Voting could not be easier. Once you are logged into Facebook, simply go to this link: http://woobox.com/5omwgq, and cast your vote for the "Middlesborough Better Block" project.
If we are among the four communities to win this will help us with carrying out a Better Block project on October 25-27 this year, that will result in the transformation of a block downtown by over 100 volunteers in 48 hours for $1,000 or less. The facilitator for the weekend will be Mike Lydon with Street Plans Collaborative and co-author of the Tactical Urbanism Manual. Already we have Lincoln Memorial University, the University of Kentucky, and a number of other partners signed up to participate in the event.
DDM Executive Director Isaac Kremer said about the voting and the event, "We've gotten an unprecedented level of support so far, and we're excited about the potential of the CommunityMatters competition and the Better Block event to aid in our ongoing efforts to revitalize the downtown."
Support has come from places far and wide. Just yesterday U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers retweeted a link to the voting to his several thousand followers. He then offered this note of encouragement: "Congrats! Keep up the good work!"
- @RepHalRogers Just pushed Middlesborough over 200 in voting for Better Block. Keep voting every day through Sunday! http://woobox.com/5omwgq
- @DDMBoro Congrats! Keep up the good work!
Downtown Middlesboro 
Hal Rogers Votes have come in from as far away as Cincinnati and Athens, Ohio; California; and beyond. A review of visitors to our DDM website show people in 26 states and six other countries from Great Britain, to Japan, to India and Mexico taking an active interest in the work of DDM and this project.
The critical missing piece is you. Please vote once a day for the next three days to help ensure we win this contest: http://woobox.com/5omwgq. Then, if you can, join us the evening of October 10 for a planning meeting for the Better Block event, and then from October 25-27 to help bring about rapid improvement to our downtown. More details to follow.
For those who want to participate in this event or have any questions, please contact Discover Downtown Middlesboro at (606) 248-6155 or via our website at www.downtownmiddlesboro.org. We are also on Facebook and Twitter at "DDMBoro."
CommunityMatters® equips cities and towns to strengthen their places and inspire change. As an alliance of leaders in the community building field, CommunityMatters champions the notion that people have the power to solve their community’s problems and shape its future. We facilitate connections, provide education and infuse inspiration at the local level.
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Detailed Voting Instructions
1. After logging in to Facebook, search for "CommunityMatters." The go to the page as it appears below.
2. Select the "Contest" link on the CommunityMatters Facebook page.
3. Then find the Middlesboro entry on that page. It has a map of the downtown in the center with white blocks representing buildings. Click on that.
4. In the upper left hand corner of the box that pops up, vote for the project. You can vote once a day every day between September 9 and 16.
Other Participants in the Successful Communities Contest
Bozeman, Montana
Montana's Gallatin Valley is a special place. But what makes it special to the people who live here? What do they think are its greatest assets? We will hold a photo show for people to picture their place and show us what they love about the valley. In this way can residents of this "Last Best Place" identify what makes it so valuable to them, which helps build a successful community.
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Our plan is to invite 100 residents to sign-up for the Allentown Police Department's Chec-Mate program. We envision safer, cleaner blocks for our neighborhood. The City of Allentown, PA has a number of “quality of life” policing issues that detracts from our community's image, and neighbor involvement can initiate change.
Biddeford, Maine
Inspired by the success of our City's Orton Family Foundation Heart & Soul "Downtown Master Plan," Biddeford's mayor convened 20 community leaders over the last 6 months to draft a Biddeford Vision 2020 that encompasses the entire city. This group created (or pulled together from existing documents) vision statements related to work force, children & families, education, downtown & the mills, arts & culture, tourism, the natural environment, infrastructure, and research & development. Now, to garner feedback and ideas from the whole community, we will create a video depiction of the Vision 2020 Draft, and use it to spring discussion online and in community forums!
Conrad, Montana
We will create a green space with grass, trees, and benches on Main Street to promote a more welcoming and relaxing ambiance for the town.
District Heights, Maryland In honor of World Peace Day and the kickoff of the City’s 1st Annual Oktoberfest 2013, the City of District Heights in collaboration with the District Heights Community Garden Program, will host a “Guardrail and Street Art Painting Project” located at the City’s first Community Garden site called Fiesta Place. This event will be the 1st and largest community-wide event that will bring together residents of all ages, schools, churches and other local organizations through the ARTS --- where 3 guardrails and the street located around the garden, “Fiesta Place,” will be painted.
Elbow Lake, Minnesota
1) "Look" - Community members take pictures to "Inventory" the good (assets) and the bad (detractors) of our community. 2) "Visualize"- Post pictures on "A Look at Elbow Lake' social media websites. 3) "Host"- a second listening party: an intergenerational gathering, with a meal & activities, to talk about what we have and to create a vision for our future.
Fergus Falls, Minnesota
This is our preliminary design for a custom bike rack for the City of Fergus Falls. We would install the bike at or near the end of the Central Lakes Trail, which has Fergus Falls as the northern endpoint. We want to encourage Central Lake Trail bicyclists to spend more time (and money) in the City of Fergus Falls!
