Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Preservation across the nation...our board members get out there!

Not everyone is lamenting the gas prices and staying at home this summer. We recently had a member of our board (Patrick Armstrong) travel to Montana. Lucky for us, Patrick packed his Preservation Trust t-shirt in his suitcase to wear while on the trip (below).This got our wheels turning...what if we asked our staff, board members and friends to do the same the next time they travel and/or visit a landmark?

So, this is our request...support the mission and work of the Trust in a wearable form (cost of t-shirt $15), take a photo of yourself in a locale other than the great City of Spartanburg, email it to us, and watch it pop up on blogger.

If you need a t-shirt, let us know. Labor Day is coming up, so we hope you get out there and see the sights looking spiffy in your Trust T! Happy travels!

Friday, August 22, 2008

Spartanburg Architectural Salvage OPEN TOMORROW!

Spartanburg Architectural Salvage is OPEN TOMORROW, Saturday, August 23rd from 10am to 2pm. It has new stock including several new doors (two sets of french doors), a new mantel, iron work, pickets and rails....

Monday, August 18, 2008

A Day in the Life...

Many of our loyal blogfans know that the staff of the Trust love our jobs, and we enjoy the fact that every day is different. We have celebrations, challenges and heartaches that our staff of two tackles every day. That said, we thought we would offer you a snapshot into our daily life... because Kristi is on vacation today, the schedule below follows Rebecca through her day:

9 am: Arrive at work, listen to 7 voicemails (including 3 calls about the kudzu cleanup and one phone call from Kay of Greeneville, TN, thanking us for our time last Thursday). Check fax machine.
9:10am: Visit from new homeowner Erin, who has come bearing a level and thank you card for contractor Steve West. We chat about her exciting progress in unpacking, IKEA curtains, and outlet mall finds. I love that Erin is so happy about her home and hope she can get internet installed soon!
9:15am: Check emails (too many to count) and write various answers, schedule various meetings, and sign us up for a Green Building Seminar next Thursday.
9:25am: Meet with impromptu prospective buyer Mark (transplant from NJ) and talk about houses in the Hampton Heights area. This meeting is interrupted by one of our tenants, Joe, who has come to pay rent. We resume our discussion and talk about homeownership classes.
9:40am: Yet another walk in; this fellow has been working at the Beta Club headquarters down the street and is curious about the neighborhood. We talk about the history and architecture and I give him a folder with lots of information, maps, etc and tell him to definitely check out the holiday tour of Hampton Heights during the first weekend of December.
9:57am: I write down that we need to buy more folders for walk-ins and other interested parties...we are out!
10:15am: A guy comes in to the office looking for Jean (with PAL) and has some bike stuff for her!
10:30am: Contractor Steve West comes in for a visit. This is bittersweet. He is delivering his final invoice for work. He is a fabulous builder and wonderful person who is retiring...we talk about his plans and how he needs to get into a physical therapist for that disk problem in his neck.
11:30am: Kristi calls to check in. It is great to hear that Saturday's kudzu spraying went well, even if there was not enough herbicide for the 4 acres. We plan to do something nice for the applicator and DOW chemical contact who donated their time and herbicide to the cause.
12:15pm to 1:20pm: Off to lunch. The office is closed....seriously, we have to eat sometime!
1:30pm: Two voicemails when I return. One is a tenant with a broken front door (call to contractor to follow up and fix the glass!); the other is Dawn with Spartanburg Water who calls about setting up an account for the warehouse space (salvage store). It seems the owner of the building feels we will be setting up and paying for account. Grrr...we were not expecting this.
2:20pm: Visit from Wanda with Weichert Realtors. She will be listing 266 West Hampton Avenue and wanted to know about special financing, National Register status and down payment assistance. We are always super happy when realtors come our way and use us as a resource. Wanda and I chat about the great people who live in the neighborhood and the positive changes in the past few years. She asks if I think it will ever be like Converse Heights. If I had a dollar for every time someone tries to make this comparison...it is a bit like comparing Spartanburg to Greenville...which I don't want to do...
3:00pm: Start this blog, which makes me late for my 3:30 to 5pm Mary Black Foundation OCB meeting, so this is where my day ends.

A Day in the Life of a Trust Staffer. Rewarding. Interesting. Never a dull moment!

Monday, August 11, 2008

Bicycle Commuting Workshop

As many of you know, the Preservation Trust shares our office space with non-profit Partners for Active Living. We collaborated recently to increase bike lanes to connect neighborhoods to the downtown business district via Marion Avenue and South Spring Street. Although the project was not exactly in the realm of preservation, the partnership allowed us to look at the bigger picture of neighborhood revitalization and community development. As fuel costs go up and up, it makes sense to educate the community about other options in safe transportation (ie, bikes)...we're joining forces to present a Bicycle Commuting Workshop. See the flyer below!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Say what? Trust joins the world of social networking

Yesterday we had a crash course in the world of social networking in a brown bag lunch series at the Chamber of Commerce. We have had discussions about the merits of having a myspace or facebook page for a while now, and after learning the sheer numbers of people in the wave of online networking, we have officially joined the crowd. We're cool kids now!

Visit us on facebook:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spartanburg-SC/Preservation-Trust-of-Spartanburg/26629535769

Become a fan, look at photos, join upcoming events, post a comment on our wall.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

How To Series

So, we were brainstorming last week about how we can expand our educational reach. We have some very creative board members who envision a How To Series for the public on various home or creative projects. We aim to incorporate podcasts, videos, workshops (at our salvage warhouse), links on our website regarding the topic of the month, and step by step instructions for a project. We plan to engage community partners and neighbors to help, too.

What do you want to see or learn more about?

Let us know....