10 Steps to Groundbreaking - by Kiaralinda!

With  permitting finally approved, townspeople and excited supporters are driving past the turquoise house lined by a beautiful picket fence construction wall to see if anything has been done yet, and the SHAMc site is finally ready for changes! We thought it might be fun to recap the groundbreaking event we had on May 6, 2012.

 
 Kiaralinda and Todd are having a lot of fun traveling between their art festival shows. In fact, Kiaralinda even took the time to write a blog post and tell us about how the event all came together! So, without further ado, here's Kiaralinda! ....

"As we looked out into the crowd we saw a lot of familiar faces, but also a lot of unfamiliar. We hope this continues to grow! We know the love and support for the arts is alive and growing!

Our first step in the groundbreaking process was to figure out who shall we get and what should we do to make it a fun, memorable day. Then we made a list. 

Well, not really ... but this is the order in how it was all brought about! 

STEP ONE: Line up bands, times they will play, and figure out a place since SHAMc isn't built yet. 

As always, the 8th Ave Pub came through! The garage out back was the perfect place to host such an event. 

Todd, Shaun Hopper, Imani Woomera, Kiaralinda & Heather Richardson

Lining up the musicians is always a challenge due to their busy schedules. But we wanted to pull this off before we left for several months. We were still planning to do the art festivals we have done for 30+ years now.  

STEP TWO: Paint "awareness sandwich board signs," and buy ads to increase awareness for SHAMc outside of Safety Harbor borders. Then we painted the SHAMc groundbreaking shovel with our new logo.

The Hummingbirds

Sportin's some great words!

STEP THREE: Went on "ART IN YOUR EAR" on WMNF community radio with an on air talent to promote the artistic aspect of SHAMc (not the music aspect). We brought spoken-word poet Imani Woomera (who also performed at the event) and she performed 2 poems. We got to talk about the SHAMc dream and the upcoming groundbreaking.

STEP FOUR: We collected "Picket the SHAMc" panels in the community and re-installed them at the SHAMc site. Then we covered the new construction fence with paper so it could be unveiled during groundbreaking.... 

TAHDAH!!! 

Our beautiful TRASHON models!

STEP FIVE: Recruited all the SHAMc models for the  Largo Cultural Center's Trashy Fashion Show to wear the TRASHIONS. The costumes were created by the GardenFairies (also members of the SHAMc collective). They led the parade halfway through the festivites to SHAMc grounds for the speeches. 

Andy Steingold

Neil Brickfield

Gareth Asher

STEP SIX: We lined up the speakers and singers for groundbreaking at SHAMc. We got confirmation from Andy Steingold and County Commissioner Neil Brickfield (has strong Safety Harbor ties). Both are in full support of the arts.                                                                                                                                        Gareth Asher agreed to 

sing Get it Right, an affirming song to get us started on a positive note.   We felt so special when he dedicated the song to our project! 

STEP SEVEN: Painted signs for the attending public to carry during the parade. Lyrics from Gareth Asher's song, Get it Right,  were painted on cardboard so could they could be carried during the parade and also used as decoration to "Whimzey-up" the Pub. 

Positive messages and fun people

Aimee with our beautiful Trash-Fashion models!

Tony Wylie

TJ and his steel guitar with Shannon Whitworth

STEP EIGHT: Lined-up volunteers to sell 60/40 raffle tickets, raffle tickets for the signed guitar, and CDs. Plus we found a few volunteers to help spin the wheel of SHAMc luck!

STEP NINE: Lined up food vendors, set up event and stage and got musicians to sign guitar and asked them to donate CDs.

STEP TEN: Made sure the show ran smoothly and that people were having a great time! Events like this are always a challenge, but it's always worth it when we can bring fun to the community!"

Don't the posts look amazing together?

                                                                                                                       

  What's next in the process? Ground testing by Faulkner Engineering - and a huge thank you to David Faulkner for donating his time! ..., Then asbestos removal and removing the carpet. 

Thank you, everyone!