Hershey, Pennsylvania
Through Derry Township's endeavor of updating our Comprehensive Plan, the downtown area of Hershey, PA has been identified as one of the Township's strongest assets. This listening group exercise led to a discussion on some of the potential "quick-fix" solutions for issues that our community is currently facing. The top solution was trying to improve on bicycle parking in the downtown, utilizing this reward to provide a $100 incentive to five local businesses so that they are able to provide a bike rack to serve that portion of their customer base.
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
We wrote our ideas on a grocery bag to show our commitment to building a strong local sustainable economy in our own backyard, in the market we were listening in. Our idea is to foster leadership in our community, where we can use what we already have, collaborate to do the easy things that can make our community better, and education those around us on community building. In the 1 to 2 year horizon, we're going to support a bike culture in our city by creating "parklets" in street parking spaces. We are also going to start a local currency within 6 months, based at SSBN member Roaring Brook Market.
Medfield, Massachusetts
Our listening party was inspired by the concepts of engaging citizens to tell the Town what they want for the improvements of a downtown pocket park. “Visions and Voices” will be a community art project to focus attention on this underutilized asset in the heart of downtown between Zebra’s Bistro and Starbucks. Partnering organizations will work to ensure that the enhancements made will be practical and useful for many to enjoy – adding to the aesthetic and vitality of our lovely downtown.
Middlesboro, Kentucky
On October 26 and 27, 2013 over 100 volunteers will carry out temporary interventions costing less than $1,000 to plant the seeds for long-term change. Our facilitator will be Mike Lydon from Street Plans Collaborative (www.streetplans.org) and author of the Tactical Urbanism Manual. Also participating will be a broad cross-section of area business owners, civic leaders, and residents, along with faculty and students from Lincoln Memorial University and the University of Kentucky.
Mountain View, Arkansas
Building on the heritage of our community by sponsoring an old-time music festival to foster the sound that is being supplanted by contemporary musical styles. Educating residents and visitors about what old-time music is and its relation to the styles such as country-western and bluegrass that grew out of it.
New Concord, Ohio
New Concord, Ohio is John Glenn's home town and scene of his triumphant return from space, two times. We would like to restore our small-town integrity by engaging the university students, who are renting houses in the town proper, to take pride in our community and thus help restore its original tranquility and beauty. We plan to recognize a student rental, monthly, with a yard plaque--"Student House of the Month,"--reward them with a meaningful gift, and publicize their efforts in the local and university newspapers.
Seguin, Texas
Per info gleaned from Ed McMahon’s Seven Distinct Secrets, Seguin will begin to Inventory Community Assets and build on them by getting local citizens and visitors to tell their story about what brought them here, what they like, and what really matters. These interviews will be taped during the festival Pecan Fest Heritage Days and converted to Youtube videos as part of a Positive Image Campaign being undertaken by the Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce. The $500 award will pay to video and edit the interviews.
Silverton, Oregon
The Upstream Arts Collective is dedicated to fostering “rural culture for the common good.” Our proposed project, the FRED Conference, will feature TED-style talks and curated conversations on the art of neighboring. (The conference is named FRED as a hat-tip to Mister Rogers.) Featured speakers will include local community collaborators and neighborhood practitioners. The atmosphere will be fun and collaborative and will lead, we believe, to ongoing conversations about real and lasting community change. FRED will be free to the community and videos will be available online. This poster was prototyped using pencil, crayons, and markers.
Wilburton, Oklahoma
In a small town, we believe starting with a project that everyone can see - like fixing up an old gas station will be a successful endeavor to "get the ball rolling" for a grass roots effort to attract more volunteers and get people interested in bettering the community! We will then get input from those volunteers and tap them for leadership for our next projects that are group identified.
2. Select the "Contest" link on the CommunityMatters Facebook page.
3. Then find the Middlesboro entry on that page. It has a map of the downtown in the center with white blocks representing buildings. Click on that.
4. In the upper left hand corner of the box that pops up, vote for the project. You can vote once a day every day between September 9 and 16.
Other Participants in the Successful Communities Contest
Bozeman, Montana
Montana's Gallatin Valley is a special place. But what makes it special to the people who live here? What do they think are its greatest assets? We will hold a photo show for people to picture their place and show us what they love about the valley. In this way can residents of this "Last Best Place" identify what makes it so valuable to them, which helps build a successful community.
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Our plan is to invite 100 residents to sign-up for the Allentown Police Department's Chec-Mate program. We envision safer, cleaner blocks for our neighborhood. The City of Allentown, PA has a number of “quality of life” policing issues that detracts from our community's image, and neighbor involvement can initiate change.
Biddeford, Maine
Inspired by the success of our City's Orton Family Foundation Heart & Soul "Downtown Master Plan," Biddeford's mayor convened 20 community leaders over the last 6 months to draft a Biddeford Vision 2020 that encompasses the entire city. This group created (or pulled together from existing documents) vision statements related to work force, children & families, education, downtown & the mills, arts & culture, tourism, the natural environment, infrastructure, and research & development. Now, to garner feedback and ideas from the whole community, we will create a video depiction of the Vision 2020 Draft, and use it to spring discussion online and in community forums!
