A town with a past ...

City of Summerville

...a city with a future.

Preserving the past

 Celebrating the present

Planning the future

 Better Hometown Day Celebrated

             Civic leaders, local volunteers, and concerned citizens gathered last Wednesday to celebrate the fourth annual Better Hometown Day. The event was held to provide a forum for discussion of the community’s needs, to allow the addition of new volunteers, and to recognize the accomplishments of the Summerville Better Hometown Program.

            During the day’s events, the Summerville City Hall council meeting room was filled with photos and documents of Better Hometown activities and projects of the past eight years.  Opinions polls were taken of visitors to the event. Also, the history of the Better Hometown program was presented to the public. 

                                                Local Opinions

            Opinions polls were taken to assess the greatest needs and assets of Summerville.  Listed among the needs were restoration of the historic downtown area, creation of activities for young people, acquisition of viable businesses, better protection of public parks, and promotion of festivals.  Listed among the assets were Summerville’s small town atmosphere, friendliness of citizens, and the convenience of doing business locally.

Better Hometown Designation

            In January 2000, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs designated Summerville a “Better Hometown Community.” Cities earning this designation with populations over 5000 are designated Main Street Cities , such as Rome and Dalton, while smaller cities are designated Better Hometowns Communities, such as Summerville and Social Circle.  For the past two years, the local program has passed standards of ten criteria set by National Main Street and achieved that accreditation for the city of Summerville. Such designations are viewed positively by state and federal grant review boards when awarding money locally. The designation also provides Summerville with the support systems of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs as well as the University of Georgia School of Environmental Design and School of Business Development and Outreach.

 With Summerville’s designation came the requirement for city officials to support a local volunteer program which would work for the improvement of the downtown Summerville area. Based on the National Main Street Four Point Approach , the Summerville Better Hometown Program has four committees- Organization, Design, Promotion and Economic Restructuring. This four point approach has worked successfully for the economic growth and historic preservation of  hundreds of       cities around the  nation. 

            Since receiving the prestigious designation in 2000, the Summerville Better Hometown Program has worked on many community projects. Most visible is the development of Willow Spring Park for which the committee worked on grant applications for funds, supervised choice of landscape plants and materials, and labored  daily on the site with city and state workers for the installation and maintenance. Other projects have included selection and, with the help of Summerville’s city maintenance, placement of downtown street accessories such as planters, seasonal flowers, benches and banners.

 Tourism and Events

Promoting seasonal festivals and activities has been a part of the volunteer effort. The Summerville Better Hometown Program has supported the local tourism effort by promoting the annual Steam Into Summerville Railroad Days and developing festivals such as the “Steamin’ Hot Stew and Chili Cook-off”, the “Sequoyah Art and Craft Festival” and this year’s very popular “Pets in the Park.”  In 2004, the Better Hometown volunteers created a celebration of Chattooga County’s agrarian heritage with “Down Home Farm Day” and established it as a tradition to be held each year on the first Saturday in June. Already, committee volunteers are working on this year’s “Down Home Farm Day” which is set for June 7^th.

 Better Hometown has been a supporter of The Victorian Christmas Guild which provided artistic and historically correct Victorian Era Christmas decorations in downtown windows.

                        Training Young Volunteers

Area youth have aided the local Better Hometown efforts in recent years. Since 2000, Chattooga County 4-H members and leaders have assisted each season with planting downtown. The group has also built autumn displays at city welcome signs, parks, and depot.  Lessons on local history and tourism were discussed with the youth during such outings.  In addition, area youth have participated in local food pantry projects by assisting with collection of food at Dowdy Park on national “Make A Difference Day.” Utilizing funds raised in the annual stew and chili cook-off, Chattooga High School student council members selected foods and delivered  $400 worth of food items to the Chattooga County Food pantry in 2007.

                              Developing Downtown

Economic development of the historic downtown area is a requirement given to the Better Hometown Program by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. The local effort has offered to improve downtown storefronts with local free design plans and grants for improvements in keeping with historic preservation. Several visible improvements have been made in downtown buildings over the past eight years with the guidance of the Better Hometown Design Committee. In addition, the program has begun an effort to educated the public regarding the need for preservation of our “sense of place”, the surroundings which make Summerville unique and unlike any other place on earth.  Each year, the program has sponsored projects to instill civic pride, such as building autumn displays with local Chattooga County 4-H students.

Historic Preservation

Since its inception, the Summerville Better Hometown Program has promoted both education and historic preservation by supporting restoration of the railroad depot, by supporting the historic courthouse display, and by providing local information about the National Register of Historic Places. Currently, the committee is working toward recognition of downtown Summerville in the National Register, as it was previously determined eligible by the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.  National Register Fact Sheets have been available to the public for several months at downtown locations including Summerville City Hall and Jackson Drug Company.

Committee Leadership

            In February 2008, the Summerville Better Hometown Board of Directors made appointments for the year including the following: Manager, Nell Farrar; Chairman Organization Committee, Mike Dillard; Chairman Economic Restructuring Committee, Bill Moll; Chairman Design Committee, Fran Myers; and Chairman Promotion Committee, Andrea Hall Hayes.

For further information regarding the Better Hometown Program, contact any of the committee members listed above or contact Summerville City Hall at 706-859-0900 or www.summervillega.org

120 Georgia Avenue - P.O. Box 180 - Summerville, Georgia  30747

City Hall Phone: 706-859-0900

ctysvillega@alltel.net