Greater Gaffney Gazette

VOLUME 2 ISSUE 1
WINTER 2015
Greater Gaffney
Gazette
Reporting on Positive Collaboration, Cooperation and Community in Gaffney, SC
City Receives Governor’s Award for Tourism Marketing
Table of Contents
Director’s Corner
2
Revolutionary War Tourism
2
Gaffney Little Theater
2
African American Art
3
Unforgettable Gaffney project
3
New Museum exhibits
3
LEGO Robotics Competition
4
Nancy Elliott Art Exhibit
4
Chamber of Commerce
4
City of Gaffney,
Department of Marketing
and Tourism
210 W. Frederick Street
Gaffney, SC 29341
Phone: 864-487-6244
ourtown@getintogaffney.com
Website:
www.getintogaffney.com
The City of Gaffney
was recently recognized for outstanding
achievement in tourism marketing. This
award is presented to
an organization who
best demonstrates
achievement in marketing under-told or
hidden gems.
During the 2015 South
Carolina Governor’s
Conference on Tourism and Travel, the
Bundy Award was
presented to LeighAnn
Snuggs, Director of
the Gaffney Department of Marketing and
Tourism, for the production of the
Cherokee Foothills
National Scenic
Highway Travel
Guide. “Gaffney is
the commerce of SC
Highway 11, offering
hotels and eateries,”
stated Snuggs.
“Guests often come
to the Visitors Center
asking for information
of things to do along
the nationally designated byway.”
To meet that need the
Gaffney Visitors
Left to right: Director Duane Parrish (SCPRT),
Claire Huminski, Gaffney Director of Marketing and
Tourism LeighAnn Snuggs, and Gaffney Mayor
Henry Jolly with the Bundy Award.
Smithsonian Exhibition: Hometown Teams
Celebrates Local Sports History
Football. Lacrosse.
Basketball. Baseball.
Dance. Horse Racing.
Throughout the world,
people are drawn to
sports. Where do people personally connect
to their favorite sport?
Their hometowns!
The Smithsonian
Exhibit Hometown
Teams: How Sports
Shape America will
celebrate this connection in Gaffney, South
Carolina April 18,
through May 31, 2015.
“We are thrilled to
welcome this national
exhibit to Gaffney,
which is known as the
City of Champions,”
said Gaffney Mayor
Henry Jolly. “While
awaiting its arrival, we
need citizens to participate in celebrating our
local sports history by
loaning any sports photos, equipment, or
other artifacts and
memorabilia in their
collections. These
contributions will help
demonstrate how
sports have shaped our
own community.”
many other community organizations,
including Limestone
College, the Cherokee
County School District, the Recreation
District, and the
Cherokee County History & Arts Museum
to provide auxiliary
exhibits that will highlight sports in Cherokee County and the
state of South Carolina.
Six weeks of free
activities and events
will be enjoyed preThe City of Gaffney sented for all to enjoy.
Continued on page 2
is teaming up with
Center staff compiled
a list of points of interest and provided this
generic information to
guests who were planning to travel the highway. Positive feedback from visitors who
receive this simple
document prompted
the director to undertake a regional marketing project that would
impact local businesses and tourist destinations along the
entire 112-mile route.
“As Mayor of the City
of Gaffney, I am so
pleased that our city
was honored by the
Governor of South
Carolina and especially pleased and
proud for Ms. Snuggs.
I know of no person
more deserving than
she and the Gaffney
Visitors Center team,”
said Gaffney Mayor
Henry Jolly. “I am
delighted that during
this administration,
Gaffney has become a
leader in the tourism
industry and is making
great economic impact
by promoting tourism
for our city and the
greater Cherokee
County community.”
The Cherokee Foothills National Scenic
Highway Travel
Guide is the first publication of its kind to
be available free of
charge.
Continued on page 4
2
Corner of West Frederick and Granard
By LeighAnn Snuggs, City of Gaffney Director of Marketing and Tourism
As director of the City of Gaffney’s Department of Marketing
and Tourism, I am very excited
to share the activities of the
Gaffney Visitors Center, located at the corner of Frederick
and Granard streets in downtown Gaffney. We have lots of
amazing news to share with
you.