Conrad, Montana
We will create a green space with grass, trees, and benches on Main Street to promote a more welcoming and relaxing ambiance for the town.
District Heights, Maryland In honor of World Peace Day and the kickoff of the City’s 1st Annual Oktoberfest 2013, the City of District Heights in collaboration with the District Heights Community Garden Program, will host a “Guardrail and Street Art Painting Project” located at the City’s first Community Garden site called Fiesta Place. This event will be the 1st and largest community-wide event that will bring together residents of all ages, schools, churches and other local organizations through the ARTS --- where 3 guardrails and the street located around the garden, “Fiesta Place,” will be painted.
Elbow Lake, Minnesota
1) "Look" - Community members take pictures to "Inventory" the good (assets) and the bad (detractors) of our community. 2) "Visualize"- Post pictures on "A Look at Elbow Lake' social media websites. 3) "Host"- a second listening party: an intergenerational gathering, with a meal & activities, to talk about what we have and to create a vision for our future.
Fergus Falls, Minnesota
This is our preliminary design for a custom bike rack for the City of Fergus Falls. We would install the bike at or near the end of the Central Lakes Trail, which has Fergus Falls as the northern endpoint. We want to encourage Central Lake Trail bicyclists to spend more time (and money) in the City of Fergus Falls!
Hershey, Pennsylvania
Through Derry Township's endeavor of updating our Comprehensive Plan, the downtown area of Hershey, PA has been identified as one of the Township's strongest assets. This listening group exercise led to a discussion on some of the potential "quick-fix" solutions for issues that our community is currently facing. The top solution was trying to improve on bicycle parking in the downtown, utilizing this reward to provide a $100 incentive to five local businesses so that they are able to provide a bike rack to serve that portion of their customer base.
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
We wrote our ideas on a grocery bag to show our commitment to building a strong local sustainable economy in our own backyard, in the market we were listening in. Our idea is to foster leadership in our community, where we can use what we already have, collaborate to do the easy things that can make our community better, and education those around us on community building. In the 1 to 2 year horizon, we're going to support a bike culture in our city by creating "parklets" in street parking spaces. We are also going to start a local currency within 6 months, based at SSBN member Roaring Brook Market.
Medfield, Massachusetts
Our listening party was inspired by the concepts of engaging citizens to tell the Town what they want for the improvements of a downtown pocket park. “Visions and Voices” will be a community art project to focus attention on this underutilized asset in the heart of downtown between Zebra’s Bistro and Starbucks. Partnering organizations will work to ensure that the enhancements made will be practical and useful for many to enjoy – adding to the aesthetic and vitality of our lovely downtown.
Middlesboro, Kentucky
On October 26 and 27, 2013 over 100 volunteers will carry out temporary interventions costing less than $1,000 to plant the seeds for long-term change. Our facilitator will be Mike Lydon from Street Plans Collaborative (www.streetplans.org) and author of the Tactical Urbanism Manual. Also participating will be a broad cross-section of area business owners, civic leaders, and residents, along with faculty and students from Lincoln Memorial University and the University of Kentucky.
Mountain View, Arkansas
Building on the heritage of our community by sponsoring an old-time music festival to foster the sound that is being supplanted by contemporary musical styles. Educating residents and visitors about what old-time music is and its relation to the styles such as country-western and bluegrass that grew out of it.
New Concord, Ohio
New Concord, Ohio is John Glenn's home town and scene of his triumphant return from space, two times. We would like to restore our small-town integrity by engaging the university students, who are renting houses in the town proper, to take pride in our community and thus help restore its original tranquility and beauty. We plan to recognize a student rental, monthly, with a yard plaque--"Student House of the Month,"--reward them with a meaningful gift, and publicize their efforts in the local and university newspapers.
Seguin, Texas
Per info gleaned from Ed McMahon’s Seven Distinct Secrets, Seguin will begin to Inventory Community Assets and build on them by getting local citizens and visitors to tell their story about what brought them here, what they like, and what really matters. These interviews will be taped during the festival Pecan Fest Heritage Days and converted to Youtube videos as part of a Positive Image Campaign being undertaken by the Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce. The $500 award will pay to video and edit the interviews.
Silverton, Oregon
The Upstream Arts Collective is dedicated to fostering “rural culture for the common good.” Our proposed project, the FRED Conference, will feature TED-style talks and curated conversations on the art of neighboring. (The conference is named FRED as a hat-tip to Mister Rogers.) Featured speakers will include local community collaborators and neighborhood practitioners. The atmosphere will be fun and collaborative and will lead, we believe, to ongoing conversations about real and lasting community change. FRED will be free to the community and videos will be available online. This poster was prototyped using pencil, crayons, and markers.
Wilburton, Oklahoma
In a small town, we believe starting with a project that everyone can see - like fixing up an old gas station will be a successful endeavor to "get the ball rolling" for a grass roots effort to attract more volunteers and get people interested in bettering the community! We will then get input from those volunteers and tap them for leadership for our next projects that are group identified.
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