Eden named an All-America City

Eden has now joined the elite group of cities across the United States by being named an All-America City for 2011 by the National Civic League.

Mike Dougherty, economic development director for Eden, spearheaded the process of applying for and organizing the trip along with the help of 33 more people. He said they originally thought about completing the application back in 2006, but decided to wait for the right people.

“Once we saw that Reidsville did it successfully back in 2008, we thought let’s give it a shot,” he said. “They were really looking for communities that identified problems and worked collaboratively to solve them.”

Dougherty said before completing the application, an inventory was completed of helping organizations across Eden including the Lord’s Pantry, the Pregnancy Care Center, the Boys and Girls Club and many others. The final three chosen included the Dan River Basin Association (DRBA), Student Health Centers and the Rockingham County Education Foundation.

DRBA fit in with the needs of economic development and sustainability, Dougherty said, because they are about cleaning the rivers and making them sound for industries. He said the group even came up with the idea for having a festival to celebrate the rivers as well as helping initiate the Smith River Greenway.

“The second most pressing problem is the fact that we only have about 11 percent of our people with any kind of education beyond high school and the Education Foundation was started in 2008 to help,” Dougherty said. “There are some kids who don’t know how to fill out their FAFSA forms, or some who are from single parent homes and never thought their folks could afford college. These college advisors really work with these kids in all four high schools to find out about grants and scholarships.”

The Student Health Centers are also in all four high schools and physicians complete around 14,000 charts free of charge each year, according to Dougherty.

The initial application was sent in early March and after Eden was named a finalist in April, planning began on a 10-minute presentation that would eventually sway the National Civic League to choose Eden as one of 10 All-America Cities out of 23 from across the United States.

Eden Mayor John Grogan was among the 34 individuals who traveled to Kansas City this past weekend and said it was an experience of a lifetime.

“Everything was so positive … and it truly was a life-changing experience,” he said. “I’m hoping having this designation will increase people’s pride in Eden and let them know that we do have a lot going for us. When people go online and see that we are an All-America City, I think that will speak a great deal to anyone looking to locate here.”

Mayor Grogan also said Mayor Pro Tem Wayne Tuggle and Councilman Jim Burnette were in attendance and got a lot of great ideas about programs to implement in Eden.

Sylvia Grogan said the group was hard-pressed to narrow down what organizations they would choose.

“That was one of the most difficult things we had to do and we really changed our minds up until the last minute,” she said. “I really think we have a tendency to concentrate on all the negative things – all the problems we have – but this process was important … because we got to see what people are doing to help. You just got this positive feeling of seeing all the good things people are doing in our community to meet the challenges we have.”

Students were also a big part of the presentation by representing two student-oriented organizations. Annie Kate Smith, a rising junior at Morehead High School, said the Student Health Center has helped her immensely and she wanted to help represent the organization.

“I really like having the opportunity to represent the Student Health Centers and Eden because it will give us a chance to show the community that these people really do care enough about the young people to offer this free service,” she said. “The trip was extremely exciting and a completely new experience for me that was a lot of fun. It was a great honor to represent Eden and the health center.”

Eden’s theme was Eden, NC: Where Promise Flows, which Dougherty said references the city’s two rivers and the city’s future.

“This doesn’t mean we’re perfect; we understand that we still don’t have enough jobs and too many people are living in poverty, but you have to start somewhere,” he said. “There’s promise in our tourism industry, and then in the Mega Park site. And there’s promise in these kids that may have had no hope to get a decent job because they didn’t have any education, and now they can. There’s promise in people that are in horrible situations at home and they have somewhere to go and deal with it. It’s something to be proud of.”

Dougherty said the participants in the All-America City Award process will be recognized at Eden City Council’s monthly meeting in July.

To check out the presentation in Kansas City, visit www.ustream.tv/recorded/15424236. For additional information on the All-America City awards, visit www.allamericacityaward.com.

All-America Cities for 2011

Kenai, Alaska

Dublin, Calif.

Lakewood, Colo. 

Belleville, Ill.

South Bend, Ind.

Scott City, Kan.

Tupelo, Miss.

Fayetteville, N.C.

Eden, N.C.

Fort Worth, Texas