Kevin Berger

Updated from Original Post 12-8-16: Culver has decided to commit to going after Stellar Community status in 2017. This is a follow-up to the 2016 attempt. While we were unsuccessful last year, the reviewers said we did nothing wrong – we were just out done by the competition which had huge support from their County, Community Foundation and private funding. In order to beef up our presentation this year and “dream bigger” as recommended by the reviewers, the Culver Stellar Committee is looking for some things to add to our list. Here are a few ideas that I think should be considered.

1. 

   Town-wide Wi-Fi – I think it would be great if we could be a connected community. I think we could probably accomplish this with a transmitter on the First Farmers Bank & Trust Building for the Downtown and the Lake House Grille tower for the Midtown area. Possibly something at Park ‘n Shop would cover the Uptown area. Another option would be to possibly add it to the new street light system (though this might be too late). I know some communities work out something with a local provider to give an hour of free service a day with a hourly fee for additional service there after. That’s if the Town determines the cost to be prohibitive. (Plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery. Plymouth has this…)

2. Colored LED Street Lights – One of the benefits of LED lights is the ease of changing colors. Would it be possible to change our street light bulbs and drivers so that we could have seasonal colors? Could they be red and green at Christmas? ? Blue during Winterfest? Red for Valentines Day. Green for St. Patrick’s Day. We’d have to explore what could be done without reducing safety, i.e. I don’t think we want them flashing, but I think there could be some cool options that could set us apart.  Could we add some of the pin-point spray effects that would shine up on the tree canopy as you drive between Midtown and Downtown in the summer?

3. 

   Sidewalk History – I think it would be interesting to replace sidewalk sections with historical notes about the town. They could be random historical facts or where appropriate, facts relating to the location. Examples of random items could be a line from a Cole Porter song, a George Steinbrenner quote or a line from one of the movies filmed in Culver. Specifics could be something about the Great Bank Robbery in front of the FFBT downtown from when it was the State Exchange Bank, the caricature of Mr. T with the Pill in front of Diva or something about the Corner Tavern, Snyder’s Hardware, Verl’s Barber Shop or any of the dozens of historical structures that Jeff Kenney used to mention in his walks down Main Street… I would suggest that the Town fund review and if they approve an application, fund that panel completely. (Okay, I stole this idea from a recent visit to Key West, but per the image, St. Paul is doing it too…) Image at the top of the page is from Deep South Magazine.

4. Affirmation Board – Plymouth has a chalkboard on a building wall downtown where people put things about why they like Plymouth. I’m sure it’s been abused, but I’ve never seen it. I think it’s another neat idea we could “borrow” I think this would be something that could be put outside the Visitors Center. I think this could be used with an expanding theme. Maybe Stellar could be the theme one month, the park another, the lake another and so on…
5. Town Logo – MCEDC has asked a couple of times for a logo to use for Culver when they’ve done their annual report. Most of the other Marshall County towns have something. They’ve used the “seal”, the sign at 10 & 17 and the Stellar “Culver to the Max” graphic last year. Having something that could be used universally would be good not just for Stellar, but for all Town correspondence, grant submittals, presentations, etc. This could be done as a contest like the banners, but I would lean towards a professional design. I know the age of faxes and black & white printing are going away, but I also like to see designs that translate into well into those formats for those occasions when you have to use alternate transmission/duplication means.
6. Plymouth Bypass – In the category of regionalism and dreaming bigger, this is resurrecting another Chamber of Commerce idea from the past. This was discussed in depth for either a rerouting of State Road 17 straight up to Highway 30 at West High or more likely, an improved county road at this location. We discussed widening and straightening the existing county road (Sycamore Road) and providing a aerial railroad crossing using the natural ravine crossing at this route. At the time, this had garnered support from Swan Lake Resort and Ancilla College, but was deemed too expensive. When the Pine Road bypass went in, all talks of this idea completely died. With the growth of both Swan Lake and Ancilla, this might get more traction. With the new President’s administration’s talk of infrastructure projects, having something in the design phase might just get funded.

There are some other ideas that have already been added to the list by others. These include a history mural on the theater (a revival of a Second Century project from years ago), a renovation of the theater into a mixed use venue to possibly include performing arts, and expansion of both the Beach Lodge renovation project and the Cavalier Park projects. Most of my ideas are smaller ancillary projects, but go along with the general comments that we needed to tie everything together. Most of these would affect all of the individual bigger projects.

If you have any ideas to add, feel free to do so here and I’ll be happy to carry them to the committee if you don’t have time to participate personally.