Part of a continuing series that appears every other week in the Sun Journal: June 30, 2013
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| Visitor check out antiques at a car show in 1980. |
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| Crowds stroll downtown during the 1982 Spring Arts Festival. |
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| The Coastal Christmas Flotilla in 1985 illustrated the downtown's continuing revival. |
In March 1981, Kay Williams, Swiss Bear’s first Executive Director was hired and Swiss Bear’s first official office (417A Tryon Palace Drive in a commercial space donated for six months by Earl Finch) opened in a space shared with the Arts Council. Office furniture/equipment was donated by local banks, businesses and citizens.
With a new director and assistant in place, and the adoption in April of the Main Street Program’s Four Point Approach (promotions, design, organization and economic re-structuring), Swiss Bear was off and running at full swing. Committees were appointed to develop a program of work for each element to begin implementing the Main Street objectives.
The Promotion Committee’s charge (Chairman Martha Smith, Charles Blythe, Gordon Parrott and Ted Hanes) was to expand Swiss Bear’s role in developing quality joint marketing promotions, special events and advertising packages in conjunction with the Chamber, Tryon Palace and the Downtown Merchant Association. The goal was to provide entertainment with enough community-wide impact and excitement to draw crowds to the downtown area that would encourage people to spend more time downtown, increase the pedestrian traffic and enhance retail revenues.
Taking the Main Street Resource Team’s recommendations to heart, numerous new events and promotions were developed and existing ones expanded to attract larger numbers.
Swiss Bear held Couture D’ Antan, a fashion show, in March. In April, the 2nd Annual Swiss Bear Princess Contest brought a capacity crowd of about 500 people to the Saax Bradbury Theatre. Two Swiss Bear costumes were purchased; one given to the high school and one for appearances at promotional events.
Swiss Bear accepted the Arts Council’s request to help generate a large turnout at their May Spring Arts Festival by launching balloons the Saturday before filled with coupons from downtown shops that could be redeemed on the day of the festival.
A Fourth of July Celebration, jointly coordinated by County and City Recreation Departments, Swiss Bear, Agriculture Extension Service, Jaycees, Ladies of the Craven Civitan Club and Merchants Association began with Mayor Leander Morgan proclaiming it was New Bern’s 204th Independence Day Celebration. The day included a parade, numerous activities in downtown and Bicentennial Park (urban renewal land) including helicopter and pony rides and concluded with a USMC 2d Aircraft Wing Band followed by a fireworks display attended by 10,000 spectators.
A Swiss Bear Antique Car Show in August, held in various downtown parking lots, was funded by various concessions and the raffle of a mini Model T Ford.
The Swiss Bear Festival included Tryon Palace’s Chrysanthemum Sunday as a part of the week-end festivities and the Rescue Squad held a barbeque pig cooking contest.
Kay worked with the Masonic Order, Footlight/Lollipop Theatres and Pro Musica negotiating the opening of the ca. 1808 Masonic Theatre (closed to the public since the early 1970’s) to be available to group’s for family entertainment.
For the first time, many merchants joined together to do a joint advertising Christmas campaign (radio, TV and ads) promoting downtown as a shopping center. They sponsored a Christmas parade and for the three weeks prior to Christmas, hired a Santa for the Santa House. Downtown street lights were decorated with lighted lanterns and red ribbon bows. Stores stayed open with lighted candle lanterns in front of their shops offering candlelight shopping. The Harvey Mansion Restaurant (recently rehabbed) held a special evening of 19th Century English entertainment and food in the spirit of a Dickens Christmas the evenings of Tryon Palace’s candlelight tours.
All the joint marketing efforts paid off. The Sun Journal published its second downtown tabloid highlighting downtown’s fall and winter events. The Gazette devoted an issue to the Main Street project and the importance of public/private partnerships. New Bern was featured as a NC Main Street city in Southern Living’s October issue. Three local hotel’s worked with New Bern Guided Tours and Tryon Palace to package special escape week-ends for the January – March off season. Swiss Bear worked on a proposal to market New Bern as the “Southern Surprise” with a tie to Pepsi and its downtown birthplace.
The Martin Agency, Richmond, VA, provided consultation services to assist Swiss Bear’s promotion program and Harry Jacobs (native New Bernian and owner of the agency) met with Kay and the Chamber’s Tourism Task Force with recommendations on developing a strategy to market downtown’s historic district. Swiss Bear worked with various groups developing a unified calendar of events and began promoting them through the NC Department of Travel and Tourism.
In the mid-1990’s, Swiss Bear’s antique show and Coastal Christmas Celebration and Flotilla (created in 1985) were spun off to other organizations as the growth of the Swiss Bear/MUMFEST required a year round time commitment. In the meantime, the number of groups sponsoring events and promotions has steadily increased playing a vital role in bringing new life, sparkle and activity to downtown.
The call to action initiated by the 1977 Central Business District Revitalization Plan and the Main Street Program for Swiss Bear and the public and private sectors to work together in a cooperative spirit continues to serve as an important catalyst for investment in our historic downtown.
Susan Moffat Thomas
Executive Director
Executive Director
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