After months of gathering information, the department released its newest publication,
Cherokee Foothills National
Scenic Highway Travel Guide,
in July. This publication
quickly spread across the State
of South Carolina and as you
will read in this newsletter, we
received the 2015 SC Governor’s Bundy Award for outstanding achievement in tourism marketing.
In November, the City of Gaffney received a grant from Elevate Upstate for Unforgettable
Gaffney. This project will incorporate partnerships with
local residents, businesses and
departments of Limestone College to collect historic data,
install historic signage with a
smart layer of technology, and
provide a printed walking guide
through the City’s three nationally registered historic districts.
Another exciting project is being called Operation Out of
Line. The concept of regional
marketing in the scenic highway guide has intrigued numerous communities. As a result, I
have been invited to present the
concept to other entities. Op-
eration Out of Line will be a
similar project on a much
larger scale. Gaffney’s Department of Marketing and
Tourism has been asked to
spearhead this promotional
campaign, which will include
Revolutionary War historic
sites and communities along
the Overmountain Victory
National Historic Trail.
There were almost 20,000
visitors to Cherokee County
during the recent anniversary
celebrations of the parks in
the national park system.
This new guide will cross
state “lines” to include the
Carolinas, Tennessee and
Virginia, while engaging with
guests to get “out of line” (off
the 330-mile commemorative
motor route) to visit other
sites of revolutionary era significance.
As we continue with plans of
projects, exhibits and activities, we are also preparing for
the arrival of the Smithsonian
Institution’s exhibit
“Hometown Teams: How
Sports Shaped America.”
Hometown Teams is part of
Museum on Main Street, a
collaboration between the
Smithsonian Institution and
The Humanities Council South
Carolina. Please take time to
read more about this exhibit
and how you can be a part of
our sports celebrations in this
edition.
Whether you live near or far,
are interested in sports, history, shopping, or travel, I
invite you to stop by the corner – the corner of Frederick
and Granard where you can
always find reasons to Get Into
Gaffney.
Local Revolutionary War History Events
Attract Large Numbers to Cherokee County
Just how many tourists visit
Cherokee County, South Carolina each year? Some may say
hundreds, while other say
thousands; however, would
you believe Revolutionary
War – our national parks, genealogy research, and celebrations of the battles won on
these local grounds, attract
tens of thousands to our small
town?
During the celebrations of
the Overmountain Men and
the anniversary of the Battle of
Kings Mountain in October
2014, more than 13,000 attended local festivities. The
City of Gaffney then hosted
the Overmountain Victory
National Historic Trail Symposium in November attracting
scores of folk from seven
states (Alabama, Georgia,
Tennessee, Virginia, North
and South Carolinas, and
Pennsylvania).
Hometown Teams
Continued from page 1
“We are extremely honored
to be recipients of another
Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit,” said LeighAnn Snuggs,
Director of the Department
Marketing and Tourism “Our
national and local sports history, will provide a celebration
like no other. Planned activities will attract sports fans
from all over our region and
beyond. We already have received confirmation of participants from Charleston, Georgia, and North Carolina for
one very special “game plan”
to take place May 8 and 9.”
A full schedule of activities
will be released as soon as
plans finalize. The City has
begun collecting photos, sports
equipment, and other items for
auxiliary exhibits celebrating
Cherokee County’s sports history. Everyone with artifacts,
stories, or other sports memorabilia is asked to contact the
Gaffney Visitors Center and
Art Gallery by February 15th.
Hometown Teams is made
possible in South Carolina
through Museum on Main
Street, a partnership of the
Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibit Services, and The
Humanities Council South
Carolina.
For our friends at the Cowpens National Battleground,
January is not just a News
Year’s Day celebration. January commemorates the anniversary of Morgan’s victory
Gaffney Little Theater to
against Tarleton. A record
number were in attendance for Present Flat Stanley, Jr.
the 234th Anniversary celebraContributed by Jennifer Kadanec
tions of the Battle of Cowpens
January 15-18 this year.
Evening shows will be preRevolutionary War history is
sented at 7:30 p.m. on Februnot limited to the national park ary 26, 27 and 28. Matinee
service. There are many local performances will be at 3:00
exhibits and sites in and
p.m. February 28 and March 1.
around the greater Gaffney
Gaffney Little Theatre is loarea. For more information as cated at 131 East Robinson
to how you can get into RevoStreet. Reservations for ticklutionary War History, contact ets can be made by
the Gaffney Visitors Center
emailing tickets@gaffneylittl
and Art Gallery
etheatre.org or by calling 864
(ourtown@getintogaffney.com -489-4589.
or 864-487-6244).
