MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. -- The 2010 All-America City Quilt arrived in Mount Pleasant on Tuesday as part of a national tour to showcase the 27 finalists of last years All-America City competition. The AAC Quilt Tour is a traditional civic pride event sponsored by the National Civic League, which administers the AAC Award.
The quilt began its journey last October in Chandler, AZ, and will visit 19 states before making its final stop on Aug. 25 in Middleton, WI.
Mount Pleasant is the fourth to last stop on the tour and host of the quilt from July 19 - July 26.
What a wonderful opportunity to allow the Town of Mount Pleasant to display this great work of Americana art, said Mayor Billy Swails. Our delegation was proud to have delivered our square to the National Civic League during the All-America City competition last summer. Now to see it all come together is a great feeling. Our civic pride is etched into our community and it is now stitched on this beautiful quilt. I urge our residents to visit our public displays this week and I would like to thank the Mount Pleasant Public Library for participating in the tour.
The quilt features traditional quilting methods, patches or photos transferred onto fabric from all finalists.
To me the quilt is a vibrant illustration of what is working in American communities, said NCL President Gloria Rubio-Cortes.
The 2010 All-America City Quilt will be on public display at the following Mount Pleasant locations this week:
Tuesday, July 19: Town Hall Municipal Complex Lobby Area, 100 Ann Edwards Lane (8 am - 3 pm)
Tuesday, July 19: Mount Pleasant Farmers Market's Christmas in July Craft Show, Coleman Boulevard, Moultrie Middle School grounds. Mayor Billy Swails will open the market and present the 2010 All-America City Quilt (3:30 pm - 7 pm)
Wednesday, July 20: RL Jones Center, 391 Egypt Road (8 am - closing)
Thursday, July 21: Park West Recreation Complex, 1251 Park West Blvd. (8 am- closing)
Friday, July 22: Movies in the Park, Memorial Waterfront Park (6 pm - dark) <http://www.ccprc.com/index.aspx?nid=1329>
Saturday, July 23: Thomasena Stokes-Marshall Senior Services Center, 840 Von Kolnitz (8 am - 1 pm)
Monday, July 25: Mount Pleasant Public Library, 1133 Mathis Ferry Road (10 am - 2 pm)
Tuesday, July 26: Town Hall Municipal Complex Lobby Area, 100 Ann Edwards Lane (8 am - 4:30 pm)
For more information on Mount Pleasants journey to the All-America City Award, visit us on Facebook at <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Town-of-Mount-Pleasant-SC-an-All-America-City-Finalist/107389065974568>.
About the All-America City Award
www.ncl.org
The National Civic League recognizes ten communities each year for outstanding civic accomplishments. To win, each community must demonstrate innovation, inclusiveness, civic engagement, and cross sector collaboration by describing successful efforts to address pressing local challenges.
More than 600 communities have won the award, some as many as five times. All-America Cities have shown the ability to innovate in such areas as job creation, neighborhood revitalization, crime reduction, new housing for low income people, improving education, and engaging youth.
The award program was founded in 1949 when a newspaper reporter approached the National Civic League (then known as the National Municipal League) with the idea of naming the 10 best governed cities each year. Instead, the league created a program that recognized cities for civic achievements.
The 2010 All-America City Quilt, pictured above, is on display at several locations in Mount Pleasant this week. (Joe ONeill/WCIV)
