Philadelphia and lived there for 35 years, returning to Bamberg about 15 years ago. I was really curious to hear her opinion since she had both an insider’s and outsider’s view of the town so I asked if she thought the town had changed much while she was gone. She very politely tried to express that not much had changed.

Initially, the mayor and the city council woman dominated the intra-table discussion about the ‘external’ factors that were impacting the city of Bamberg. They stressed that the biggest issue confronting them was the conflict that existed with the nearby town of Denmark. In addition to the lost hospital, it seems there are a great number of other opportunities (big and small) that are lost due to the fact that the two communities will not work together. Although this has been a long standing dispute the mayor and council woman made it sound like they were ready and willing to work with Denmark. I wonder how willing they would actually be to have a public workshop with Denmark?

Our next topic of discussion was regarding ‘internal’ factors that were impacting the town. The 3rd participant at our table expressed the greatest concern over the youth. Working with children throughout her career and having recently had her grandchildren in town with nothing to do, she felt they did not have enough recreational opportunities, was worried about their diets and overall health and having enough jobs to keep them in the area. It took a little extra effort to get her to talk, mainly because the mayor and council woman were more assertive, but this lady really had a lot to say!

The final exercise involved drawing out ideas on an aerial map of the town. It seems that the town has a lot of ideas about things they want to do and places they want to change. Some of the ideas are good and others….well, they might benefit from having our class involved. One area that just seems to be crying out for attention is the large strip of grass buffer that is in between highway 78 and Railroad Ave.

On the return trip home, I had a really memorable experience. It was one of those small things that just sticks in your head and I will probably always remember it. We were getting on highway 185 just outside of Greenville. As we pulled up to tollbooth, we were informed that our toll had already been paid. We were not traveling in a caravan of cars, so it was not someone we knew. It was some random stranger ahead of us that paid! It was only $1, but it really touched me! This had never happened to me, but Lauren, who was driving, said she had done the same thing in the past. I had never really thought about it before, but it was such a simple thing to do and it really can make a person smile. Sometimes it really is the little things in life that can make a difference!

At the 2nd toll on 185, we decided to pass on the kindness that we had experienced by paying the toll for the person behind us. I felt equal joy in doing it for the people behind us, because I imagined they were as caught off guard as we were when it happened to us. I wonder if that person will perform the same random act of kindness the next time they are on a toll road?

It’s the whole idea of ‘pay it forward’ that can make an impact, which made me think about the workshop from earlier in the day. Many of the concerned people that were in attendance were older and may never be around to really see the changes that will hopefully come to the city of Bamberg. This was their own form of ‘paying it forward.’ Although this concept is a relatively new term, I think the idea has been around for a long time. If not, I could only imagine what many of our cities and towns would be like today. In some ways, it also makes me think of the Native American saying that I really like: “We do not inherit the land from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”