2
3
Ten Upstate African American Artists Exhibit on View at
Gaffney Visitors Center and Art Gallery through February
being able to present art
that relates to the community and to special events
during the calendar year.
Four pieces by each artist
will be displayed.
Contributed by Sara Setzer
Ten Upstate South Carolina African-American Artists
opened January 15 as the
January-February exhibit at
the Gaffney Visitors Center
and Art Gallery. The exhibit
celebrates the upstate’s established black artists and pays
homage to Black History
Month.
The art works will include both recent works and
ones that reflect artists’ interests over a longer period
of time. Drawings, paintings, mixed-media works,
The ten artists in the exprints, three-dimensional
hibit include Rosa and Wincollages, ceramics and
ton Eugene, Raymond Floyd,
sculptural pots, and sculpMac Arthur Goodwin, ThoGaffney Mayor Jolly and others admire works by Upstate African ture will be on view.
mas A. Tucker, and Winston American artists during the artists reception on February 1st.
There is no charge to
Wingo. With art works conattend
the exhibit. The
tributed to the cultural life were professionally
tributed from public and priGaffney
Visitors Center and
of the upstate and helped
trained, and are included in
vate collections, the exhibit
Art Gallery is located at
foster a climate for the
major art collections.
remembers three artists who
210 West Frederick Street
visual arts. Most are from
have passed away, Jimmy
The exhibit is presented in Gaffney. The gallery is
Cherokee
and
Spartanburg
“Jimi” Ervin, Leroy Marshall,
by the Cherokee Alliance
open Monday through Fricounties. Most have been
and Thomas Parham. The
of Visual Artists (CAVA),
day from 9:00 am – 5:00
teachers of art, are memexhibit continues through
the artist organization
pm and Saturday from 9:00
bers of the Artists’ Guild
February 28.
group that operates the
– 1:00.
of Spartanburg and are
gallery in the visitors’ cenThese ten artists have con- active in area art exhibits,
For more information,
ter. According to CAVA
call
the CAVA office at 864
president, Shelba Cook,
City of Gaffney Receives $1000 Grant the organization enjoys
-489-9119 or 864-4899817.
for Signage Project in Historic Districts
We are excited to announce that in November
2014, the City of Gaffney
received a grant from the
Hughes Investments Vibrancy Initiative to implement the Unforgettable
Gaffney project! The Unforgettable Gaffney project
is designed to create an
engaging system for communicating the esthetic
and historic value of properties in two historic districts, several of which are
listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The project will include
signage in historic districts, a
digital smart layer app, and a
printed walking guide. In
order to complete the project, The City of Gaffney
Marketing and Tourism Department has partnered with
several Limestone College
Departments, The Cherokee
County Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Business Association, and residents of the historic residential district. We trust the Unforgettable Gaffney project
will generate public interest
in the historic properties.
Smart Layer Technology Adds
Life to History Museum Displays
The Limestone College
Communications Department recently teamed with
the Cherokee County History and Arts Museum to
produce a Digital Smart
Layer, making history come
alive. The Smart layer consists of fifteen different QR
Codes (Quick Response
Codes) on various displays
throughout the museum.
Each code contains
unique information pertain-
ing to the corresponding
exhibit utilizing modern
technology, giving an extended experience to museum visitors. The Digital
Smart Layer interviews include exclusive information
from Gaffney Mayor Henry
Jolly, Dr. Preston Edwards,
Nancy Westbrooks, Vickie
Roark, Lawrence Bright,
Van “Turkey” Craig,
Keefer Humphries, and a
Continued on page 4
3
4
Contributed by Daryl Smith, Administrator, Cherokee County Campus
On Saturday, 24 January,
2015, Spartanburg Community
College’s Cherokee County
Campus hosted the Cherokee
County Qualifier for FIRST
LEGO League (FLL) Robotic
Competition at Gaffney High
School. We had 260 children in
the 5th through 8th grades participate at various levels. We
had great support from the Timken Foundation, Duke Energy,
and the Heritage Classic Foun-
dation, the parents, and many
volunteers from Spartanburg
Community College, Cherokee
County Schools, and all over the
Upstate of South Carolina; 68 in
all. Two of the volunteers were
from the Boy Scouts who served
as “Pit Bulls” in the Pit Area of
the competition where the robots
are worked on in between
events. Altogether, including the
competitors, we estimate 920
people attended.
tioned event by FIRST
(see www.usfirst.org ). Nine
teams will advance to the
S.C. FLL competition
scheduled for the 21st of
March at River Bluff High
School in Lexington. From
there teams can progress to
the national competition.
