Why Doesn’t Someone Do Something?

It was a sentiment that Boost The ‘Boro Board of Directors Vice President Jon Hasbrouck expressed at the opening of his speech to both Bladenboro business owners and a week later to Bladenboro church leaders. “Why doesn’t someone do something?”

Over the years, a lot of Bladenboro citizens have asked that question but more often than not, the concern fades to apathy until it comes up again.

Interestingly, everyone wants something to be done to revitalize our town but no one wants to get involved, that is, if you gauge interest based on attendance to two recent functions-one for business owners and one for church leaders. Of 110 invitations sent to businesses, 11 were represented. Of 37 invitations sent to Bladenboro Community churches, 4 were represented.

Since the public kickoff for Boost The ‘Boro in November 2006, attendance to monthly meetings has dropped off to a handful of loyal citizens. (Registrants on the mailing list from completed registration forms total about 125 interested citizens.)

Boost The ‘Boro is a grassroots initiative formed by Bladenboro citizens concerned about the future of our town. Bladenboro’s pulse is weakening each day. The vital signs aren’t so good-the town is slowly slipping under.

The once thriving downtown has dwindled to a handful of businesses and building owners don’t seem interested in maintaining the crumbling structures. There just doesn�t seem to be much life anymore. No one really seems to care either.

There are exceptions - Applause to Tom Lancaster who revitalized the Bladenboro Hardware Company. He’s willing to take a chance on Bladenboro. And Steve Simmons, owner of Diamond Dave’s is always plugging the potentiality of Bladenboro. He is by all means our unofficial citizen ambassador!

Attendance at a recent weekend retreat to explore action to help boost the town was disappointing. Citizens and professionals with knowledge and know-how are badly needed to brainstorm ways to get things moving in the right direction.

The political community is important to the success of the town and is viewed as a valuable resource to put power behind the effort. Local politicians are often a bridge between governmental support and community action.

What will you do? And what can you do? At this stage in our development, attending meetings and offering your moral support is sufficient. As you become acquainted with the organization, you might decide to join one or more of the committees, each charged with a purpose to help revitalize the town. It will take a lot of active involvement for the committees to get things going and energy to maintain the momentum will be a virtue.

We are surrounded by towns who appear to have passed the stage of recovery. There appears to be no hope - no turning back. That is our fear for Bladenboro.

Still, there are some indications of growth. Family Dollar Store is building near the bypass and there is activity in the Industrial Park. Good - but it falls short of revitalization.

The North Carolina Small Towns Economic Prosperity Demonstration (STEP) Program is bringing a comprehensive revitalization effort to 20 demonstration sites across the state. So, four Bladen County towns (Elizabethtown, Bladenboro, Clarkton and White Lake) are working with now NC STEP. The folks at NC STEP were encouraged by the simultaneous organization of Boost The ‘Boro, believing that a citizens group would be a positive benefit to work with the program.

During a meeting with Leslie Hossfeld, Ph.D., Department of Sociology, UNC-Wilmington, she was impressed by the initiative and felt that our program could become a prototype for other suffering towns to follow.

It all sounds good, but we aren’t really up and running yet. We need financial support and a small army of volunteers, of which some would need to take on a leadership role and “crack the whip” to get things moving forward at a quicker pace.

None of it is easy. And frankly, it won’t be an overnight remedy. Most of us have active lives, full-time careers, other activities through civic organizations or churches. But at the end of the day, we come home to Bladenboro where we find solace, raise our families, share and commune with friends and family.

And at the end of the day and in the greater scheme of things, our town has a weakening pulse - whether you want to believe it or not, Bladenboro really is slipping away.

“That’s your opinion,” you say? Well, it seems to be the opinion of an ever increasing population of citizens. We may not see the total picture but compared to the Bladenboro of forty years ago, we’ve gone backward-not forward.

Try this. The next time your children or grandchildren want to get involved in an extracurricular activity beyond school or church, notice where they have to go. It might be Lumberton, Elizabethtown or Fayetteville - but it won’t be Bladenboro.

Sign up for growth-join up with Boost The ‘Boro.