Director's Desk - Downtown Blackstone Inc.

JUNE 2012
In this Issue:
Director’s Desk
June 30th Cruise-in
Hometown Jams kickoff
Announcement
Coming Soon
Tips from Eventacular
Concert Sponsors
Board of
Directors:
Joe Allman, Chairman
UAV Pro
Shirley Wilkins, Secretary,
Moncure Insurance Agency
Joe Borgerding, Treasurer
Citizens Bank & Trust
Barbara Thompson,
Council President, Town
of Blackstone
Richard Keller, Councilman
Town of Blackstone
Beth Winn, Economic
Restructuring Chair
Blackstone Emporium
Debbie Yancey, DBi Design
Committee Chair
Barbara Gibbs,
Barbara Y. Gibbs &
Associates
Carolyn Davis, DBi
Economic Restructuring
Committee, Access Realty
Charles Nunnelly II, DBi
Economic Restructuring
Committee
Philip Vannoorbeeck,
Town Manager
Jane Barnes, Ex-Officio,
Chamber of Commerce
JULY
SIZZLES
ON THE
SQUARE!
Hometown Jams
Resumes on
Thursday July 26th
Hometown Jams 2012
4th of July
Cruise-in
Nottoway
County
Heritage
Days
Curb
Painting
Christmas
in July

Director’s Desk
On the first day of summer the mercury peaked
at over the 100 degree mark! After a fairly mild
May, it looks like the dog days of summer have
officially arrived! Luckily for the graduating
Warrant Officers’ class, the temperature
moderated nicely allowing for a much more
comfortable day for them to carry out their
community service project on June 24th. Last
year’s graduating class painted tree grates. This
year, there were only three graduates so they
were not able to re-paint the curbing throughout
town but they concentrated their efforts on the south end of Main Street
where the curb painting and non parking zones were in worst need of
freshening up.
The starting point was
the curbing in front of
Pizza Hut. Lunch was at
Farmers Café where
they were allowed to
eat for 50% off their
normal menu prices!
DBi picked up that tab
so thank you Farmers
Café! The group moved
north from there and
got as far as Main and
Elm by days end. The
men doing the work
were Warrant Officer Candidates graduating class of 2012: Dave Sawyer,
Jason Bedisky, Gregory Carson, and Alfred White. CW3 Brian Temple,
Senior TAC was the supervisor along with section Primary TAC CW2 Wayne
Sexton, and CW2 Robert Thompson WOC staff officer. SSG Andrew Hurnall
was the medic and Ronnie Mason was their photographer.

JUNE 2012
June 30th Cruise=in
DBi has promoted local restaurants, the museums, and downtown retailers at
the Cruise-ins for the last 4 years but this year, Walter Mac Osborne got
jazzed about the idea of a “Shine and Dine” promotion and his involvement
and ideas has helped pump up the volume on the concept of offering specials.
If you have a retail store or a restaurant downtown, you should seriously
consider participating in this monthly promotion aimed at attracting some of
the crowds into your place of business. Weather affects attendance at the
Cruise-ins and severe heat cut the number of participants drastically this time
down from 120 to only 12 cars total!
Despite the heat there were a few
classic cars on hand for anyone who
braved the heat to see them.
Here is a 52 Ford and 55 Chevy.
The Ford is a red convertible
1952 Crestline in mint condition owned by County Administrator Ronnie
Roark. This car is immaculately restored to factory original condition. The 55
Chevy is packing a 454 and a 5 speed overdrive transmission
July 28th starting at 4:30 PM

JUNE 2012
Hometown Jams Season Opener June 28th
The band “Another Level” kicked off the 2012 Hometown Jams season
opener and literally rocked the house! Those in attendance were
thrilled with the band’s energetic performance. New this year was the
selling of DBi’s first commemorative ornament which is fashioned after
the Bevell’s annual “Running of the Trains”. These make excellent gifts
and if you haven’t picked one up yet, it’s not too late to do so. Just call
the DBi office at (434) 292-3041.
Jim and Christine Hasbrouck, owners of
Grey Swan Inn Bed & Breakfast,
manned the “Christmas in July” table
and sold 11 ornaments at the concert.
The “Running of the Trains” at Bevells
Hardware is depicted by the collectible
ornament. They sell for $20 each and
they make excellent gifts. You can get
yours by calling (434) 292-3041.
Several corporate sponsors joined us for
the evening including Terri and Jay Lee of
Lee’s Excavating & Grading Inc. They were
the company that transformed the hole
into the gorgeous Town Square that we
have today and they did it on time and
under budget which is quite remarkable!

JUNE 2012
Faces from Hometown Jams June 28th

JUNE 2012
TOP SHOTS
Favorite Shots from the June 28th Hometown Jams
Shane Fountain, the lead
singer for “Another
Level” made the concert
a real participation sport
by getting the crowd
involved. She was joined
on the stage by “not so
shy” concert goers Trey
Barksdale, Ally Vermillion
and Sarinnah Uhrich.
Their idea looked like fun
so it caught on and soon
they were joined by the
exuberant group below!