$16 million dollars in scholarships were awarded last
May to FIRST participants.
We expect a similar or higher
amount of scholarships to be
awarded in May 2015 to upper level competitors.
Dean Kamen, creator of
FIRST, said, “The nice thing
about this sport, is that everyone can go pro! There’s a job
waiting for every one of these
kids.”
This is a nationally sanc-
Allison Davidson Comes on Board with
Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce
Contributed by Cherokee County
Chamber of Commerce
In November, Allison E.
Davidson joined on as the
Cherokee County Chamber
of Commerce Member Services and Community Relations. She obtained her
Bachelor of Science in
Business Administration
from Gardner Webb University in 2000.
As a resident of Cherokee County for over 35
years, and someone who
has a family business, Mrs.
Davidson understands the
importance of investing
locally. She is primarily
responsible for maintaining
the Chamber’s day-to-day
operations such as managing financials, event registrations, networking and
logistics.
As well as providing
support to the Executive
Director, Board of Directors
and chamber members, she
is also here for the community. Mrs. Davidson is eager to serve the Chamber of
Commerce members as
well as the community
through fresh eyes and ears.
She represents the Chamber
of Commerce during
monthly meetings of the
Collaborative Council.
Mrs. Davidson was quoted
as saying “I am ready to provide resources, so that every
entity has the keystone to catapult their vision to not only
belong and connect but to succeed.”
Over 900 attended the Cherokee County Qualifier for FIRST
LEGO League robotics competition at Gaffney High School.
Smart Layer Technology
Continued from page 3
piano performance by Dr.
Gena Poovey.
To access the smart layer,
museum goers simply need
a QR code reader, available
for free download on any
smart phone device. Want a
sneak peek? Scan the QR
code below to see Dr. Gina
Poovey singing the “Battle
of Cowpens” fight song!
The Cherokee County History and Arts Museum is
located at 301 College
Drive, and is open from
10:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M.
Artwork by Nancy Elliott on View at
SCC Cherokee County Campus
“All About South” is an
exhibit of original works
by local artist, Nancy Elliot. The exhibit is on display through April 3 in the
lobby of the Harvey S.
Peeler, Jr. Academic
Building at the Spartanburg Community College,
Cherokee County Campus.
An artist reception will 11:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
be held on March 24 from Admission is free.
Governor’s Award ...Continued from page 1
This guide is designed to
help promote locally owned
businesses, and the national
state parks that help attract
tourists to the area. The production of this Travel Guide
is funded through the City’s
hospitality funds so there are
no ads in the guide to allow
it to be a true guide of highway.
For your free copy of the
award-winning Cherokee
Foothills National Scenic
Highway Travel Guide contact the Gaffney Visitors
Center and Art Gallery, 210
West Frederick Street, Gaffney, South Carolina, 864-487
-6244, or email ourtown@getintogaffney.com.
4
2 15 IRISH FEST
March 14
th
Historic Downtown Gaffney
Run for the Clovers 5K Run/Walk,
(register at strictlyrunning.com)
Car Show, Children’s art, Celtic Music,
Amazing Race for kids with Egg Drop Finale, & more!
Gaffney Visitors Center & Art Gallery
210 West Frederick St.
864-487-6244
www.getintogaffney.com
New and exciting changes are coming
to the Gaffney Station Farmers Market
this season. More information coming
soon!
Cherokee County Growers:
The 2015 farmers meeting will be held
Tuesday, March 24th, 3:00pm, at the
Gaffney Visitors Center & Art Gallery.
Gaffney Visitors Center & Art Gallery
210 West Frederik Street
864-487-6244
ourtown@getintogaffney.com
www.getintogaffney.com