In Clinton’s recent bid for the title of All-America City, the award wasn’t brought back to Sampson’s county seat, but the pride and excitement from the journey will forever remain in the hearts of all involved.
As one of 20 finalists, Clinton’s All-America City Committee and team headed to Denver, Colo., last week, taking part in three days of events where the greatness of Clinton was shared with others from as far away as California and as close as South Carolina. The team returned home Monday to a warm reception and smiles showing the pride in the community.
According to Jeff Shipp, committee chair, the team gave a stellar presentation Saturday to a jury of peers, with an abundance of questions about Clinton’s projects and initiatives following.
“I’m so proud of our team and the community we represent,” Shipp said about Saturday’s presentation. “We had a stellar performance on stage with great questions and answers from the jury. The judges and audience from all across the country enjoyed hearing our story and the good news about Clinton.”
Each morning, the team took time to meet and dedicate that day’s work to someone they felt has been instrumental in the successes in Clinton.
Friday’s work was dedicated to the late Maxine Harris, former Council member who pushed for the city’s recognition nearly a decade ago. Saturday morning the team recognized Dale Johnson, who was part of the All-America City presentation in 2007. Sunday’s work was dedicated in memory of Deacon James L. Newkirk, the namesake for the Newkirk Park.
The Clinton team’s journey wasn’t just about spreading the greatness happening in Clinton, but Shipp said it is about the forever relationships that have been formed from the many hours of working together on the presentation and projects.
“We, as a team, have forged new friendships with one another and many cities across the country,” he added. “We’re bringing back new ideas from other communities to continue making positive advances for our city.”
City Councilman Darue Bryant said he was proud of the team’s performance and the representation shown while in Denver.
“I am very proud of the outstanding efforts and performance of our team who represented our community with pride and excellence,” Bryant said. “It’s an awesome achievement to know that we have competed and ranked in the top 20 cities of our nation because of the innovations and implementations of strategies that makes our corner of the world home. We are still coming home as winners and have left an everlasting impression upon competing teams from across the nation.”
Committee member Amanda Bradshaw said she enjoyed spending time sharing the story of Clinton with others from around the country.
“We participated in the All-America City Civic Action Fair and shared all sorts of goodies from southeastern North Carolina, including Mt. Olive pickles, fried pork skins and Houston peanuts,” Bradshaw said.
Despite Clinton not being chosen as one of the 10 designated All-America Cities, Shipp and the rest of the committee say they are proud to call Clinton home.
“This is a highly competitive, national event with cities both small and large,” Shipp explained. “Even though we are not bringing home the title, our team and city can take pride in our All-America City finalist position.”