JUNE 2012
Announcing:
New DBi Promotion Committee Chair
Downtown Blackstone, Inc. is pleased to
announce that Michell Savee will serve as
committee Chair for the DBi Promotion
Committee. The Promotion Committee has
the job of promoting downtown as the
center of commerce, culture and community
life for residents and visitors alike.
Michell moved to the area in 2001 and
started at Benchmark Community Bank in
2006 as a Customer Service Rep/ Teller and
was promoted to Main CSR in 2010. By
November Michell was on the fast track and
promoted to Branch Assistant then to
Management Trainee/Relationship Banker in
January 2012. “I will be promoted to Relationship Banker sometime within
the next 6 months, says Michell. I earned my General Banking Diploma
from the Center for Financial Training in 2010 and I am currently finishing
up my Consumer Lending Diploma. I’ve won several awards here at BCB as
well, including 2 Best Customer Service Awards in 2010 and 2011 (as calculated
by customers online). In 2010, I earned the most In-Branch referrals
resulting In business and Best Mystery Shop (which was determined
by an external company calling to shop the bank).”
Great volunteers like Michell are the driving force behind the success of
Downtown Revitalization! Her organizational skills combined with her
positive attitude and desire to get things done make Michell a valuable
team member and a great help to the Promotion Committee which she
has served on for over a year now. We congratulate Michell for accepting
this position. She will be filling some big shoes for Kim Moody who is
stepping down due to the increasing demands of running two thriving
businesses, “Kim Moody Designs” and the retail store “trend”.

Coming to BCRC on
July 20th & 21st, the
Civil War 150 History-
Mobile! This is a must
see traveling display,
a museum on wheels.
Nottoway County
Heritage Days is a
celebration of 100
years of history in the
Towns of Nottoway
and Fort Pickett!
Each community will feature historical exhibits and displays all listed in a
map like the one depicted above available at the Chamber of Commerce
and DBi office.
Appearing at:
Blackstone
Conference &
Retreat
Center
Also known
as VUMAC
HISTORYMOBILE
A MUST SEE
Brought to
you by
In partnership
with:

JUNE 2012
COMING SOON!
HOMETOWN JAMS 2012 RESUMES THURSDAY, JULY 26th
The 2012 Hometown Jams summer concert series lineup is all set! On
June 28th, from 6pm to 9pm, Another Level will perform. The Jangling
Reinharts will cover the July 28th gig.
Let the good times roll! Sponsorship
opportunities are still available. Call
DBi at 292-3041 today!.
CHRISTMAS IN JULY
DBi will offer its first in a series of collectible ornaments on sale at the
June 28th Hometown Jams concert! Each ornament will highlight an
event or place of historical significance in Blackstone! This first one will be
based on the ever popular “Running of the Trains” at Bevell’s Hardware!
Who will be first to add this impressive ornament to their collection? See
photo (shown actual size) of the ornament on the back cover.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
The Book End is in need of additional volunteers to operate the store. If
you enjoy books and meeting other avid readers please consider donating
some of your time. Please contact Friend’s of the Blackstone Library,
Betty Branum at (434) 292-7580.

JUNE 2012
Business Tips from Team Eventacular 2012 PART 3
How to create your own QR Codes
At the Team Eventacular seminar, Marc Willson explained how
QR codes can be embedded with urls, text, phone #’s or SMS.
This information can be read by cell phones that have
downloaded code reader software. This is an excellent way to
send potential customers to your business website! QR code
readers include Scanlife for droid and Red Laser for apple.
QR codes are easy to create and the readers are easy to
download. Google QR codes or go to
qrcode.kaywa.com. On the landing page you will come
to a blank square with a field that you put your url into.
In no time flat this will generate a QR code for you such
as the one here which will take you to the DBi website.
Create yours today!
80% of your volume comes from 20% of your inventory! Customers now
know more about the products than the sales person does because they
have done their research on the internet already. Small businesses are PT
boats, you can turn with your customers. You don’t have large bureaucracies
to navigate to make changes like ocean liners or big corporations.
Profit is an opinion, cash is fact. It’s all about cash flow. You have to forecast
which months are the key to your year and make hay during those times.
This QR Code will take
you to the DBi webpage
recently created that
provides information on
the new collectible
Grand Running of the
Trains Ornament.

JUNE 2012
Thank you to our 2012 Hometown Jam Sponsors
GOLD SPONSORS
SILVER SPONSORS
LEE’S EXCAVATING & GRADING, INC.
CLASSIC GRILL
BURKEVILLE BODY SHOP
B&B CONSULTANTS, INC.
BRONZE SPONSORS
GILMORE ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTING, ACCESS REALTY,
MONCURE INSURANCE AGENCY, BLACKSTONE ROTARY CLUB,
GREY SWAN INN BED & BREAKFAST, WRIGHT AUTO SUPPLY,
S.B. COX READY MIX, BLACKSTONE EMPORIUM, UAV PRO INC.

JUNE 2012
Introducing the first in a series of limited edition Collectible Ornaments
Introducing
Christmas in July
The 2012 limited edition
“Running of The Trains”
Collectible Ornament