Focusing on our county

We’ve often been critical of the inability—mostly for lack of trying—of Rockingham County’s towns to better work together toward developing a more comprehensive strategy to promote the county’s attributes.
And we aren’t backing away from that criticism, as festivals and other events are promoted in a haphazard fashion with no clear vision or strategy.
But the Rockingham County Partnership is working to change this. The group, which has shown an obvious commitment to promoting tourism, should be commended for its efforts, which have resulted in numerous ads in state and regional publications.
The county is rich with history and inherent beauty, found in our sprawling foothills and scenic rivers, which are perfect for traversing via canoe or kayak. The new Mayo and Haw river state parks in the west will enhance our reputation for nature-based tourism, which hopefully will lead to new hotels and locally owned bed-and-breakfast inns, as well as more restaurants, coffee shops, etc.
The Knight-Brown Nature Preserve, a 148-acre wooded valley off Campsite Road in southwestern Rockingham County, officially opened Friday. Cecilia Brown of Santa Barbara, Calif., donated the property to the Piedmont Land Conservancy.
“There’s nearly 4,000 feet of stream in this valley that feeds into Belews Creek just before it flows into the Dan River,” the Conservancy’s Kevin Redding said. “An amazing mixture of plants grow along the banks and up the hillsides of this valley.”
Redding said the PLC plans to operate the property as a nature preserve, interacting with local schools, scouting groups and other organizations requiring large, forested properties to carry out educational activities.
Robin Yount is vice president for tourism for the Partnership.
“We’re fortunate in this county that so many people are interested in the growth of nature-based tourism, and we’re beginning to see the benefits of that growth,” Yount told us. “It really plays an important role in our local economy.”
The Partnership is talking about the prospects of a Piedmont Wine Trail and was instrumental in promoting our county in the recently published N.C. Piedmont Birding Trail Guide, which includes information about our rivers, Lake Reidsville and the Chinqua Penn plantation. We’re also excited about the prospects of a county museum in the old courthouse.
There is much to see and do in Rockingham County, but people need to know about it, and the Partnership, as well as our counties and towns, are trying to tell them.
A combined county strategy is best, but including county tourism information on news releases and other publicity materials would be a good start.
Times are tough, that’s no secret. The sooner we stop thinking of ourselves as six separate towns and begin thinking about the best interests of the entire county, the better off we’ll be.