A new direction in Cullman

Editorials

Discussion

July 31, 2012

A new direction in Cullman

The Cullman Times The Cullman Times Tue Jul 31, 2012, 09:04 AM CDT

CULLMAN — Several months after a powerful tornado rumbled through downtown Cullman, merchants banded together and hosted a spirited event dubbed “Celebrate Cullman.”

Area residents flocked to Celebrate and visited shops and enjoyed entertainment throughout the day and night. With a year to plan a followup event, the Downtown Merchants Association believe the event can grow even larger than last summer’s hit.

Some good things are actually falling into place for Celebrate, which will be Friday. Plenty of entertainment has been scheduled throughout the day. Many businesses have pledged to stay open beyond normal hours, which falls in line with Alabama’s no-tax holiday for back-to-school shoppers.

Support from the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce is in place, too. And the merchants association also entered into a partnership with the Cullman Parks and Recreation Department and St. Bernard’s, which are hosting a national archery tournament beginning Friday.

The partnership and the planning related to these events has made Cullman a top destination spot for the weekend. Area business leaders are seeing more and more opportunities to expand their market by stepping outside the normal boundaries of operation. Linking events together is a sure way to bring more traffic to local businesses in and outside of the downtown.

The great news is that talk of a new era in the Cullman area’s business community is translating into action. Many local leaders believe the best is yet to come for a community that has weathered the nation’s economic hard times so well. The continued planning and creativity that comes with this weekend’s events is evidence that the local market is moving into a productive new direction.

Text Only

Editorials

Taking the lead in education
The once-heralded ‘No Child Left Behind” education initiative from the federal level has just about run out of gas.

May 21, 2013
Moving into the future
Hundreds of local high school seniors are accepting their diplomas and preparing to turn the page in the next chapter of their lives.

May 19, 2013
Editorial: Seizure of AP phone records insult to independent press
This amounts to spying on an American news organization -- common practice in dictatorships but scary conduct in a democratic system that prizes the public value of an independent watchdog press.

May 16, 2013
EDITORIAL: The IRS' Turn to Answer Questions
Washington is now sinking its teeth into a real scandal: the Internal Revenue Service using ideological criteria to choose the targets of its attention.

May 16, 2013
Editorial: The house of death
The grisly details emerging from the murder trial of a Philadelphia abortion doctor place a glaring spotlight on a national disgrace.

May 15, 2013
Editorial: Murder, insanity and guns
James Holmes, the accused movie theater shooter in Colorado, would like for the public to believe he killed a dozen people because he was insane.

May 14, 2013
Lasting partnerships
Economic development officials have long noted the importance of expansions by existing industries and businesses in a community to lead growth.

May 1, 2013
COMMENTARY: Why does young adult fiction keep giving its heroines makeovers?
Over at This Ain't Living, s.e. smith (who, full disclosure, has guest-blogged for me at ThinkProgress) has an excellent post about one of the most pernicious trends in young adult fiction.

April 29, 2013
A spirit for moving forward
This weekend marked the two-year anniversary of a deadly day of tornadoes that streaked across Alabama, claiming lives and property and changing the landscape of many communities.

April 29, 2013
Faith and bombs
The investigation of the Boston Marathon bombing is pointing to the all-too-familiar theme of religious faith playing a major role in violence.

April 24, 2013
More Editorials Headlines

Editorials

Search Results

Discussion

A new direction in Cullman

Site Map

Contact Us